You know that huge range of high horsepower sedan options that you have access to today? That didn’t really exist in the 1980s; your options were quite a bit more limited, and the BMW M-series typically tended to surface as the most logical choice.
But then in 1989, Lotus took an unsuspecting Vauxhall sedan – the Carlton (a.k.a. Opel Omega) – and turned 440 examples into ballistic cruise missiles. The resulting Vauxhall Lotus Carlton is celebrating 25 years in 2015.
The first order of business in creating the Lotus Carlton – the fastest production sedan in the world in its day – was a displacement increase for the stock inline-6, from 3.0 liters to 3.6 liters. Twin-turbochargers and an intercooler system were fitted, but the cylinder head remained mostly unchanged. Nevertheless, power grew to an unholy 382 horses.
As a result of these and other tweaks, the Vauxhall Lotus Carlton could reach a 176 mph top speed, and sprint to 60 in just under 5 seconds. The car represented a meaningful joint-venture between its two parent marques, and was produced through 1994. The cost was 48,000 GBP at the time, or about $160,000 US today, as hard as that is to swallow.
Since its inception and premature laying to rest, the Lotus Carlton has been succeeded by a long line of Vauxhall performance sedans. But certainly, each owes a debt of gratitude to the original, groundbreaking Vauxhall Lotus Carlton.
Comments
one of the finest cars ever…
GM Europe is still in the 90s went very well and the product range was pretty scary and overwhelming.
Lotus omega
omega evo500
omega 3000
Irmscher omega
Irmscher Senator
Senator 24v
They then 5 and 7 series, bmw class
& Calibra
evo 500 + omega 24v
lotus omega & evo 500 treffen
Lotus Carlton uses a Corvette gearbox, & GM thought about using the 5.7V8 engine too before settling on the 3.6. The Vauxhall Lotus Carlton caused a bit of a fuss when it was launched back in the day.
Lotus Senator & Lotus Cavalier although rumoured never appeared.
Owners of the first cars and Training
It never gets old. Gets better and better everyday!