Thursday, April 24, 2008

Vauxhall Meriva (2003)

Vauxhall Meriva

The Opel Meriva is a mini MPV based on the platform of the third generation Opel Corsa and sold under that name on all of the European markets with the exception of the UK, where it's called the Vauxhall Meriva. It's also sold in Mexico and Argentina under the name Chevrolet Meriva. It is built in Brazil by General Motors do Brasil and in Zaragoza, Spain by Opel. It first appeared in late 2002.

The Meriva is available with petrol and turbodiesel engines ranging from 1.3 L to 1.8 L, with power going from 70 PS (51 kW) to 125 PS (92 kW). The base model is also available with an Easytronic (sequential manual) transmission.

Like its bigger sibling, the Zafira, the Meriva has a flexible interior, named FlexSpace. Although it only has five seats in two rows, the second row can be moved forward and backwards, or pushed into the floor, making a straight platform for increased boot space. The second row can accommodate 2 or 3 passengers. In the 2-passenger mode, the seats are separated from the doors and from each other much like the front seats. In 3-passenger mode the back seat looks like a regular one piece seat. The front seat can be pushed fully backwards while the rear passengers can still get more than a decent amount of leg room. It has a generous trunk that can be further extended pushing the back seats into the floor.

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