Pretty much all of the words that are overused these days can be easily (and correctly) applied to the Lotus Carlton. Kids will be ‘obsessed’ about a new song for a fortnight; this four-door saloon has turned grown adults into quivering wrecks for more than 30 years. Cars will be declared ‘iconic’ after a YouTuber does another two-second run to 62mph; here’s a car based on a Vauxhall family saloon, with no direct predecessor or replacement, that can be recognised by its paint colour alone. Everything has an aura or is a flex or offers up clout with very little substance behind the dubious styling; here was a car that looked a bit like your old man’s CD yet was so fast there were calls to ban it. You may have heard that story. It’s arguable that no other four-door car before or since the Lotus Carlton, in the UK at least, has had quite the same impact.
Even when they were less than £100,000 (hope your guess wasn’t too far off), the LC was always hugely desirable. It enjoyed a period of being more affordable (£20k would have bought a minter 15 years), though never a time of being underappreciated or unrecognised - if you knew, you knew. A Lotus Carlton has always been the epitome of supersaloon cool. Perhaps the fact that the Germans have continued to make fantastic fast four-doors since the time of the Carlton has only helped the mystique; there was no precedent for this car, it was absolutely brilliant, a few were sold over a very short time, then that was it. A moment in history not to be repeated. The Vauxhall-badged Holdens were cool, and links were made at the time - but they were fundamentally different beasts.
We all know plenty about the Carlton, but not everyone is aware that the original Vauxhall that was going to get the Lotus glow up (the brand having been acquired by GM in 1986) was the Senator. Eventually it was decided that that car would never be sporty enough, even with the input of a legendary sports car maker, so the project was moved to the Carlton - which already had some pedigree with the GSI in the UK as well as the Evo 500 DTM homologation car.
Imagine a saloon from the Stellantis empire launching now with more power than an M5. Barmy, yet that’s exactly what the Carlton achieved, and so began its journey to performance car icon. The BMW had a 3.6-litre straight six in 1990, and so did the big Vaux, but two Garrett turbos helped it to 382hp and 415lb ft where the BMW could only muster 315hp and 265lb ft. It wasn’t so much top of the class as a league of its own, back when nothing conveyed proper prestige like a super fast saloon. There wouldn’t be an M5 with more torque than a Lotus Carlton until 2011.
But because of the changes undertaken by Lotus, with bigger brakes and a focus on high-speed stability in the suspension tuning (handy with nearly 180mph possible), the Carlton never felt overawed by its power. That was perhaps the LC’s most significant achievement (as well as riling up the Daily Mail); it was monstrously fast, yes, but decent to drive as well. The ultimate ‘bahnstormer, just as 155mph limiters were being introduced. With fewer than a thousand Carltons hand-made in Hethel more than 30 years ago, they’re becoming harder and harder to find. That being said, with values having risen in the past decade (they seem to have levelled off now), those that have survived are being properly cared for now. A Lotus Carlton was cool to have at £30k or so; when it’s triple that the duty to keep it nice is far greater.
This one is very special indeed, first registered 33 years ago on Thursday and with just two previous owners since then. As far as can be told it’s an original, unrestored version with just 36,500 miles, complete with correct wheels, exhaust and upholstery. A major service has just been completed. All is exactly as it should be, and looks absolutely wonderful for it, from engine bay to boot badge. There’ll never be a day, surely, that won’t be improved knowing you have a Lotus Carlton. Even if it will have cost you £99,995 for the privilege. Which isn’t a great deal less than the original £48,000 asking price in today’s money (£107,000). But as with its AMG and BMW M contemporaries, people are latching onto the very best from days gone by, and the desirability doesn’t look like going anywhere at all. If the collection is missing a Carlton, there won’t be many better.
1 / 4
