The world’s fastest sedan by a wide margin, both when it was introduced and for decades afterwards, the Lotus Carlton is deservedly legendary. It possesses the ingredients of a great automotive icon: collaboration between iconic names, a convoluted development story, an even more convoluted manufacturing process, public furor, calls from both media and government to ban it, and ties to the criminal underworld.
The only Lotus sedan ever made, the Carlton was born from a desire to spice up General Motors’ unexciting image in Europe. Having bought the entire Lotus company in 1986, GM had just the folks to liven up the Opel Omega, or as it was called in the British market, the Vauxhall Carlton. In order to launch in time for its scheduled 1989 Geneva Motor Show debut, the Carlton prototype was hastily thrown together, using a thoughtful combination of Lotus cleverness and performance bits from the GM parts bin. The engine was a stroked, beefed up, twin-turbocharged version of the Carlton GSi’s 24-valve 3.0 liter inline-6, which raised power from 204 hp to a shocking 377 hp, just 8 hp fewer than a Ferrari Testarossa and 62 hp more than a Porsche Turbo.
It was backed by a 6-speed ZF manual transmission originally designed for the Corvette ZR-1, making the Carlton one of the first ever 6-speed cars. Meanwhile, the differential was the limited slip unit from the Australian Holden Commodore. The suspension, brakes, and aerodynamics were comprehensively reworked by Lotus engineers and the resulting car had handling poise, aerodynamic efficiency, and stability to give it a shocking 177 mph top speed, slightly behind a Testarossa and well ahead of not just the naturally-aspirated Porsche 911, but also the 911 Turbo.
All Lotus Carltons and Omegas started on the production line in Germany, where they were finished as standard 24 valve 3.0 liter cars before being shipped to Lotus facilities in the United Kingdom where they were stripped of mechanical components and interior trim before being converted. It was a time-consuming and expensive process, although the car still cost much less than anything else approaching its level of performance.
The car’s performance made it immensely exciting for enthusiasts, but both media and Britain’s parliament viewed it as irresponsibly swift, publicly condemning the car, which only added to its appeal in the eyes of baddies. And baddies didn’t just mean hooligan motorists, it meant actual bad guys. They were often stolen for both joy-riding purposes and to use as getaway cars after robberies, something that its sinister dark green paintwork and seating for four only helped improve its suitability for this mission.
This particular example remained in the United Kingdom until being purchased by an American owner who exported the car in 2020. It has documented history back to new, having been completed on 26 May 1992 and first registered 21 October 1992. It was originally issued K plates, wore a pair of private plates, and was registered on its most recent plate K848 DNM in 1994. In 2001, the car had covered 84,000 miles and was purchased by its third keeper, who part exchanged a 1996 Ford Escort Cosworth against it. In 2007, its final UK owner acquired it at 101,000 miles and had larger T28 turbochargers fitted, together with considerable maintenance. A cosmetic restoration of the exterior was also performed during this period, including full respray. A Certificate of Vehicle provenance was issued to that owner by Lotus in 2020, confirming its build date and specifics relating to its construction. A file of MOTs and tax discs from the car’s life in the UK further corroborate the car’s life there.
Once in America, the car was featured in Jason Cammisa’s Revelations episode and in 2023-2024, the car received a full engine rebuild at a cost of approximately $30,000. The car comes with a thick file of invoices showing extensive maintenance and outlining its provenance and is among a very small number in the United States. With just 950 examples built originally, these cars are an order of magnitude rarer than their contemporary performance sedans from BMW and Mercedes, in addition to being quite a bit faster as well.
