We check out the world's only Lotus Carlton estate! One man's mission to build the car GM didn't
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 30 янв 2021
- The Lotus Carlton is one of the most iconic saloon cars ever made.
It's crazy to think base model Vauxhall Carlton 1.8 had just 90hp.
The range topping GSi 3000 kicked out 177hp in 12 valve form before evolving into the 204hp 24v. These were powerful cars and the straight six engine was much loved by British police in the Senator.
Lotus though, would take the base of a GSi 3000 and transform it from a high performance saloon into a super car scaring 377hp 3.6 litre twin turbo charged monster. With a top speed of 177mph the car caused controversy in the press and even the government.
It wasn't just quick in a straight line either it held the saloon car lap record at the Nurburgring for many years.
Today these cars are collectors items and cherished ones are much sought after.
The Vauxhall Carlton wasn't just sold as a saloon though there was also an estate. David Brown has owned and built numerous high performance RWD Vauxhalls over the years and it was a dream of his to build the car GM didn't - an estate version of the Lotus Carlton.
Well, he did it. Using all genuine parts, a Diamond 2.0 estate was fully converted to become the world's only (to our knowledge) Lotus Carlton estate.
This video tells the story of how that car came to be. If you've got a spare £30k it could be yours too.
We hope you enjoy the video. 
Авто/Мото
I actually owned this estate car from 1998 to 2015 when it failed the MOT. It was a great car (even with a 2 litre engine). I drove it for about 70000 miles and it never let me down once. Glad to see it is still around even with a new identity.
The exact one? Thata cool
That's the type of lad to know, someone who knows his stuff and isn't an egotist, just happy to share information. You will get lots of views with this, good luck to you.
oh my days, I used to work at a company in the West Midlands that made the castings for Lotus and we made most of the cast stuff for the Lotus Carlton even the exhaust tips were cast in aluminium and it was my job to polish them before they were sandblasted. Everything we did for Lotus at that time had to be immaculate before it left us, happy days!
Quality - MATTERS..!
Only wish we had the same pride in workmanship today...
Would love to work for a company whose priority is (was in your case) the end result. Cheers for being part of the automotive history!
Thank you for your service!
@@oldcun7 unfortunately quality costs money, and the average consumer wants good stuff cheap. really they just want it cheap.
Love this, brilliant project
I bought a medium side damaged lotus Carlton in 1997, we reshelled it into a 24 valve estate car from 1994 which had been stolen recovered basically it was almost a bare shell, a very rare car in its own wrights ,so we decided to make the lotus into an estate car ,the ultimate sleeper ,almost finished the project and was offered a crazy swap and money for it so it went to Kent in England, the car I got in swap was a sierra cosworth p100 pickup , I was never sure if the new owner finished the car ,I see no reason why not 90% completed ,mine was metallic blue not green, so seeing this vide has made my day , I know its not the one me and my friends worked on but nice to see a completed one, well done mate nice job.
Had to make some temporary vinyl sales badges for the Suffolk Vauxhall dealership of Gales of Beccles, back in 1992. These badges were only small and applied to the side and back. I was 17 at the time in a warehouse stocked with 8 Lotus Carltons. I was a car nut and I was in heaven.
Definitely my dream car 🙂👍
That exhaust system looks beautiful
Theres something about stainless/titanium welds that gets me everytime.
Can you imagine the insurance....
" Is it modified in any way?"
' errrrrr, this might take a while😀
He's trying to sell it as "the real deal" LOL.
It's nothing more than a well made "bitsa"; as "would have been made" ....
Sorry. No Like.
@@team3383 Its interesting but it aint 30k interesting!
too leeter diamond m8
@@CutLeRoc try building one for that money... i think it is sub zero cool!
That owner is living the dream right there what a humble guy great vid
Stunner. Well done chap..... I drove one when I worked at Vauxhall main dealer. Done 200 mile round trip in no time. The good old days......
Spoke to this gentleman at a car show a few years back in the Midlands. Don’t think it had been finished long and he drove it all the way there and back home.
I must say it looks amazing in the flesh and he showed me the V5 to confirm it’s heritage.
Brilliant Video, learned a bit about these amazing cars from your video! Thanks for this and can see from the number of smiles you enjoyed making this video!
Love the lotus Carlton, when I lived in Reading I was driving to work and ended up behind a car transporter with 6 lotus Carltons on the back, truly a wonderful sight that I will never forget ..imagine what that cargo would be worth now!!!
Great vid by the way👍
I used to work for Vauxhall at their Kimpton rd HQ in Luton in the early 90s when one was delivered for the MD, someone in the higher floors thought he'd take it for a cheeky blast up to jct 10 of the M1 and back, he smashed it bits on the way back when his enthusiasm outweighed his ability, he was canned immediately after being discharged from hospital. The car was completely written off with less than 30 miles on the clock..ouch.
I remember 30 years ago where i was working at the time one house had one of these (saloon) on the drive and it got a lot of attention it was a poster boy for the early 90's.
I'm starting to really enjoy these vids tbh !!! Keep up good work
OMG 😲 this has to be my favourite car in the world. This thing is epic. Well done on the work, love it!
Omg the little boy in Me that fell in love with the Carlton Is now an Grown man who fell in love with the carlestate
Mate, excellent vid. .... content like no other site...enjoy them massively.
One of my dream cars of the early 90's when I was a teenager. Loved this video as I do all of yours. Thanks for this one.
See my comment.....in the list
@@matthewc.419 eh???
@@pkautorepairs2826 I wrote about
How wen I was a kid
I worked in a vaxhaull garage
My boss had a db7 in the show room next to the Carlton lotus
Pure car porn
What a car - The Lotus Carlton came out around the time I was learning to drive. I so wanted to own one back in the day!
What a beast, you can hear the grumble and just know once the taps fully open you would run out of road pretty quick!
I watch this channel just for the accent, the good content is just a bonus
Sad bastard hahaha
Simply amazing!
A true work of art
Great video, really enjoyed it, wow that is one awesome car!!.
Massive Thanks for sharing Dougie 👍
Ford man through and through here, but gotta hand it to him, that’s a hell of a motor.
I’m a Ford man too but there is something so special about the Lotus Carlton... would love one
I could listen to you guys talking about cars all day 👍
I’m seriously impressed by what’s gone into this
Hi just started watching your videos today,very interesting,you’re awesome,thanks xx
Brill car good vid
Had a 3.0 straight 6 carlton estate years ago. Loved it wish I still had it . Surprised a lot of people
That engine sounds wonderful . Thank you
Awesome car...and £30k is good value. I remember having a tussle with one back in 1993 on a quiet A road late at night. I was in my series 2 RS Turbo....he overtook me and I kept up with him for a while going flat out...but then he just blew me into the weeds!! Great fun and what a legendary car.
I had many a race similar to you in my ‘turbs’. Tried against a TVR once but he left me as if I was stationary even though mine was 195bhp.
That’s a cracking motor.I’m a ford guy threw and threw but i do love your channel,so down to earth.Scottish just like me.i know that video that you guys on about they said that they tried to ban the car coz it was so fast that anybody could buy in the uk.keep the videos coming
What an awesome video and fantastic car. I really enjoyed this one, excellent.
I still remember seeing the omega wagon in south America. It was called the Chevrolet Omega Suprema. They used a 4.1 liter straight 6 that dated back to the 60s. Beautiful vehicle.
Great video, certainly puts a smile on your face.
Nice work. Back in the 90s I was an apprentice in a garage that specialises in Ferraris. My old man had a lotus Carlton at the same time. I can tell you first hand that Carlton had them all off the line! Even the mighty F40 was too busy waiting for boost and traction! Unfortunately the Carlton was sold after a taxi drove into the rear quarter.
As you say, you have to drive it to understand how fast they were.
Bullshit a lotus Carlton would not be quicker than a f40 😂
That's a proper car! What an amazing build.
I've only read the title and I've already hit 'like' I didn't think you could top the Senator video (one of my all time favourite cars) but this looks mega!
What an absolute gorgeous piece of machinery 😍😍😍
What a great build, Very nice car have always admired the lotus carlton.
another great update !
Great scoop for RUclips! Well done!
Lotus Carlton is my dream car, and I've read the total vauxhall magazine since 2001
One of my all time favourite cars. Absolute legend of a car. I'd buy it over anything if I came across one within my price range, though I'd need a mortgage to look after it after hearing some of the info in this video. The estate is an achievement, props to the chap who built it, proper enthusiast who knows his stuff.
These old school guys really makes these things possible to build and behold. Even today. Great project, great job! If you know what you're doing, keep on passing the knowledge folks!
Just beautiful, no other words..👍🇬🇧
Great video thanks 👍
Oh wow !!!! Thats amazing :) That is a proper unicorn !!
For Christmas 1991 I was gifted a Super Car book full of Ferrari’s, Lamborghinis and many other exotic marques however I always used to specifically go to the page with the Lotus Carlton on it and just think wow. The 177mph top speed stat always used to take me back to that page over and over again. Thanks for the upload and awesome channel.
Im sure I had that very same Book, did it have the Audi rs2 estate in there to?
Best RUclips channel in my opinion fellow scot and fellow vauxhall lover
I saw this at a show a few years back its amazing in person 👌🏻
Awesome motor ! Drove one once at a lotus dealer i worked at ,only round the car park mind !😊😊
Fantastic motor and loved reading Total Vauxhall magazine
Total vauxhall... You legend! Great vids man
Amazing cars the Lotus Carltons... if one day I could afford one I’d not think twice about it :)
Next week I have to drive the family from Chicago to NOLA for Spring Break. Would love to do it in this beauty! An amazing piece of work - looks like a factory original.
Great video, and great concept. As an owner of a rare factory performance wagon myself, it’s great to see the brilliant execution of this one. The equivalent in Australia would be someone building a VN Group A wagon. Back in the day, the Aussie 1990 VN Commodore Group A, the US Corvette ZR-1, and the Lotus Carlton all had something in common- they all used the same ZF 6 speed manual gearbox.
And the Aston Martin Vantage V550 also used the ZF S6/40 😃
Great video and great build.
There was a Lotus Carlton in Gran Turismo. I'm not sure if it's still there, but it was the first car I went for. It was the only way I was going to get one.
No insurance and it costs nothing to run.
Wowsers great conversion into the only Lotus Carlton estate my teenage dream in the 90's was the Lotus Carlton saloon just great looking car this generation Carlton
Christ on a bike, I'm not a Vauxhall fan but I love this channel. I feel strangely drawn to buying a Vauxhall!😲
It`ll pass!
The right ones are surprisingly satisfying. Just don't drive one, otherwise you'll understand the channel name!
And now you know why RUclipsrs are called “influencers”
Love that old school whine the gearbox makes👌🏾
I'm running one of the few remaining Carlton Gsi 24v's.
Swap you for a 3 bed semi detached with large gardens
Vauxhall guru, this blokes knowledge is admirable, and learned through experience.
Great vid that car is a thing of beauty and dreams.
HI Buddy, great vid again..Cheers Shane
A fast wagon is always a good thing. Big Volvo estate fan and owner but have always loved the big Vauxhalls and my first car was a Nova 😍and of course the LC is a dream. Such a wasted opportunity of Vauxhall - could have been the Fastest Estate Car In The World? The way it puts that power down is unreal and even cars today can’t really match it. I particularly love the way the Carlton has zero computers unlike the utter crap BMW and Audi foist upon us now. They will break in no time. The Carlton is just beefy, simple engineering and all the more better for it. Great video dude!
All I use is Vauxhalls for my taxis and I been doing this for 15 years. But before that I have had loads of vauxhall over the years. Did have a E reg Carlton 3000 GSI in 1999, I wished I kept it in a where house somewhere lol.
Great video mate .
Im only 13 and these are my dream cars , even the original vauxhall carlton , any of them , any price , its my duty to own 1
That's a magnificent creation
Growing up in a village just outside Luton, there was a buzz about the place when they were released
First one I saw was in green and looked a massive beast on the road.
You would only have ever seen them in Imperial Green, they didn't make them in any other colour.
What a car living the dream, the smile on his face in that passenger seat 👍
The absolute original menace to society of the car world. If you know your cars this is as famous as an F40
Great car, great video. Theres seems to be a silver/blue lotus carlton in the background earlier in the vid. I remember the TV show spender was brought back with Jimmy nail. They used a very similar car in that show. Keep up the great work.
There is and we have a couple minutes of footage on it, will maybe post it along with a few other outtakes/unused clips
I always wanted to do that, but I wanted to fit a Senator front as well. I did have a Carlton 3.0 manual estate, & that was quite a bit more than 90bhp! I also still have a Pioneer KEHP8600 that I sometimes put in my Uno, great stereo!
that’s bloody awesome.
I have this dream garage (having seen this) where you take a Vauxhall Carlton 'Eagle'hearse - the low roof-line version, add the Lotus mechanicals and end up with something like the Citroen CX Le Tissier 6 wheel estate. Add a wrap over the black paint and dark tint the windows. Mind you, the extended wheel arches over the back wheels might take a bit of working out!
What a build
That is the nuts
Absolutely amazing one off pocket rocket classic Vauxhall Lotus Carlton Estate. Vauxhall should buy this car and put it in a museum as the only Lotus they should have built at the same time as the Saloon model …. Let’s just hope no young silly lad gets their hands on it and destroys it that would be a shame.
NIce, my friends dad had a Lotus garage back in the day part of the Mann Edgerton garages (spelling could be wrong) and they had a saloon for sale, epic car for the 90s! :)
Great video, just found your channel
I was only thinking about this last week! There was a write up in either Fast Car or Max Power, I have it somewhere, I remember he'd plumbed the ABS wrong and the front went to one side and rear brakes to the other side, he tested them doing 70mph (I think) and ended up the embankment! I'll have to find the magazine now!
OH MY GOD what an absolute beast of a car😱😱
They as awesome cars and to have a one off in an estate, how cool.
A good friend of mine has a Carlton Diamond 3.0 24v Estate. Funnily enough, he bought in Edinburgh back in 2011. I went with him to get it, and the guy who sold it also had a Courteney Senator Turbo. I’ve still got the photos of it.
Great loved it I love Opel/Vauxhall have a lotus carlton myself and daily driving a kadett d gte at the moment have many other cars Datsuns Honda's and BMW's but I tend to drive the opels more
They discussed banning it in parliament 🤦♂️
jeebus just fast forwarded to 15:52 and that brings back so many memories, I can see the inlet manifold that was cast by us at Zeus Aluminium Products, pity I couldn't have a looksee at that, if it is an original casting it should have a small diamond type shaped emblem with ZAP in the middle. I did the special jobs for ZAP mostly welding up holes and then using abrasives to hide the welds, I was on 17 at the time and on a YTS scheme. I loved working there and the building still stands just outside the Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Dudley...
Oh the memories. Having said that, I would want any of them back. Not because they were bad, just because, Im not a nostalgia person. Ok, would draw the line on another renault 5 gt turbo even though the engine was made of chocolate but its the only car of which I bought two of the same even after the first one gave me loads of grief. I did enjoy my mk1 astra sr even better performance I thought than the mk1 GTE (silver) I also had. Then had a mk2 gte (a dream car inside if you were a knightrider fan), also a converted mk2 get astra van and then after, a cavalier chipped sri 130 (transplanted engine) and even though it was a quick car, my only regret was not putting the engine into a lighter astra. Thanks for the video :)
The last time & the only time i saw a lotus carlton was back in the mid 90's when it overtook me on the dual carriageway at speed on grimsby road laceby south humberside going to morrisons.
Whoosh haha.
Top video really enjoyed that.
that lotus carlton is sick!!
What an amazing car
Their was a new lotus Carlton at the time in Ayrshire
It passed me going up the old a77 to Glasgow like I was standing still
I had a Carlton cdx auto saloon, and it was the nicest car to be in so comfortable.
Brilliant channel this is my dream car lotus Carlton to see one in Scotland would be brilliant I know theres one in Buckie always want to see one & own one but the prices threw the roof I seen one in Glenrothes once & just for second next minute gone it was when it was the Vauxhall show at crail raceway .
I was in one back in the day We left South Queensberry Stirling Perth and back to start. There was 2 Lotus Caltons and a Yamaha Exup The average speed was about 130mph. It was unreal and crazy. A beautiful car in every way. They made it cos they could...
Wow 😲 amazing
Tis a thing of beauty!
I had on for three days when I worked for Vauxhall. Truly awesome car. Very twitchy in the wet. The best times for Vauxhall in the early 90's.
Love this car!
MY GODNESS.WHAT THE CAR!!