Thread: Lotus Carlton

the ultimate of all cars




lotus carlton, it was that quick it got banned by the police haha

I love these! One of those sad things i'd like to do... someone asks what engine you have and reply with 'a 3.6 v6 TWIN TURBO'. Nice, and a bit of a sleeper!! Always good!

agreed the lotus carlton is a sweet bit of kit but my favourite of the older generations is still this...

Metro 6R4

the 6r4 was amazin my dad used to own a couple of carltons and i remember him try to build a replica 6r4 in our garage haha never got very far as tryin to locate genuine parts was difficult

Can we stick to talking about Lotus Carlton's in this thread please.

Metro 6R4 Poll


Lotus Carlton is 'Classic' status for me, there use to be one in Birmingham which I passed everytime I went to buy stock, but I think he's upgraded(downgrade even?) to an Evo6 as a replacement.

Where's the poll?

Lotus Carltons are cool for sure, but I'm not sure about "The ultimate of all cars" personally!

the lotus carlton is the only car to have ever been banned as it was too fast for police to catch, even today its spec is still better than alot of sports cars. in its day the only car that came close to it was the lamborghini diablo even an M5 was no match. it used to eat ferrari's and 911 turbos and best of all it was british

Cool car!

A friend of a friend used to have one of these and it was just immense. Mind you.....it required a lot of money to maintain it and I remember a new clutch was £900 and that was just for the part it self!

Originally Posted by munchman s3

the lotus carlton is the only car to have ever been banned as it was too fast for police to catch,

Where did you get that from??

This is from Pistonheads:

These days we may be used to the likes of Mercedes and BMW rolling out 500bhp+ uber-saloons, but in 1990 a Vauxhall Carlton that could reach 179mph created a national scandal.The Association of Chief Police Officers reportedly labelled the Lotus Carlton ‘an outrageous invitation to speed’, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said it was a ‘high speed safety hazard’, and tabloid newspapers demanded the car be banned.

its cool considering what was around then.
workmate said his was interesting to drive in wet/on ice.

Very cool indeed!!

Bit of a vid:-

LINK

awesomeness

Awesome bit of kit. There was one on stand at a car show I was at th eother weekend.

It's a family saloon that will exceed 170mph, that's cool, it just is!

Originally Posted by munchman s3

*it used to eat ferrari's and 911 turbos

*and best of all it was british

*No it didn't lol

*.....and German.

Originally Posted by sam4191

I love these! One of those sad things i'd like to do... someone asks what engine you have and reply with 'a 3.6 v6 TWIN TURBO'. Nice, and a bit of a sleeper!! Always good!

They're a straight six

Absolutley love the Lotus Carlton. Just an insane car.

Banned by the police though. :| That ****ing sucks.

my dad had a 3.6 about 5 years ago and it is one of the fastest cars i have ever been in, it also confused everybody having a 2.0 cdx badge on the boot and vauxhall badges not lotus!

Originally Posted by yellowgti

my dad had a 3.6 about 5 years ago and it is one of the fastest cars i have ever been in, it also confused everybody having a 2.0 cdx badge on the boot and vauxhall badges not lotus!

A debadged genuine Lotus Carlton?

Any pictures?

a guy round my way has two, one mint and standard and the other has been tweaked to 650 bhp and had the clocks re-calibrated to 220mph but i dont know what the top speed is though, he was on about taking it to germany to try it out, oh and just for fun hes got a vxr8, nice on some eh

Originally Posted by mtwallet28

a guy round my way has two, one mint and standard and the other has been tweaked to 650 bhp and had the clocks re-calibrated to 220mph but i dont know what the top speed is though, he was on about taking it to germany to try it out, oh and just for fun hes got a vxr8, nice on some eh

How?

from what he was saying its had something done to/with the turbos (dont know what),full custom exhaust without the cats and he took it up to superchips to have something done (not sure what was done) and various other things, cant tell you the full spec as i only talked to him briefly about it when i took a cylinder head in to be tested and refaced as he owns a garage a few miles from me. hes well into lotus carltons and cars in general, hes even got a small museum with a few cars, tractors and bikes called tacla taid in newborough on anglesey.im just going on what he told me about the power figure

Originally Posted by pjmspeedy

A friend of a friend used to have one of these and it was just immense. Mind you.....it required a lot of money to maintain it and I remember a new clutch was £900 and that was just for the part it self!

Guy near me LC eats its clutch every 2-3 months. A zub zero outlaw mota.

my old engineering instructor had one in the early 90's an he said he got rid of it cause he was spendin way too much money per month on rear tires!!! lol

there awesome cars!i remember when i was working at a house,and they had one!and i spilt white gloss down the wing of it!

Originally Posted by mtwallet28

from what he was saying its had something done to/with the turbos (dont know what),full custom exhaust without the cats and he took it up to superchips to have something done (not sure what was done) and various other things, cant tell you the full spec as i only talked to him briefly about it when i took a cylinder head in to be tested and refaced as he owns a garage a few miles from me. hes well into lotus carltons and cars in general, hes even got a small museum with a few cars, tractors and bikes called tacla taid in newborough on anglesey.im just going on what he told me about the power figure

Unfortunately chap he was pulling your pilsner.

If he went on the AutobahnStormers website and claimed that, he'd get laughed off there.

LC's are pretty close to their limits as they are.

fair comment mate, as i said i just went by what he told me and i dont know what these engines are capable of. at the time it sounded feasable to me as i know scoobies an cossies are tuned to silly bhp and theyre only 2 litre

When did these cars come out? 1990? 0-60 = 4.9s and 170 mph top end is seriously quick in todays standards let alone 19 years ago. It was the car of its day. So rare, can't even remember the last time I saw one, only 4 for sale on trader - one is £40k!!!

Any car whose right to exist is debated in the Commons must be sub-zero!

Walking round BVOA show this weekend, had to capture this, all in mint condition

Originally Posted by Crombie

Walking round BVOA show this weekend, had to capture this, all in mint condition

I find them a bit slow Crombie

Of course, thats after you slashed their tyres with the dundee

you all dont get the point of the cool wall, Your driving the lotus, you pull up next to a lady, and have to spend 30 mins explaining why it isnt and old vauxhall with a bodykit!!!

As a drive, its cool. As a car, seriously uncool.

Nah...I remember the Lotus Carlton when it was announced.....my parents had an underpowered 1.8 Carlton (LOL).....and it was simply mega !

For the police to want to ban it at the time means its just sub zero !!!!

a company in sussex that done the 2.0 conversion on my corsa many moons ago was in the process of building this when i was there, seen the engine on a stand and what a bit of kit it is!! check out http://www.lc890g.co.uk/

sub zero for me! truly awesome car!!

Originally Posted by stephen lab

a company in sussex that done the 2.0 conversion on my corsa many moons ago was in the process of building this when i was there, seen the engine on a stand and what a bit of kit it is!! check out http://www.lc890g.co.uk/

sub zero for me! truly awesome car!!

Used to be a member of vauxhall sportscar club a few years ago, recall he'd update work done to car regularly on there. Felt for the guy when workshop caught fire, he's done alot of challenging work, respect to the guy for keeping another LC alive

lotus carlton kicked off the mega fast saloon era that we now can thank them for rs4s m5 and amg mercs,well done vauxhall.

I always remember Jasper Carrott taking the pi$$ out of Lotus Carltons....as they were being advertised as a family car.......for Mr & Mrs Fittipaldi :-)
They are awesome cars...and I remember owning Mk1 Vauxhall Cavaliers (yes i am that old grumble) looking up to the Lotus Carlton.....

Amusingly my mum had a 1.8 carlton....huge body...small engine...pretty gutless...

My friends Lotus Carlton bit the dust a couple of months back. His garage was torched by his new girlfriends ex. couldnt get the cossie Rs500 out the way fast enough in just his birthday suit. It was superb to drive and like a bullet. British racing green. R.I.P.

awesome cars

Brilliant cars.

Ive got an old brochure from when i was a vauxhall nut i'll try and find it.

If i remember correctly the finance deals/apr were mental.......something like £700 per month to get one back in 91/92!

Originally Posted by voorhees

its cool considering what was around then.
workmate said his was interesting to drive in wet/on ice.

My old mans senator 3.0 s6 was interesting enough to drive in the wet, dread to think what the lotus carltons were like,

That said, a real iconic car and I'd love to own one, but not with the current fuel prices...

Got a decatted Lotus Carlton on the rolling road next saturday the 28th Jan for power runs and logging.. I am like a big kid I cannot wait....lol

Originally Posted by R-Tech-Nick

Got a decatted Lotus Carlton on the rolling road next saturday the 28th Jan for power runs and logging.. I am like a big kid I cannot wait....lol

Hey Nick, any update on the figues yet? lol thanks

i once a few years back had a play of the lights in my subaru with a lotus carlton and he sadly blew a turbo of the lights...... i did stop to offer a hand but it was a little terminal for road side repair... whooooops great car and stunning looks for a large car for the 90's

I knew a guy that had one of these then had it resprayed white, he got thrown out the Vauxhall owners club for it :D