1991 Vauxhall Lotus Carlton

• Number 216 of just 284 UK right-hand drive Lotus Carltons and showing a warranted 32,000 miles• Presented with an extensive history file collated by just three owners, the current since 2009• Offered from the private collection of a Vauxhall dealership group chairman• Correctly stored, lightly used and maintained in-house at our vendor's Vauxhall workshop• Included in the sale is the rare book 'Making of the Lotus Carlton' by Ian Adcock • Magazine featured, meticulously maintained and an impeccable provenance. The legendary Lotus Carlton is the kind of car that comes along once in a generation. At a time when really fast four-door saloons were the preserve of BMW and Mercedes, this Vauxhall (Opel) derived super saloon arrived on the scene demolishing the opposition. Oddly, it wasn't its huge performance or masculine good looks that created the most fuss, but the fact that the Daily Mail was so outraged by its stated top speed of 176mph, that it declared it too fast for British roads. Of course, the Lotus Carlton - or Type 104 to Lotus aficionados - was nothing of the sort, and although it shared its major components with a mainstream executive car, its level of development across every aspect of automotive dynamics had resulted in a truly special performance car. It was powered by a twin-turbo version of the venerable straight-six used in the range topping Senator, which developed a remarkable 377bhp. To achieve that figure, Lotus had put a lot of work into the 3.6-litre power unit, uprating and strengthening the bottom end, porting the 24-valve cylinder head (from the Carlton GSI), and fitting forged 'slipper pistons' made by Mahle atop new Lotus-designed connecting rods tied to a counterweighted, forged steel crankshaft. The gearbox was the same six-speeder used in the Corvette ZR-1, the only transmission in GM's parts bin, capable of handling the car's monster torque. AP Group-C derived brakes - four-pot calipers with 330mm ventilated discs at the front and two-pot at the rear - sat behind specially developed Goodyear tyres. Number 216 was first registered as one of just 284 right-hand drive Lotus Carltons to the first owner's company, prior to being transferred to him personally, between the two totalling some sixteen years of ownership. The second owner kept the car for a further two years until it was purchased by our vendor in 2009 and became the cornerstone of his extensive and important Vauxhall collection. He is the Chairman of a Vauxhall Dealership group in South Wales and has correctly stored #216 together with his other noted Vauxhalls and Opels. Naturally, it has been diligently maintained by his own technicians, the car does belong to the boss after all. The car featured prominently in an eight-page article for Total Vauxhall in 2013, where our vendor's personal and professional passion for all things Vauxhall came to the fore. The history file includes a fully stamped service book that warrants the mileage of some 32,000 and included in the sale are the original Lotus Owners Handbook pack in its Green Leather Binder, two keys, the Lotus workshop manual, fitted Clifford Alarm system and remote, the very rare limited-edition Ian Adcock hard-back book 'The Making of the Lotus Carlton', various old M0Ts, and extensive maintenance invoices and receipts. With its gleaming Amazonian Green paintwork and superb black leather interior, the Carlton is presented to auction with an MoT until March 2019 and a fresh service by our vendor's Vauxhall workshop. As one of the rarest fast saloons of the period, this important car has good driver's mileage and an impeccable provenance.