RE: Lotus Carlton: Spotted

[LotusOmega375D]

After 5 years ownership, I sold my left-hooker (Lotus Omega) to a collector in April 2015 at about 13550km (8400 miles). According to the DVLA it has since been MOT'd in March 2016 at 13574km (8416 miles), in March 2017 at 13584km (8422 miles) and in March 2018 at 13595km (8429 miles).

I guess it's a 6 or 7 mile round trip to the local MOT station! Other than that it cannot have been driven in over 3 years. Nevertheless I suspect that it is now worth rather more than the 32 grand I sold it for, so the joke's on me!

[djdest]

Yes some parts can be near impossible at times.
I remember reading about clutch forks being common to break, and at one point cars were laid up for ages while waiting for a new batch to be made

[rampageturke]

LotusOmega375D said:

After 5 years ownership, I sold my left-hooker (Lotus Omega) to a collector in April 2015 at about 13550km (8400 miles). According to the DVLA it has since been MOT'd in March 2016 at 13574km (8416 miles), in March 2017 at 13584km (8422 miles) and in March 2018 at 13595km (8429 miles).

I guess it's a 6 or 7 mile round trip to the local MOT station! Other than that it cannot have been driven in over 3 years. Nevertheless I suspect that it is now worth rather more than the 32 grand I sold it for, so the joke's on me!

Ehhh, I'm not so sure. 3 years with only MOT miles on it, who's buying? nobody

[LotusOmega375D]

It's not for sale. Just part of a huge collection.

[CharlieAlphaMike]

I was really into my motorbikes back when these were around and remember how quick they were having diced with one on my then brand new Kawasaki ZX7R. That would have been 1996 so the Lotus would have been a few years old by then. Awesome.

[NotNormal]

djdest said:

Yes some parts can be near impossible at times.
I remember reading about clutch forks being common to break, and at one point cars were laid up for ages while waiting for a new batch to be made

The forks don’t break but the pivot pin or the bellhousing can if not upgraded.

Parts can be tricky sometimes but not as bad as the internet makes out and no different to other classics or limited edition specials from other manufactures.

[greenarrow]

Its funny just how snobby so many people on PH are. £100K is a crazy price of a LC...but is it really compared with other vehicles of the same era.

i.e a Countach QV was worth about £50K ten years ago, now its more like £300K. Both are iconic vehicles with similar straight line speed (up to 100MPH at least), but no-one bats an eye lid at the Lambo price.

In a world where people ask £40K for an Escort RS Cosworth I reckon £100K for a LC is about right.

[blade7]

greenarrow said:

In a world where people ask £40K for an Escort RS Cosworth I reckon £100K for a LC is about right.

[s m]

greenarrow said:

Its funny just how snobby so many people on PH are. £100K is a crazy price of a LC...but is it really compared with other vehicles of the same era.

i.e a Countach QV was worth about £50K ten years ago, now its more like £300K. Both are iconic vehicles with similar straight line speed (up to 100MPH at least), but no-one bats an eye lid at the Lambo price.

In a world where people ask £40K for an Escort RS Cosworth I reckon £100K for a LC is about right.

Although both sound value for money compared to the £600,000 1970s 911 2.7 featured weeks ago on here......
And the old 911 sounds dirt cheap compared to the £55 million Ferrari 250 ....
911 and Ferrari fanboys have more cash than Ford and Vauxhall ones etc etc

[CO2000]

blade7 said:

greenarrow said:

In a world where people ask £40K for an Escort RS Cosworth I reckon £100K for a LC is about right.

15 odd years ago I looked at straight swapping my Escort Cosworth for one but couldn't get over the interior esp the wood but the rest is very nice and rairity should make worth more but not that more!

[PAUL500]

These and Cosworths were great cars in their day, and became performance bargains for the man on the street for a long time.

However they have not suddenly become better with age, and once the rose tinted glasses are removed they are simply big boys toys now for guys reliving their youth with a good few quid under their belt.

[Welshbeef]

greenarrow said:

Its funny just how snobby so many people on PH are. £100K is a crazy price of a LC...but is it really compared with other vehicles of the same era.

i.e a Countach QV was worth about £50K ten years ago, now its more like £300K. Both are iconic vehicles with similar straight line speed (up to 100MPH at least), but no-one bats an eye lid at the Lambo price.

In a world where people ask £40K for an Escort RS Cosworth I reckon £100K for a LC is about right.

It’s expensive relativevto the E34 3.6 or 3.8 ltr M5.
Or the 500E

[slowly]

75 biguns! Got to be extracting the michael.
The last time I saw one of these it was cruisin around the local sink estate, all blacked-out windows, one openin do pass out da stuff for a deal, yes the druggies favourite get-away car. I think plod had it spotted fairly quickly. I mean, its not subtle innit bro
I'd only gone to the chippy, get big helpings from that one. And something extra for da weekend sir from the street outside

[Doofus]

slowly said:

75 biguns! Got to be extracting the michael.
The last time I saw one of these it was cruisin around the local sink estate, all blacked-out windows, one openin do pass out da stuff for a deal, yes the druggies favourite get-away car. I think plod had it spotted fairly quickly. I mean, its not subtle innit bro
I'd only gone to the chippy, get big helpings from that one. And something extra for da weekend sir from the street outside

Quite.

[phumy]

Looks like theyve given up on the £75k price and put it on Ebay, seems it started at £100 earlier today..

Link here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1992-VAUXHALL-LOTUS-CAR...

[Welshbeef]

phumy said:

Looks like theyve given up on the £75k price and put it on Ebay, seems it started at £100 earlier today..

Link here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1992-VAUXHALL-LOTUS-CAR...

£25k with 6 days to go and 6 bids.... anyone here bidding it up?

[phumy]

Welshbeef said:

£25k with 6 days to go and 6 bids.... anyone here bidding it up?

Dodgy bidding on this one i feel, it jumped from £1k to £20k in one bid..

[Oilchange]

Crackie said:

I recall a 90s group test with a Lotus Carlton, Turbo B10 Alpina, Merc 500E and marvelling at the specs. Carlton is a wonderful machine but a mapped 25000 mile, £25000 BMW 640i grand coupe or Audi S5 Sportback would have 400bhp, be quicker, handle better, be more reliable and do 30mpg. Either option makes far sense but hey who needs sensible...….

An Audi A5 handle better than a Lotus Carlton? Are you on something?

[diddles]

phumy said:

Welshbeef said:

£25k with 6 days to go and 6 bids.... anyone here bidding it up?

Dodgy bidding on this one i feel, it jumped from £1k to £20k in one bid..

Why do you think that? All I see are a couple of people kicking off with semi realistic starting bids.

[s m]

diddles said:

phumy said:

Welshbeef said:

£25k with 6 days to go and 6 bids.... anyone here bidding it up?

Dodgy bidding on this one i feel, it jumped from £1k to £20k in one bid..

Why do you think that? All I see are a couple of people kicking off with semi realistic starting bids.

If I had the funds to buy a 80s/90s icon for occasional use it would be this over the Testarossa also up for discussion at the moment on the front page
Plus the spare change left from buying the Lotus would see a lot left over for a V6 Exige or similar for a fast sports car if I wanted something low and 2 seater
Could just see me being able to use it more "as a car" i.e. long Euro trips and being able to take people and luggage, same performance, easier to see out of in traffic etc