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:
“A poet’s object is not to tell what actually happened but what could or would happen either probably or inevitably.... For this reason poetry is something more scientific and serious than history, because poetry tends to give general truths while history gives particular facts.”
—Aristotle (384–323 B.C.)
“All history attests that man has subjected woman to his will, used her as a means to promote his selfish gratification, to minister to his sensual pleasures, to be instrumental in promoting his comfort; but never has he desired to elevate her to that rank she was created to fill. He has done all he could to debase and enslave her mind; and now he looks triumphantly on the ruin he has wrought, and say, the being he has thus deeply injured is his inferior.”
—Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)
“All things are moral. That soul, which within us is a sentiment, outside of us is a law. We feel its inspiration; out there in history we can see its fatal strength.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)