http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vauxhall-Lotus-Carlton-3-6-TWIN-TURBO-37-868-MILES-/170539213520?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item27b4ede2d0#ht_1039wt_1270

 

Just don't have the cash this month...pfft!

bleh! ... its not a z.

very nice theyrs one that sits in one of the schemes near me with no wheels been temptef to chap his door

Nice Jane! .... and one hell of a car! i've been in one but only as a passenger and that was scary enough lol

Never liked them.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vauxhall-Lotus-Carlton-3-6-TWIN-TURBO-37-868-MILES-/170539213520?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item27b4ede2d0#ht_1039wt_1270

 

Just don't have the cash this month...pfft!

 

Would have loved one of these, cracking cars in my opinion.

na i dont like them.

Me likey too :D

I liked them in the old days, when I was like 12, but nowhere near as quick or reliable, or even as well built as a Z.

Showing my age a bit here but i remember one twirling around on a stand and the Brum Nec many years ago when they were spanking new.Liked them then but now mmm im not sure,it really is just a carlton that was tweaked,they handle like boats id imagine.The gsi3000 never handled that well so id imagine that wont either.Come to think of no Vauxhall did then.They always had a poor chassis compared to other cars.Anybody that owned an sri,gte or gsi from back in the day will know what i mean.With any performance Vauxhall then you just hung on for dear life when you gave it beans and it just rolled and lifted wheels as it pleased.

Come to think of no Vauxhall did then.They always had a poor chassis compared to other cars.Anybody that owned an sri,gte or gsi from back in the day will know what i mean.With any performance Vauxhall then you just hung on for dear life when you gave it beans and it just rolled and lifted wheels as it pleased.

 

That was my 3.0 calibra down to a tee :)

Showing my age a bit here but i remember one twirling around on a stand and the Brum Nec many years ago when they were spanking new.Liked them then but now mmm im not sure,it really is just a carlton that was tweaked,they handle like boats id imagine.The gsi3000 never handled that well so id imagine that wont either.Come to think of no Vauxhall did then.They always had a poor chassis compared to other cars.Anybody that owned an sri,gte or gsi from back in the day will know what i mean.With any performance Vauxhall then you just hung on for dear life when you gave it beans and it just rolled and lifted wheels as it pleased.

 

I'm sure you're right, its just a bit of nostalgia!

Most people would give their right arm for a lotus carlton, and they didnt handle too bad for a big salloon but their main territory was fast A roads and motorways where they where effortless mile-munchers.160mph with 4 adults and a bootful of luggage across europe was feasable if you could keep

it in fuel.they had the twin-turbo chargecooled C36GET engine in them. :)

Never really saw the attraction of them.

 

Big engine in a shit car is shit a shit car lol

Big engine in a shit car is shit a shit car lol

 

Or

 

Big engine in a shit car is still a shit car :taz:

Never really saw the attraction of them.

 

Big engine in a shit car is shit a shit car lol

 

Ever driven one?.........most people change their minds once they have.

 

The 3.6 lump is as smooth as silk and 377bhp isnt to be sniffed at :)

Ever driven one?.........most people change their minds once they have.

 

The 3.6 lump is as smooth as silk and 377bhp isnt to be sniffed at :)

 

Dad's mate had one for about 6 months, nothing but problems and cant get spare parts, ate tyres quicker than the cookie monster eats cookies.

 

Yeah its powerful, but so it a robin reliant with a V8 in from a TVR. Still doesnt mean I'd want one ;)

I dont like,i love,but i never liked the Cartlon,its those round rear arches an front spoiler that make it for me.They're gettin old now,bits are hard to get,if i had one,i think id only use it on nice days.

You have to remember what else was around when they rolled this off the production line. The super-powerful saloon battle hadn't really started in Germany and here was an essentially British motor hitting 176mph on the autobahns (I remember seeing the article in Fast Lane mag). I'm pretty certain those guys from Hethel wouldn't have allowed any car wearing the green and yellow badge to 'handle like a barge' as Lotus' reputation as a manufacturer existed nearly exclusively on how their cars handle (well it certainly wasn't build quality or reliability).

 

If you wanted anything from Germany which could keep up you'd have to look at AMG (before they went in-house at Mercedes) or Brabus - both of which would have set you back an arm and a leg comparitively. For me, the Carlton stands as an iconic car which should be celebrated, not slagged off because a Merc E350CDI is infact now a better handling car and just as quick. People always say you should never meet your heroes, maybe this is a good example of that statement.

 

If you ask me, the Carlton still looks pretty mean and definitely looks better in the metal rather than pictures.

 

:gunsmilie:

You have to remember what else was around when they rolled this off the production line. The super-powerful saloon battle hadn't really started in Germany and here was an essentially British motor hitting 176mph on the autobahns (I remember seeing the article in Fast Lane mag). I'm pretty certain those guys from Hethel wouldn't have allowed any car wearing the green and yellow badge to 'handle like a barge' as Lotus' reputation as a manufacturer existed nearly exclusively on how their cars handle (well it certainly wasn't build quality or reliability).

 

If you wanted anything from Germany which could keep up you'd have to look at AMG (before they went in-house at Mercedes) or Brabus - both of which would have set you back an arm and a leg comparitively. For me, the Carlton stands as an iconic car which should be celebrated, not slagged off because a Merc E350CDI is infact now a better handling car and just as quick. People always say you should never meet your heroes, maybe this is a good example of that statement.

 

If you ask me, the Carlton still looks pretty mean and definitely looks better in the metal rather than pictures.

 

:gunsmilie:

 

Bmw M5 or Bmw Alpina B10 bi-turbo are the cars I instantly think of as alternatives to the max powered Carlton. Both of which are far superior and cost less.

Edited September 30, 201114 yr by Yowser

the fake wood trim say's it all!:hurl:

 

dan.:biggrin:

Bmw M5 or Bmw Alpina B10 bi-turbo are the cars I instantly think of as alternatives to the max powered Carlton. Both of which are far superior and cost less.

 

Think you missed my point a bit - I meant when they were new, not second hand values. The standard E34 M5 however, wasn't really in the same performance league, certainly in-gear anyway. OK, so the M5 was hand made in germany by obsessive compulsive engineers, handled extremely well on trick dampers and was the definition of understated beauty, but I still think we should be proud of the Carlton. Calling it MAX POWERED is a little unfair. Just look at the current crop of overtly aggressive styled cars in that class, by modern standards its quite understated.

 

As much as I like these cars there's no way on earth I would want to look after one of them, they would ruin you financially in about 12 months.

Think you missed my point a bit - I meant when they were new, not second hand values. The standard E34 M5 however, wasn't really in the same performance league, certainly in-gear anyway. OK, so the M5 was hand made in germany by obsessive compulsive engineers, handled extremely well on trick dampers and was the definition of understated beauty, but I still think we should be proud of the Carlton. Calling it MAX POWERED is a little unfair. Just look at the current crop of overtly aggressive styled cars in that class, by modern standards its quite understated.

 

As much as I like these cars there's no way on earth I would want to look after one of them, they would ruin you financially in about 12 months.

 

I dont believe I've missed your point, I meant when new too ;)

 

The M5 was £32k, the LC was a rediculous £48k

 

The M5 was a little behind on the straight line performance, but would destroy it on track. The B10-bi turbo was a close match, and famously renowned for embarrassing the Ferrari Testorossa, made in even less numbers than the LC, and far more tunable with its twin turbo setup. They are high performance versions of a far superior car than the LC was based on, built with high quality materials with first class engineering, and they were cheaper too. The LC is a modified and kitted Carlton gsi, which was fairly dire to begin with.

 

In its own right, the LC is not a bad car....its just over-hyped both in reputation and price compared to what else was available.

Edited September 30, 201114 yr by Yowser

Showing my age a bit here but i remember one twirling around on a stand and the Brum Nec many years ago when they were spanking new.Liked them then but now mmm im not sure,it really is just a carlton that was tweaked,they handle like boats id imagine.The gsi3000 never handled that well so id imagine that wont either.Come to think of no Vauxhall did then.They always had a poor chassis compared to other cars.Anybody that owned an sri,gte or gsi from back in the day will know what i mean.With any performance Vauxhall then you just hung on for dear life when you gave it beans and it just rolled and lifted wheels as it pleased.

 

I remember that too mate.....

 

.....I liked it back then because it was a Vauxhall saloon that could out-perform many supercars in the day. And because the "responsible" press hated it, just because it was somehow "wrong" and un-PC that a family barge could to 176mph!!

 

Now? Well it's a bit of retro-cool, but one that I would not want to buy. But I still (and I know I'll get slated for this) prefer it to the Cosworth!! Even if it's a Carlton (which I did hate in those days)....

 

.....And Jimmer's bang on about the handling of "lesser" Vauxhalls from the day. I had an 8v Astra GTe back in 1990 - it was only 6 months old and still handled like a hippo on a roller-skate!! I would probably not be here now if I have bought the 16v version....:death:

 

The Cavaliers of that age were OK though; I replaced the Astra (after tipping it on its roof) with a Cav SRi (again, nearly new at the time) and that way way better...

 

Richard:cool3:

I dont believe I've missed your point, I meant when new too ;)

 

The M5 was £32k, the LC was a rediculous £48k

 

The M5 was a little behind on the straight line performance, but would destroy it on track. The B10-bi turbo was a close match, and famously renowned for embarrassing the Ferrari Testorossa, made in even less numbers than the LC, and far more tunable with its twin turbo setup. They are high performance versions of a far superior car than the LC was based on, built with high quality materials with first class engineering, and they were cheaper too. The LC is a modified and kitted Carlton gsi, which was fairly dire to begin with.

 

In its own right, the LC is not a bad car....its just over-hyped both in reputation and price compared to what else was available.

 

OK, I concede you're probably right. But.. 32grand was the basic list price for the beemer - by the time you've specced some reasonable options (like Glass in the windows, steering wheel, air in the tyres etc..) it would easily be more like 40k. They were made in higher numbers too.

 

Last little dig - the LC would destroy it at Indianapolis (ahem, which I believe is a TRACK).

 

OK Game Over, I loose! :pinch:

lotus carlton iconic mad motor 176+ mph from a four door salloon ...the fastest four door saloon of its day handling by lotus and is not to be compares to other vauxhall barges of teh day....a precursor to the VXR monaro ....for rarity value and road presence alone i would love one......but then again i am in my 50,s