History
The name was chosen by a computer from a list of short, easy to pronounce words and not after the historic Portuguese town of Sintra.
The Sintra is specifically based on the short-wheelbase version of the second generation U platform and has the same wheelbase, front and rear track as the short-wheelbase Chevrolet Venture and Pontiac Montana/Trans Sport, and similar exterior dimensions. Along with other U-body minivans, it was made in Doraville, Georgia.
It did not use the LA1 3400 V6 engine, but rather a selection of Opel engines (which had to be imported to the United States for assembly).
The Sintra had an important influence on U-body development – because GM wanted to keep it similar in dimensions to European large MPVs (such as the Volkswagen Sharan/Ford Galaxy/SEAT Alhambra or the Eurovans), the platform was made quite narrow, which in turn made the GMX110s narrower than the previous "dustbuster" minivans, and more importantly than most American competitors.
This influence continued through the third and final generation U-body minivans, even though none of them were sold in Europe.
The Sintra featured sliding rear side doors on both sides and was available in different seating configurations, which provided seating for from 5 to 8 passengers. Unlike its North American counterparts, it offered manual transmission instead of automatic transmission, and had the gear shift mounted directly on the floor like the older generations of European vans.
Many reviewers and customers found that the materials, fit and finish were below the usual Opel quality, and also below what European competitors offered – this was only partially addressed by several changes made throughout the model lifetime, like replacing the upholstery fabric for the 1997 season.
Read more about this topic: Opel Sintra
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of the world is none other than the progress of the consciousness of freedom.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“What is most interesting and valuable in it, however, is not the materials for the history of Pontiac, or Braddock, or the Northwest, which it furnishes; not the annals of the country, but the natural facts, or perennials, which are ever without date. When out of history the truth shall be extracted, it will have shed its dates like withered leaves.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Jesus Christ belonged to the true race of the prophets. He saw with an open eye the mystery of the soul. Drawn by its severe harmony, ravished with its beauty, he lived in it, and had his being there. Alone in all history he estimated the greatness of man.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)