RE: Lotus Carlton: Spotted

[Leins]

Love this (although potentially not quite as much as an Alpina E34 B10 BT)

Agree that £50k doesn't sound too bad for what it represents, especially the way everything 90s from a rusty Mk3 Golf 1.4 upwards is now a "modern classic". Surprised it's not being sold to the continent though with LHD and strong Euro. Has the market calmed down over there now?

[howardhughes]

" it's become incredibly cool; but £50,000 for a 27 year-old Vauxhall with almost 40,000 miles on the clock will always seem steep"

Really?

Quite cheap in comparison to the BMW E30 M3...ESCORT MK2 RS2000, need I go on?

[givablondabone]

VR6 Eug said:

To give an idea of how much these cost in 1991, I brought my 1st house that year and that was £33000 opposed to a car that cost £48000!
My friend brought one in 1997 for £21000 and its still in his garage now but with a blown head gasket and at the moment and no way of fixing it as that part isn't available anymore from anyone he's tried, lotus even have some cylinder heads for them left but no gaskets, if anyone knows how to get one made, a post on here would be appreciated thx
P.S. I believe one lotus carlton was silver, owned by the director of opel but I could be wrong

But how much is the house worth now.........?

[justa1972]

GingerPixel said:

One of those cars that looks infinitely better in the metal than in photos.

Yep they have real presence in the flesh.

As a spotty youth working part time in a Little Chef whilst at Sixth form the two cars that I still remember were a Lotus Carlton and an Audi Quattro 20v - one of the final ones.

If my numbers came up I'd like to add both to my garage !

Along with a Corrado VR6, Mk1 Golf GTi, Mk2 Golf GTi 16v (big bumper version) etc etc

[kylos27]

VR6 Eug said:

To give an idea of how much these cost in 1991, I brought my 1st house that year and that was £33000 opposed to a car that cost £48000!
My friend brought one in 1997 for £21000 and its still in his garage now but with a blown head gasket and at the moment and no way of fixing it as that part isn't available anymore from anyone he's tried, lotus even have some cylinder heads for them left but no gaskets, if anyone knows how to get one made, a post on here would be appreciated thx
P.S. I believe one lotus carlton was silver, owned by the director of opel but I could be wrong

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAUXHALL-LOTUS-CARLTON-HEAD-GASKET/302527972808?hash=item46701285c8:g:N4QAAMXQOQdRH3oh

[fullleather]

A young Clive Owen at the wheel, forgot he was even in the series, I just remembered seeing the car driving around a multi-storey and thinking 'silver?'

[fullleather]

From Autocar magazine 1993, it would go from 30mph to 70mph in 3.8 seconds, to save your eyes, only a Westfield SEight does it faster.

[PAUL500]

During my Cosworth/RS500 days I came close a few times to buying an LC even so far as possibly building one from scratch when a brand new old stock shell became available, as I had with a 3dr cosworth previously.

However as much as I loved the external and mechanicals, once inside, oh boy was like an old school taxi, the leather seats are like arm chairs when they should have been Recaros and the dash just like my Mk1 Cavalier SRi

An itch I never got to scratch, the LHD Omegas became so cheap for a long time.

I sort of recall Sharman but never knew it featured a silver LC, great to see the pics.

[*Al*]

fullleather said:

A young Clive Owen at the wheel, forgot he was even in the series, I just remembered seeing the car driving around a multi-storey and thinking 'silver?'

Am I alone in thinking it looks great in silver?

[phumy]

I can honestly say that my LC is a beast of a car, if you want it to be, or as docile as Miss Daisy, if you want it to be. Alongside the Audi RS2, another great icon of it time, the LC still dominates but the difference in quality of drive between the 2 is like chalk and cheese.

[996GT3_Matt]

[quote=phumy]I can honestly say that my LC is a beast of a car, if you want it to be, or as docile as Miss Daisy, if you want it to be. Alongside the Audi RS2, another great icon of it time, the LC still dominates but the difference in quality of drive between the 2 is like chalk and cheese.

Cracking pair of daily classics my friend :-)

[greenarrow]

fullleather said:

From Autocar magazine 1993, it would go from 30mph to 70mph in 3.8 seconds, to save your eyes, only a Westfield SEight does it faster.

That's a great quote, I remember it well and it emphasises how fast the Carlton was for its day. It was as quick as the full on super cars, not the junior ones. It would be like a Vauxhall VXR-8 or BMW M5 being able to do 30-70 today, in 2.0 seconds and basically being as quick as a McLaren 720S. I guess, ironically, the closest thing we have today is something like a Tesla P100D for sheer accelerative wallop, compared to supercars....

The prices have gone crazy, but the Carlton deserves it for its impact and notoriety. I doubt we'll ever get a super saloon again like it.

[paulwirral]

*Al* said:

Am I alone in thinking it looks great in silver?

No your not , I was thinking that too

[VR6 Eug]

givablondabone said:

But how much is the house worth now.........?

I met the owner of it by chance at a bbq and It sold in 2015 for £242000...slightly more than the carltons value😊

[VR6 Eug]

NotNormal said:

That car came out of Lotus just like all the rest in green. It was then subsiquently sprayed silver. A poor job too as last time I saw that car the engine bay and door shuts were still green.

Edited by NotNormal on Saturday 13th January 10:12

Many thx for the info on parts, I'll pass it on and hopefully the green beast will return to the road

[jwilliamsm3]

one of my all time favourite cars, in my top 10 list of realistic cars i'd love to own.

for years i never saw one on the road, then i saw one twice around swansea, roughly 10 years or so ago and never seen it since.

it was driven by some rather dodgy looking geezers, and it had some god awful aftermarket wheels on it, but i'm 99% sure it was the real deal.

[IanJ9375]

mikey P 500 said:

They nearly made a lotus cavalier too, when I was about 12yrs old I had a ride in the prototype one (nextdoor neighbour was Roger Becker), had the similar performance in a smaller car. Still have memories of how fast it was. I assume the lotus Vauxhall link finished before it made production.

Always had the Lotus Cav down as a rumour but apparently not -
Post by Wobert https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=13...

iirc the "Silver" LC mentioned was the MD or CEO of Lucas

[StephenGalley]

Great cars, I always loved these, the performance was incredible for the day. I loved the GSi 3000 24v too.

[ukaskew]

Had no idea these cost so much new back then, also oddly I always thought these were black.

[Mr Tidy]

I've always loved these.

If I had the money and a garage I'd have one now!

Still I did have a chat with "NotNormal" a few years ago at one of the summer PH meets when he took his along. Great guy and a stunning car - they look even better in the flesh!