Vauxhall celebrate 25 years of the Lotus Carlton

Vauxhall is celebrating 25 years of the Lotus Carlton, one of the most famous and dramatic cars to wear the Griffin badge.

The Lotus Carlton was the fastest four-door saloon in the world when it was launched in 1989.  With 377bhp from its straight-six, twin-turbocharged engine, the Carlton could achieve the 0-62 sprint in 4.9 seconds and would go on to a top speed of 176mph. Its chassis was developed and fine-tuned by Lotus, resulting in a car that could more than cope with the extra power and give some of the finest supercars of the day a serious fright!

Just to put it into context, a 1989 Ferrari Testarossa’s flat-twelve engine produced 390bhp, could cover the 0-60 dash in 5.2 seconds and go on to a top speed of 181mph.  Just so we’re not picking on Ferrari, a Honda NSX had 280bhp, A 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo 300bhp).

Out of nowhere dropped this Imperial-green, 4-seat, cruise missile, wearing a Griffin badge, wide arches and subtle yellow Lotus badging..  In 1989 the Lotus-Carlton’s, more humble, Carlton relatives had been around for four years, their habitat was generally munching motorway miles 24/7.  The performance of the Lotus-Carlton didn’t just ruffle the feathers of the super car establishment, it pre-heated the oven and started plucking out feathers.

“Everyone at the time said it was completely inappropriate for a manufacturer like Vauxhall to launch a 176mph car,” said Stuart Harris, a key member of the Lotus Carlton’s launch team back in the eighties.

A total of 440 Lotus Carlton’s were produced from 1989 to 1994 as a joint project between Vauxhall and Lotus, with each car costing an eye-watering £48,000.  The initial plan had been for a run of 1,100 cars but the early-nineties recession bit hard and the original figure proved impossible.  After the Lotus Carlton, there were talks of a successor, but the project did not go ahead

The, performance, rarity and myth around the Lotus-Carlton (Lotus-Omega in Europe) means the car is still ultra-desirable today and, when one actually does come up for sale, this is reflected in their prices.