Tuesday 1st November 2011

Spotted: 1993 Lotus Carlton

Fancy owning the Daddy of early nineties saloons?

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We've been thinking about the Lotus Carlton since one appeared in a particularly popular PH Carpool last month, wondering what it would take to acquire one and what some alternatives might be.

Of course it all depends upon whether you want a mint example or something that needs varying amounts of time, money, and knuckle skin to bring it up to snuff. H&H sold one just a couple of weeks ago at auction in Buxton for a shade over £8,000 despite an estimate of £10,000-12,000, which a colleague who went along described as 'not bad'. Whereas you can pay well north of £20,000 for something like PHer NotNormal's fully restored and fettled example.

Somewhere in between the two perhaps is this Lotus Carlton from our classifieds. The servicing is all up to date and there's a stack of paperwork backing-up five grand's worth of engine work, new turbos, a set of Yoko's which have been little more than scrubbed-in and a lot more besides.

Looking at the pictures the bodywork appears to be straight and ding-free. The vendor describes it as "very original, although the paintwork shows the odd blemish and it could do with a professional cut-and-polish...oh and it needs a new glove box catch too." Both of these issues he intends to have carried out before the car meets its new owner.

It seems, then, that this is an example of the breed which you could enjoy right away and perhaps steadily enhance to top-notch order. There were, however, other properly rapid saloons from the same period which might tempt you away from the LC - although none really compare directly with the Imperial Green Satan's Taxi.

One alternative is this BMW M5, which doesn't quite carry the same exclusivity tag, but it is one of the later 3.8-litre cars, is showing just 62,000 miles and is reportedly in remarkable condition. And if you want similar go but without so much show then perhaps a Mercedes 500E like this would be more to your taste?

The Merc is perhaps arguably the least engaging car from a driver's point of view, although Porsche were heavily involved in its development, while the BMW is indeed an extremely well-honed driving machine. But what of the Lotus Carlton; is it worth digging a little deeper to buy what was the fastest four-door car of its day?

All very nice, but perhaps this...	...or this would take your fancy instead?

[tinyh98]

It would have to be the M5......

[BallsOfTitanium]

Those were the days when mainstream manufacturers had the balls and money to do cars just because they could!! I do miss em

[uncle tez]

It would have to be the carlton for me but i wonder how a vxr8 would compare as there about £15k these days

[Lets Torque]

It would be the Lotus Carlton for me.

One of the best cars of the 90's IMO.

[NotNormal]

PH article said:

Whereas you can pay well north of £20,000 for something like PHer notnormal's fully restored and fettled example

Certainly VERY VERY VERY north for a car nearing the condition of mine.

Not that my particular car is for sale.

[Garlick]

US spec 500E? Bootlid plate recess suggests so to me.

[pSyCoSiS]

Love the Lotus Carlton.

But surely the BMW equivalent would be the Alpina B10 Bi-Turbo? Which has similar power and speed outputs?

[Mork of Ork]

I wonder if that Merc is an import? It has a square rear plate and it appears to have had a square plate on the front at some point judging by the photo with no front plate fitted.

[Numeric]

Still remember when one of these destroyed me on the Autobahn, great car and love one in the garage - oh happy days!!

[cookie1600]

If only had the additional garage space, looks like an idea adrenalin pump for the Summer.

[silversixx]

NotNormal said:

PH article said:

Whereas you can pay well north of £20,000 for something like PHer notnormal's fully restored and fettled example

Certainly VERY VERY VERY north for a car nearing the condition of mine.

Not that my particular car is for sale.

[Fartgalen]

Carlton for me please.

[Husaberk]

tinyh98 said:

It would have to be the M5......

Not with that godawful interior at that price.

[Liquid Knight]

Carlton for me just so my dad can set the suspension up properly (that one looks a bit high).

[NotNormal]

Liquid Knight said:

Carlton for me just so my dad can set the suspension up properly (that one looks a bit high).

Looks about right to me. Rear suspension has variable ride height so pumps up when ignition is turned on and sinks when its turned off as the air is released. Hence why the rear on the one in the article looks low (as they all tend to be when parked up).

Edited by NotNormal on Tuesday 1st November 12:10

[ChrisDT]

Carlton for me... Always loved them and the company I used to work for has a 7k miler in storage that gets used every now and then!

[ChrisDT]

Carlton for me... Always loved them and the company I used to work for has a 7k miler in storage that gets used every now and then!

[myhandle]

Garlick said:

US spec 500E? Bootlid plate recess suggests so to me.

It has European spec headlights though - the US ones have a visible square cut out below the outer lens for the DOT-compliant lamp. Of course, these could have been changed from US spec to ROW spec at some stage. So possibly from another market. Being LHD only, it doesn't narrow it down as much as for most cars. Japan possibly, where the numberplate is fairly US-sized?

[s m]

For any Lotus Carlton fans, there's an article on them in "Total Vauxhall" next month.

First one I ever got to see close-up was Dalian Atkinson's ( the old footballer that played for Villa (iirc)) new one.
Just incredibly fast 20 years back ( and no slouch now! )

[hertfordshire1]

I'll take the M5 (as I own one)....




.....but have always fancied a LC. They do look mental on the road..


Cheers Steve