1993 Vauxhall Lotus Carlton

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 6-speed 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 - 4-pot calipers with 330mm ventilated discs at the front and 2-pot at the rear - sat behind specially developed Goodyear tyres. Performance was brisk, to say the least. 0-60mph came up in five seconds, 0-100 was dispatched in 11.1 seconds and in 1992, Autocar  magazine recorded a time of 17 seconds for their 0-100-0 challenge, second best behind an F40, however it's the car's maximum speed of 176mph that will always be quoted by its fans.

This beautiful example was one of the last off the line and, according to the Lotus Certificate of Vehicle Provenance, it was designated #0919. It's obvious that it has been treasured and well cared for all its life and has spent the last ten years in correct storage as part of a bespoke Collection.

The indicated mileage is 74,301 and its exceptional condition makes it one of the very best to come to market in recent years. A recent check over by a Lotus Specialist only revealed a slightly slow thermostat and it was noted that 'the car drives exceptionally well'.

What really sets this Lotus Carlton apart from other examples is that it's accompanied by a fascinating volume of original R&D documents from the Lotus factory at Hethel. Quite by chance, over a motoring-themed evening, the marriage of these and the car was made possible. In addition to the very substantial, still unopened, cellophane-wrapped owner's commemorative book, there are multiple volumes of development journals from the Test and Development Department at Hethel whilst pre-production tests were being carried out. Included are mission notes, current engineering proposal folders covering everything from brakes to charge-cooling systems, engineering reports for High Speed Testing and production schedules, and numerous project reports to be circulated out to the 'who’s-who' within Lotus, Opel, GM and Vauxhall. Also present is a record of a directive sent out to the Dealer Network advising against automatic car washes because the rear track was too wide. It's also supplied with dealer service manuals and the cased TECH 1 dealer diagnostic computer. It would be an understatement to say the history content with this car is comprehensive and surely a unique package.

'Sledgehammer' was the word often used to describe the performance of these saloons but Vauxhall footnoted promotional content with the words 'Very few will be made, very few will understand or appreciate it fully'. More than 30 years later, it's fair to say that we do understand and with climbing values, it's undoubtedly fully appreciated.