RE: PH Heroes: Lotus Carlton

[B'stard Child]

350zwelgje said:

Incredible car. Also remember seeing it the first time the immense, impressive width of the rear tyres.
Not to open a can of worms (and haven driven either of them), I am still wondering how it compares to a Lancia Thema 8.32 in the real world. Think that the original idea was the same, but did both result in awesome stealth sedans or not?

Rob

That can be easily answered - as compared "Classics Magazine" (an article I was involved in producing an have permission to "host&quot















The LC did full circuits of Bruntingthorpe and the Lancia took short cuts and still got caught

[B'stard Child]

PS the car featured above is currently for sale

[Howitzer]

DJC said:

Not for nothing was it known variously as The Guvnor and The Big Bad. One of the reasons Ive never understood the ph wankfest over M5s is the existence of The Guvnor. It looks better (than every iteration of M5) has gone faster than pretty much all of them, is a damn sight comfier and has more style and presence without looking much different to a bog standard Carlton than any 5 series ever did. It invented the Uber-saloon and has done it better than every one of them since.

The bad parts back up, reliability, expense and rot issues for an everyday car are what makes it less than the E34 M5 in real world terms imo.

In a perfect no problems environment though I have no doubt in my mind that it is indeed The Guvnor like you say.

Dave!

[largelunchbox]

great car as long as it dosnt break then your into Ferrari like repair bills and running costs.

[richard300]

things i remember about the LC are (apart from the really heavy clutch on the earlier cars) were the lovely leather ltd edition books that came with them when they were new, earlier cars having the two head units (one cd player, the other a tape player) i think these were grundig, but were replaced with a single bluapunkt unit and auto changer, the first sign of Alcantara i had seen (on the door cards)and the incredible 50-70mph in gear times.....and apart from some tailored overmats, and curb lighting (from the senator) there were no options, oh, and the people from Vecta, must have made a mint fitting imobilizers to them.....

A wonderfull tool indeed.......

[B'stard Child]

largelunchbox said:

great car as long as it dosnt break then your into Ferrari like repair bills and running costs.

It can hurt you if you don't have a good resource for parts and advice - 100 people owning the LC/LO's in one club means huge bills can be avoided and reduced - nothing like Ferrari cost

I've owned mine for 6-7 years

["JR"]

[quote=}
Only LC engine conversions i've seen are in Omega B's and also a Yellow German Calibra built by a company called ARTZ
[/quote]

http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/800/progress...

+

http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/3999/engineo...

+

http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/800/hawk_054...

=

http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/3999/transtu...

http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/3999/lcengin...

[B'stard Child]

[quote="JR"]http://www.corsasport.co.uk/carimages/3999/lcengine.jpg


[/quote]

Yeah yeah seen that photoshop before and it was rubbish last time I saw it

["JR"]

Haha fooled a few magazines (well it made it in there anyway) and a lotus salesman in scotland

Edited by "JR" on Wednesday 23 January 23:31

[GTO Scott]

Everyone bangs on about how 17 years ago the LC was faster than the equivalent offerings from 'ze Germans'. Well, you could look at it this way - it still is - even the higher-limit Mercedes AMG's are out of ideas at 174mph, and the LC should easily pass that

A monster that deserves respect, and one day, I will own one

[jainser]

'GM merrily blew them off the autobahns with its modified mini cab'

What a great line!!

[GKP]

[NotNormal]

Have some more

[Gashmaster]

LC is a awesome motor I was lucky enough to drive the car in the feature from the Heritage centre loved it.

Dave was that a pic of your speedo on the way to Le Mans last year!!!

Edited by Gashmaster on Thursday 24th January 11:11

[speedster986]

hackett said:

The 6,000mile example in my local performance car garage. Just bought my car but felt really inadequate when i went into the office and saw this monster.

The thing that struck me is the sheer size, inside and out everything is huuuge!

Crap pic i know, wifes old phone (plus my daughters perfect timing to cross the shot)

Is that the garage just outside of Nairn near Inverness?

[sprinter885]

Speedo Pics above--- was that in 5th or 6th ??

[V8S]

hackett said:

The 6,000mile example in my local performance car garage. Just bought my car but felt really inadequate when i went into the office and saw this monster.

The thing that struck me is the sheer size, inside and out everything is huuuge!

Crap pic i know, wifes old phone (plus my daughters perfect timing to cross the shot)

Are you holding a large foam microphone?

[indi pearl]

Don't forget the LC's baby sister...........the Lotus Isuzu Piazza.For that short time in history we had GM own both Lotus and a major stake in Isuzzu and the only result that made it to the UK was the Piazza.Designed by Gigario,handling by Lotus and built by the Whale Munchers.I still remember nearly causing a pile up outside Bramshaw motors in Bournemouth as I spotted their demonstrator outside the showroom back in 1988!!
I have run a still immaculate example on a daily basis for the last 15 years (except for the sunny days when the NSX comes out to play).She is still capable of giving a serious shock to many a "road cowboy" as her turbocharged engine spools up from 3000rpm.

[D_T_W]

sprinter885 said:

D_T_W said:

alock said:

Do I remember correctly that 6th gear is ridiculously high so as to be almost unusable but it was the only gear box that could cope with the power?

Same as the 6 speed M5, 6th is nothing but an overdrive. Both cars reach their top speeds in 5th rather than 6th. I can't remember what the Carlton is (i think it was 240-250mph??), but on mine it's around 215mph

???? Even unrestricted that sounds a bit ambitious. Modified ?
Never heard of a Lotus Carlton being quoted at anything other than 174-179 mph.

Sorry, should have made it clearer. That was the theoretical speed the cars were geared for in 6th, they could never reach max revs in 6th as it was too long. Both cars would hit their max speed in 5th, around 170 for the M5 and 177 for the Carlton

[sprinter885]

Thanx. Thought it a bit strange..