The Opel Vivaro – sold in the United Kingdom as the Vauxhall Vivaro – is a medium-sized light commercial vehicle (LCV or PKW) originally launched in 2001, and is available in panel van, minibus, combined bus/van and platform-cab configurations. Two wheelbases and two roof heights are available, as well as three diesel engines and a petrol engine.
The vehicle resulted from a joint venture between General Motors (owners of Opel and Vauxhall) and French manufacturer Renault, and is also sold as the Renault Trafic and by their ally Nissan as the Nissan Primastar. The vehicle is primarily manufactured at GMM Luton Vehicles (previously IBC) in England, and also by Nissan at their Zona Franca facility in Barcelona.
The vehicle is distinguished by its somewhat flamboyant and unconventional front design, compared with its more traditional competitors such as the smaller variants of the Ford Transit and Volkswagen Transporter.
The Opel / Vauxhall Vivaro won the Professional Van and Light Truck Magazine Van of the Year 2006 Award, having been judged against competitors by a panel of van users, buyers and asset management professionals.
Cloggies like tuning their vans, or so Opel claims. Especially for the Dutch market they have released the Opel Vivaro Performance Concept (or simply the Vivaro VPC) and will be limited to 100 numbered units.
The Opel Vivaro VPC has a stock 2,5 liter CDTi engine with 146 hp (107 kW) and six-speed manual transmission. The VPC is based on the long wheel-base Vivaro with dual cabin (L2) which seats five people and can hold 3,8 cubic meters of cargo. So under the hood everything stays as it is, the interior and exterior on the other hand receive quite a make-over.
The outside sports a new body kit, light-weight wheels with wide tires and is painted in OPC Arden Blue, although it seems that the limited edition will only be available in silver-grey or black metallic.
Inside you will find Recaro sport seats for the driver and co-driver, leather and cloth upholstery and an umbrella holder in the rear seat. The cargo area has a (by the looks of it) fancy-looking hard-wood floor which looks great but we wonder how badly it will scratch when in daily use.
Opel has priced the Vivaro VPC at Euro 34,900 and is, as stated before, available in The Netherlands only.
April 30th, 2008 at 11:08 am
I found your site on faves.com bookmarking site.. I like it ..gave it a fave for you..ill be checking back later
May 3rd, 2008 at 12:27 pm
minibus is a good topical subject right now
May 14th, 2008 at 7:52 am
i like the blue vaxhall opel it is a smooth rider my mom owns one of them