Rumormill: Lotus considering a Carlton successor

Damon Lavrinc — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:55:00 EST

Filed under: Sedan, Europe, Lotus, Holden, Vauxhall, Rumormill

Click above for a gallery off the original Lotus Carlton.

Of all the sleepers in automobiledom, the Lotus Carlton holds a special place in our hearts. Based off the Vauxhall Carlton sold in Europe, Lotus stroked out the 3.0-liter inline-six of the standard car to displace 3615 cc, added a couple of Garrett turbos and sent the resulting 382 hp and 419 lb.-ft. of torque through a six-speed ZF transmission pulled from the original Corvette ZR-1. In short, it was the ultimate low-flying aircraft, with room for four, a 0-60 time of 4.9 seconds and a top speed of over 175 mph - in 1990.

Lotus head Michael Kimberley told Autocar, that he would "like the company to build another car in the mould of the Lotus Carlton." What could form the basis of the sleeper sedan's revival? The recently unveiled Vauxhall Insignia is the modern equivalent of the Carlton, and with a modified 2.8-liter V6 packing a set of turbos and sending power to all four wheels, GM could have a serious performance package on its hands. And if the General decides to bring over the Insignia to the U.S... Lotus Aura has a nice ring to it.

Check the gallery below for more shots of the original Lotus Carlton and make the jump to watch Tiff Needell work his magic with the boosted sedan.

Gallery: Lotus Carlton

[Source: Autocar]

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Rumormill: Lotus considering a Carlton successor originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Autoblog Night Watch: Lotus Carlton

Damon Lavrinc — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 01:55:00 EST

Filed under: Videos, Lotus

When Lotus announced earlier this week that its intends to bring three new models to production over the next few years, we began day-dreaming of the myriad of possibilities that may come about.

As good as the Elise and Exige are, and as good as the Europa and new Esprit hope to be, some of Lotus' more intriguing offerings were vehicles that weren't developed from the ground up by the boys in Hethel.

Stateside, the Ford Lotus Cortina has been hailed as the original sport compact. Introduced in 1963 and sold in limited numbers, the Cortina benefited from the staple Lotus tweaks, namely suspension upgrades and lightweight materials. When compared to the Lotus Carlton, however, it seemed pedestrian, at best.

The video above is a vintage episode of Top Gear, with then host, Tiff Needell driving one of the most controversial vehicles ever to be offered in Europe. The Lotus Carlton was based on the Vauxhall sedan bearing the same name and was stuffed with a twin-turbo 3.6-liter inline six, developing 377 hp and 419 ft/lbs. of torque. All that power was channeled through a six-speed manual transmission pulled from the Corvette ZR1, sent to the rear wheels through an LSD, which then catapulted the stately sedan to 60 in 5.2 seconds. All of this before we even broke into the 90s.

Since part of Lotus' plan for the future includes helping to develop vehicles for other manufactures, we hope that the standard set by the Cortina and Carlton may inspire upcoming collaborative efforts.

Autoblog Night Watch: Lotus Carlton originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 23 Sep 2006 01:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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