Cars that were too fast at the time
Discussion
Good afternoon all,
Driving home from work the other day I saw a car which triggered a fond although in hindsight worrying memory from my youth.
Now in my mid 30's, the cars I hankered for during my teens and once passed were mostly 80's and 90's hot hatches. XR2's, RS Turbo's, 205 GTI's, Nova GSI's etc etc..
Shortly after passing my test a friend took me for a spin in his AX GT through Burnham Beeches. Back then, fearless and care free, I marvelled at the way we sped along the narrow windy lanes watching the speedo climb, 50... 60... 70... 80.. Nothing to write home about nowadays but back then it felt ridiculous.
And perhaps that's why? The car must have weighed no more than a half full wheelie bin. Hitting a sparrow at that speed probably would have killed us.
I'm sure the sensation can be created today if you've got the money to spend, but that little car probably cost a grand tops.
Looking back now, it seemed too fast!
Driving home from work the other day I saw a car which triggered a fond although in hindsight worrying memory from my youth.
Now in my mid 30's, the cars I hankered for during my teens and once passed were mostly 80's and 90's hot hatches. XR2's, RS Turbo's, 205 GTI's, Nova GSI's etc etc..
Shortly after passing my test a friend took me for a spin in his AX GT through Burnham Beeches. Back then, fearless and care free, I marvelled at the way we sped along the narrow windy lanes watching the speedo climb, 50... 60... 70... 80.. Nothing to write home about nowadays but back then it felt ridiculous.
And perhaps that's why? The car must have weighed no more than a half full wheelie bin. Hitting a sparrow at that speed probably would have killed us.
I'm sure the sensation can be created today if you've got the money to spend, but that little car probably cost a grand tops.
Looking back now, it seemed too fast!
In 2002, having won it's class (and come 11th overall) in the Nurburgring 24 Hours, the Caterham R400 was banned from the next year's race.
Simon Nearn at the time said:
I guess it’s embarrassing for us to roll up with a car that costs a fraction of the price of the rest of the field, can be driven to and from the track and run for 24 hours without a glitch.
daveco said:
Surely the BMW M5 of the same vintage or 911 Turbo would have been as quick as the Lotus Carlton?
LC was way above the M5 of the day.It was more a fact the LC had 4 doors and a Vauxhall badge as well as all that performance that elevated it above 911T's and such like in the eyes of the tabloid press and non-motoring types of the day.
daveco said:
Surely the BMW M5 of the same vintage or 911 Turbo would have been as quick as the Lotus Carlton?
The BMW was noticeably slower everywhere, the 964 Turbo was comparable on paper (although much slower top speed than the Carlton) but it's the perceived lunacy of a 4 door family saloon from Vauxhall doing outrageous supercar speeds which provoked the frenzy. daveco said:
Surely the BMW M5 of the same vintage or 911 Turbo would have been as quick as the Lotus Carlton?
The M5 was presumably limited to 155. The different between 155mph and 180 may be completely immaterial in practice but it was something for the press to get hold of. The Vauxhall was also quite a lot more powerful so I suppose would have been faster even without the governer. I guess there were a number of faster sports cars out there but I suppose sports cars are supposed to be fast; Vauxhall's family saloons, not so much.
kambites said:
The Vauxhall was also quite a lot more powerful so I suppose would have been faster even without the governer.
Indeed. A 1990 Vauxhall Lotus Carlton weighed around 1660 kgs with 377bhp and 419 lbft torque. The M5 at 1670kgs with 310bhp and 265 lbft was comparably asthmatic. 
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