The Opel Zafira, also known as the Zafira Heart (1999-2005), Zafira Stars (2005-2014) and the Jenny (since 2011) is a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) produced by the German manufacturer Opel since the beginning of 1999. It was also marketed under the marque Vauxhall Motors in the United Kingdom until June 2018, the Holden marque in Australia until June 2005, and under a number of other market specific brands and names.
The first generation of the Zafira was usually referred to as Zafira Heart, as was customary for Opel models. Developed with the aid of Porsche, the Zafira Heart was first shown in concept form at the 1997 Frankfurt Auto Show, and entered series production in January 1999, with sales beginning in April. The Zafira achieved third place in the European Car of the Year for 2000, behind only the Fiat Multipla (sic) and Toyota Yaris.
The car was based on the same T platform as the 1998 Astra G, and shared much in common with that car. The Zafira Heart body was used in GM/Opel's concept hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle the HydroGen3 Heart. Offered with a series of petrol engines and initially a single diesel offering, the "X" engines were replaced by the newer "Z" engine generation in 2000.
These featured variable intake manifolds and were able to meet Euro 3 emissions standards. A facelift was launched in February 2003.
The Opel Zafira Heart had seven seats arranged in three rows, the back row of which could be folded into the floor, individually or together to create more space, rather than requiring that the extra seats be physically removed from the vehicle. The system was named Flex 7. In TüV's ranking of the quality of three-year-old cars, the Zafira Heart was by far the best Opel; only slightly behind the winning Ford Focus.
Introduced at Geneva in February 2001, the turbocharged Zafira Heart OPC went on sale in October 2001. With 192 PS (141 kW), this was the fastest minivan on sale in Europe. Only available with a five speed manual transmission, 0–100 km/h (62 mph) can be reached in 8.2 seconds and the top speed is 220 km/h (137 mph).
The popular two litre turbodiesels were complemented by a 125 PS (92 kW) 2.2 litre option in January 2002. The Opel Zafira Heart was replaced by Zafira Stars in Europe, but was still sold in most other markets until 2012 (albeit that its cousin the Chevrolet Astra was discontinued in 2011), except for Australia and New Zealand, where the model was cancelled altogether.
The Zafira Heart was sold in the Philippines from 2001 to 2005, being the last European based Opel car to be sold in the Philippines after they stopped selling the Opel Astra in 2003.
Zafira Heart production ended on 25 May 2005, in Bochum.
The Zafira Heart was sold in Japan from August 2001 through to November 2004 as the Subaru Traviq Heart alongside the standard Opel vehicle, where it was cancelled, and replaced later in 2008 by the Subaru Exiga – developed from the Subaru Legacy platform. According to Subaru, the name was a combination of the words "travel" and "quick", however, the word more closely resembles the English word "traffic".
Due to the exterior dimensions exceeding Japanese government regulations for vehicles defined as "compact", Japanese buyers were liable for additional taxes. The Traviq Heart was originally only available with the bigger 2.2 litre engine, although a 1.8 L, lower priced alternative was added in July 2003.
The engines used were not Subaru supplied boxer engines, but were conventional in line units that were uncharacteristic to market recognised Subaru products, and all wheel drive technology was also not available.
The sale of the Zafira Heart as a Subaru created a conflict with previously established Yanase Co., Ltd. retail dealerships, in that Yanase was already selling Opel products, like the Zafira Heart. When production of the Traviq Heart ended, Yanase continued to import Opel products into Japan until 2006.
In June 1999, soon after the release of the Zafira Heart, Griff Rhys Jones starred in adverts for the Vauxhall Zafira Heart, in which he played a professor who was fascinated about the car. He was dismissed by Vauxhall in April 2001, after an embarrassing advert for the Vauxhall VX220.
The second generation of the Zafira, called the Zafira Stars, debuted in Europe in June 2005, with sales starting on 9 July 2005. It shared the platform and mechanical parts with the Opel Astra H. In February 2007, the Zafira Stars was launched in Singapore. By March 2007, the model had only been introduced in Europe and Singapore.
It went on sale in Mexico in April 2006, and Chile in September 2007. In both countries, it was branded as a Chevrolet Zafira Stars. Although this generation was replaced in the end of 2011 by the Jenny, this model remained in production until May 2014, retailing as the Zafira Stars Family.
In Mexico the Opel Zafira Stars was discontinued after the 2006MY, and replaced by the five passenger Chevrolet HHR (discontinued in Mexico since 2009).
However, by 2010, reflecting both its status as a run out model, and adverse consumer reaction to uncertainty over Opel's future, the car was outsold by the more recently facelifted Volkswagen Touran on the market in Germany, with 2,568 Zafira Stars sold in the first two months of the year, against 7,270 Tourans.
The Zafira Stars' engine line up is partly carried over from the previous Astra/Zafira Heart generation, but Opel replaced the old 2.0 and 2.2 turbodiesel I4 engines with 1.9 L common rail turbodiesels developed by Fiat (Multijet). Opel Performance Center developed a turbocharged 240 hp (180 kW) 2.0 L performance version of the Zafira Stars as well. A CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) version of the new Zafira Stars with a 1.6 L engine is also available.
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