Opel Sintra: the American-built people carrier that failed

The Opel Sintra was a large people carrier sold by Opel in Europe from 1996 to 1999, imported from the United States and sold in Britain as the Vauxhall Sintra. Poor build quality and a disappointing Euro NCAP score ended its career after three years.

Opel Sintra at a glance

Based on one source, the English Wikipedia article on the Opel Sintra.

History of the Opel Sintra

An American MPV for Europe

The Sintra was one of the second-generation U-body large MPVs, known internally as GMX110, and was based on the short-wheelbase version of the platform, with the same wheelbase and track as the short-wheelbase Chevrolet Venture and Pontiac Montana. It was built at Doraville, Georgia, and imported to Europe, where the same vehicle was sold under the Chevrolet, Oldsmobile and Pontiac brands in America. A right-hand-drive Vauxhall version arrived in March 1997. Contrary to popular belief the name did not come from the Portuguese town of Sintra: it was chosen by a computer from a list of short, easy-to-pronounce words ending in “a”, to fit Opel’s naming scheme of the time.

What it offered

The Sintra had ABS, dual front airbags, dual front side airbags and seat belt tensioners as standard, and an aluminium bonnet that saved weight and increased the crumple zone. It had the largest interior of any MPV on the European market, including those from DaimlerChrysler, and sliding rear side doors on both sides, with seating for five to eight passengers. Unusually for an American MPV it used Opel’s own engines rather than the 3.4-litre V6 of its US sisters — the engines had to be shipped to the United States for assembly — and it came with a manual gearbox on the floor instead of an automatic. New for this generation were cabin air filters, reached from inside the glovebox.

The Sintra also shaped the U-body itself, because General Motors wanted it to match European large MPVs such as the Volkswagen Sharan, Ford Galaxy and Renault Espace; the platform was therefore made narrow, which made the GMX110s slimmer than the previous minivans and most American competitors, an influence that continued through the third generation even though none of those were sold in Europe.

Quality, safety and the end

Reviewers and customers found the materials, fit and finish below the usual Opel standard and below European rivals, a problem only partly addressed by changes such as new upholstery for 1997. In both May 2000 and May 2001, by which time it had been withdrawn, the Sintra was ranked the least satisfying car to own in the J.D. Power customer satisfaction survey for Britain, published in Top Gear magazine.

The Euro NCAP frontal test of a 1998 car found serious deficiencies: the cabin structure was unstable and the steering wheel with its airbag broke off, which might have caused fatal neck injuries to the driver. Despite reasonable side-impact performance the car scored 2.5 stars. Opel withdrew the Sintra in April 1999 as the Astra-based Zafira arrived, and the smaller Zafira went on to be far more successful. Opel had no large MPV again until the Zafira Tourer of 2011.

Design and features

• Largest interior in its class: more room than any other European MPV of the time.
• Sliding doors: on both sides, with seating for five to eight.
• Opel engines: 2.2 and 3.0 V6 petrol plus a late 2.2 DTi diesel, with a manual gearbox.
• Weak crash result: 2.5 Euro NCAP stars for a 1998 car.

Opel Sintra versions

• Sintra 2.2 16V: the main petrol model.
• Sintra 3.0 V6 24V: the six-cylinder version.
• Sintra 2.2 DTi: the diesel of 1999, only 1,394 built.
• Vauxhall Sintra: the British right-hand-drive version.

The Sintra was replaced in practice by the smaller Zafira. More cars are in the Opel collection.

Sources

• Opel Sintra, English Wikipedia: platform, equipment, quality, crash test, engines