Vauxhall Lotus Carlton

1991 Vauxhall Lotus Carlton

Offered by Silverstone Auctions | Silverstone, England | July 29-30, 2017

Photo – Silverstone Auctions

You’re looking at the coolest car to ever wear the Vauxhall badge. It began life as a Vauxhall Carlton (which was the British version of the Opel Omega). This generation of the European full-size sedan/wagon (or “executive car”) was built between 1986 and 1993.

The hotted up Lotus version was available only from 1990 through 1992. Lotus took the standard Opel 3.0-liter engine and massaged it into a 3.6-liter straight-six and then strapped two turbochargers on top for a final power rating of 377 horsepower. That’s still pretty serious today. Sixty arrived in five seconds and the top speed was listed at 176 mph, which is pretty crazy. It outperformed many cars that were much more expensive when new – and most of those had two fewer doors as well.

The Lotus Carlton could be had in one color: Imperial Green, which looks black from nearly every angle and in every photograph. They weren’t cheap when they went on sale and that is reflected in the low build count. Opel wanted to built 1,100 examples but they only ended up selling 950 – split between Opel and Vauxhall, with this version being much rarer. Only 320 Vauxhall Lotus Carltons were produced and this example has a remarkable 4,500 original miles on the odometer. It should bring between $77,500-$90,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $94,557.

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