Driven hard and expected to deliver, it proved capable. Though finally placed in my care I was always hounded for the keys when those longer trips or packing space were at a premium. Our ever-so-shy Managing Editor, Nathalie, was the first when she cornered the Meriva on its arrival in our busy CiA parking lot just before our December holiday break with 2801km on the clock.

After loading it brimful with kit belonging to eight individuals, it was driven off to the Vaal Dam where it was to prove its Car of the Year attributes as a finalist. And yes, the little 1.6-litre engine did prove, as Nathalie put it to be, “… a little sluggish on pull-off but once on the highway and cruising, it was no trouble at all”. Further to that she wrote that the Meriva’s, “fuel consumption on the open road dropped to 8.24 litres per 100km as opposed to the 10.04 litres I had been averaging around town”. Not bad when you consider it was packed to the roof.

But not all was positive for the Meriva … oops, sorry, for Nathalie when she explains she came up against, “… a 25-litre paint tin perched next to the house, the only object around for miles, and THWACK! Yup, I reversed into it”. Another minor offence was when the power steering failed due to a loose wire, which an Opel Dealer rectified in minutes. Overall she was so impressed with it that she scored it with a respectable eight stars.

After being taken by Opel for some promotional activities for the Car of the Year it came back to us and in May had a total of 6918km on the odometer. Then it was Deputy Editor Jason’s turn when he contrived to get his hands onto the keys - the reason?

To get to the Natal coast. Result? “Now I’m happy to announce that she’s really going like a Boeing, and certainly a match for any 1600 outside of the hot hatch brigade”. Naturally, with 8 667 km on the clock it should perform a lot better than when it arrived. So willing was it that he writes, “...on the open road, you end up wishing it had a sixth cog...” The only downside was that, “… it can get a bit twitchy when there’s cross winds”. Not to worry though as this is a factor on all small MPVs.

Jason’s verdict was simple, “…it has many space solutions on the inside, yet is surprisingly compact on the outside, making it an absolute pleasure to zip around town in…and is every bit as manoeuvrable as a compact car”.

Enter Mark, our Assistant Editor. When granted a Friday afternoon off to move house he, “…took a look at the rack of car keys…” and was duly convinced by colleagues that the, “Opel Meriva would offer the most box-moving capacity of all our current vehicles”.

Sceptical at first, he did the Opel ‘Flexspace’ thing and in just two trips, “…the Meriva saw all of my smaller belongings safely stored in their new home.” He also agreed that perhaps an extra gear on the open road would be a good idea. Needles to say he was particularly impressed with its, “…1, 2, 3, 4 and five-seater capability…”

Perhaps it was our marketing man, Bruno, who tested the Meriva to its fullest with his five-member family unit. And one of his major finds was that “… rear passengers are able to plug into the sound system and through earphones (standard item) are able to listen to a different radio station to those in the front”. And according to Bruno, a lasting peace was established in the rear of the car.

Again, with three children, he found another novel feature for them in the back. “Both front seats have trays built into them so those at the back can have food, games or books, similar to air travel.” Though he too wrote that the Meriva needs “…some bullying to really pull on the open road, especially when overtaking from 120km/h”.

Nothing more to add; suffice it to state that for those seeking to purchase a Meriva one needs only to rev the little 1 600 engine hard to get it to perform well.