Fuzz and Elliott go for a drive in the legendary Vauxhall Lotus Carlton! 

If ever a car deserves the term ‘legend’ it’s this one. What a machine!

i had a Carlton back in the day and loved it.... was fortunate to be driven in the lotus Carlton and still remember it to this very day

My "Lottery Dream" would be one of these parked in my garage next to my South African Opel Kadett 200 GSi Superboss...

I remember being at the dealer with my old Cavalier looking at Gsi2000s and 3000s.

I saw it at the motorshow when it was unveiled - it looked like a beast.

The Carlton’s and senators in that era were proper German rivals. I had a modest 2.0cdi auto which was a quality beautiful family car. Leagues ahead of the soggy Granada i had

These things are awesome! They have so much road presence. I had the 3ltr GSI and i only sold it for i feared for my license. My other half loved it!, not because of the looks or the speed but because she could put her shopping in the boot without putting bags on top of bags! So incredibly practical too!

Very handsome car that! One of Vauxhall/Opel’s finest - they really were on a roll at the time with this, the mk3 Cavalier and the Calibra.

Lovely. In the late 80's I had the standard Carlton 3.0 GSI, which had about 180 bhp, as I recall. Not quite a Lotus, but it could shift. A bruiser of a car. The dash area was just like this one here. I always liked that dash, really classy.

Class!A jet fighter with number plates!Still looks fresh today.From a time when Vauxhall / Opel made some of the most iconic cars on the road.Lotus Carlton and Sierra Cozzie were the two most desirable cars ever made.

Everyone raved on about the cosworth yet this thing would outpace a cossie all day long.. Proper performance car of its day and something I’d love to own

What was the point if he wasn’t going to give it some

I used to drive for Vauxhall took one of them down to Sunderland man best time of driving a Vauxhall Carlton what a beast what a car

Couldn't get one at the time so I had to settle for the Carlton GSi 3L 24V, and that in itself was a fast motor. It was in the days before you could persuade authorities to give you a decent number plate. I was after G2 BAD but had to settle for G200 BAD. It was purchased from Skippers in Gloucester and was the first in Goucester and also one of the first ones released in metallic pearl white. Sold after 2 years at a huge loss due to the "Carlton Bug" (severe rot in the rear wheel arches which is why there are so few left!!).. Gorgeous car though, wish I had stored it now.

The ultimate 90’s car without a doubt . If I was driving a Cossie and this came up behind me I would definitely feel intimidated. I can see why he never floored it in any gear as I think until you own it and drive it regularly you’d never know this car’s capability to put you in a hedge .

Late 80s early 90s cars will never be replicated or be as cool

It's awesome, not safe, but an amazing history.

What a great sales pitch line from fuzz . . .`It can make ugly people look good` lmao

Ha ha, great show of restraint there Fuzz! I'd be just dying to max that thing out! Had some very fast cars in my day and always had to find out just how fast they'd go! Currently planning a trip to Germany to try and Max out my Aston Martin DB9 on the Autobahn! By the way, absolutely loved the look of the ruched leather on those chairs, looked super comfy! Nice vid lads!👍👏👏👏♥️

Just my view, but this is not just about investing in a car, it is there to be driven! I would regret buying this, locking it away like a queen and then not being able to drive her if I end up in an accident. These cars deserve to be driven and be seen! Make each day count... In regards to myself..... I would drive it like i owned it!!!! Each and every day :)

Just sold my e39 M5 and im looking for one of these.

A car I lusted after when I first saw them. With a maximum speed of 177 mph. It was almost unheard of. What is surprising are when you look at the weight of this car. 1,655 kg. In 1990 it was heavy'ish. But by todays standard, it's pretty light and if you chuck in the EV's to the equation, it's almost anorexic in proportions.

This looks like it's just come off the production line wow what a car I wished it were mine super cool

Police were left in the afterburn from these until they bought their own sets it was literally a missile on wheels even the badge said "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread"

A 1990's TWOCERS delight!!

Forever my dream car.

I remember seeing one of these at a car show when they were launched, bizarrely beautiful. It looks as though pacing up and down for over 30 years waiting for the price to go down has not been an entirely successful strategy...

Absolutely awesome looking car. Ive had the vectra 2000 4x4 about 20 years ago when I just got my license for 2 years, but the car was so rusty I had to sell it because I couldnt fix it because it was so expensive. But it was also such an awesome car like the omega 3000 etc., same kind of styling on the exterior and interior. I wish I still had that car , sadly these cars are very rare these days... Nowadays I have a late 92 usa golf rabbit with a tuned 8v engine , a 1973 1600 dual carb vw beetle and a 1997 passat b5 statiob 20vt. I just like a lot of cars from the 70s, 80s, 90s to 2005 max. Im not that interested in cars after 2005 , sure there are still a couple new era cars here and there that are very nice but I dont feel the urge to own one. I also would love to own a car from around the 1930s, like the really old war cars.....I just dont know why 😎...but yeah, really nice carlton !

Hi Fuzz. What a treat ! This obviously isn't the "barn find " that sold a few months back ! Which was in retrospect a "bargain!" Thank everyone !

I'm so glad to see the prices of these decent examples go sky high. they take a lot of abuse in the wrong hands at their old prices of 15-40k, Long Live the Lotus Carlton.

I worked on building these. Fabulous car

My Dad was really interested in buying 1 of these when i was a young kid he absolutely loved it but the price was too much, so he bought the Vauxhall Senator 3.0 litre 24v with a manual gearbox which was a awesome car back in the day. Who ever buys it hope they treasure it and use it on nice sunny days.

I test drove a rough one in 2002,and it was a bit wild on boost! I thought it needed a lot of work and made a silly offer, it was up for £13500 and I offered £12k. Those were the days!

Very very nice, thank you for this.

Espetacular pena que aqui no Brasil não tivemos a oportunidade de ve-lo mas o modelo que tivemos nas versões GL, GLS 2.0 até 94 e 2.2 95 e 96 ambos 4cc, CD e DIAMOND 3.0 e 4.1 6cc são excelentes tenho uma SW 2.0 94/94.

This machine was kicking in the doors and terrifying the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini let alone sierra Cosworths and tuned up police cars.... epic machine

Brilliant car remember my first drive it was superb!

Senator 24vs were 235 horse but felt like so much more they genuine would do 140-150 no problem seriously underrated car Vauxhall’s best kept secret..

Had the 3.0 24v omega. That was a sweet car!

So gorgeous also love sierra cosworth

Q4 2021 - 50 Lotus Carlton's licensed and a further 130 SORN'd according to 'How Many Left'.

Super fast and can even give modern fast saloons a run for their money but it was quite safe as well. I’m surprised they didn’t mention the amazing brakes it had that stop you in an instant and get you out of trouble.

I am a huge Vauxhall fan I have been lucky to have a Royal Coupe an HS Chevette an HS Chevette 2600 single cam and an Opel Ascona 400 right hand drive, only 2 factory cars ever made I am told, and in my Ford days a Capri injection auto ,a Tickford Capri and a Sierra Cosworth both hatch and Saphire but I don't think I have even seen a Lotus Carlton Wow I would like to own his car!

Are these beauties in other countries as well rather than the UK

Didn't the Lotus-Carlton use a few parts from GM's C4 Corvette ZR1, including its ZF-6-Speed transmission and its Engine Control Module (ECM) with custom firmware?

Apparently there are 50 registered, and around 120 on SORN. I should imagine that 120 figure includes 60-80 that died years ago, but were never officially recorded as scrapped

Three in my local classic car restoration company, all awaiting resto

Weren't these baed on the Australian built Holden Commodore body shell? I lived there a while, look just like one.

Im glad Fuzz pushed aside his passenfers attempt to bring up 40 RA, if you go back and see he did such. He stuck with the review of this car.

Only 250 right hand drive? Where else did they sell these? Mainland Europe? They didn’t have them in the USA. Although I believe General Motors (an American company) owned Vauxhall at the time. So just curious, where else did they sell them? They were built in Britain right?

Nothing sounds quite a lotus carlton ! 😁

Stunning.

Beautiful car! I have a friend with one stored in a garage ruff condition but complete, if I had the skills and know how of fuzz I would have loved to get it up and running for him.

What a car ❤️

Awesome no words else needed😎😎😎😎

is this the one that was in a tv show, the reg LE25 seems familiar

90 to 110k for a Vauxhall. But yeah, fully justified 👍

dream garage is this, an Lucia Delta and an RS 200

The young man is right. Buy it and drive it like it is meant to be driven.

Lotus Carlton, a Nissan 300zx and an Escort Cosworth would definitely be in a lottery garage. Was a massive fan of the all the GSi's, Calibra Turbo and Cavalier Turbo. Back in the 90s! Fk it break out the doves and some Dyewitness and ill happily fk off back to the good old days- best of my life(just dont tell my wife and daughters, they think the best times are with them NNNNNNNNNNNNOT! i jest of course, OR DO I?? lol

Has the gearbox from a Corvette and can do 55 mph in 1st gear due to it's tall gearing and in 6th gear at 70mph the revs are only at 1600rpm

What a brilliant car 🚘🚙🚗👍👍👍👍👍

Wasted opportunity to feel the power. We all wanted you to give it the beans....

There’s 1 for sale on eBay atm for 55k 👍🏻

The one and only Vauxhall I’d ever want, or possibly a GSI or Senator. They were very good then, and although they may not have sold as well, were better than equivalent Fords. The reason for the 155mph limit is tyre technology. If you ran at that speed for x minutes the tyres would wear out. I heard that a Bugatti Veyron tyre is 30:grand. A corner 😂

My dad had one what a car

Q4 2021 - 180 left in the UK. 50 licensed & 130 Sorn'd with a fair amount of those Sorn'd cars showing as summer use only. Not bad if only 250 were made originally for UK.

Leisurely drive in a Lotus Carlton......

oh what one can only dream about

I have an original hard backed brochure boxed and unused for this car, interested?

Awesome car 🥰

A car that i love i wish i had bought one of these back in 1999 when they were going for 15 grand There is one thing to worry about this car as the one thing that goes regular on these things is the head gasket seals Its a well know thing to say with these cars you age the time you own one by the amount of gaskets you have had to change on it

The Carlton GSI 24V was,nt too shabby if you could,nt run to one of these.

They should do a modern day version

Remember seing 2 parked up in wj furbers salvage in wem in the late 90s both with burnt out engine bay. Prone to overheating in a deadly manner.

I had my friends one but that best of a car the mith stands out pace a lot of cars up to this day for a four saloon M5 move over

I have not got the money but i have got its lesser sister the 2.0 diplomat that is worth next to nothing compared .

Absolute torture not being able to gun it. Very stressful video to watch !

Opel Omega?

There's more chance of pranging it go 20 round those blind bends than doing over 60 on a nice straight

This car changed the rules when it came to having a fast family car. Nothing was ever as good or fun to drive again.

🙏🤞

My Father had one of these much to the annoyance of my mum who wanted him to buy a mercedes unlucky for us it was the worse car he ever had always breaking down and went rusty very quickly it was the source of many family arguments for years.

Donut he's shot scared of its power 😂 its 0-60 in 4.8sec Top Speed 186mph.

I owned nr 227. Sold it, regret it, mine had 420hp. I could drift it with 100mph in 3rd gear damp road.

Parliment had no problem with Ferraris or Lamborghinis being able to do high speeds, they didn't like the fact that 'common people' could afford it

180 left. According to web

AMAZING car, but that indicator fitment....

On collector cars/investing: it should still be driven. Doesn't need to be crazy mileage. No point worrying about damaging it. That's what insurance is for, and if you are a car collector and don't have your own insurance broker and insurance you know you can rely on, you are a foolish car collector. A somewhat relevant saying is "A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what a ship is for". I mean half the fun of having a car like this is taking it out and having people go "OMFG is that a Lotus Carlton?!" Plus its not like its a $20million classic ferrari, its maybe a ~100k car and people drive 100 grand cars on the road all the time.

The owner is very nervous. He does not like the idea you are driving his car and is afraid of damaging it...😅

A few years ago you could get a minter for 50k,not so long ago.

No no. The Irmscher Evo 500 is clearly better. But rare as golden eggs. Only 36 were ever produced.

A big build up and then just very frustrating to watch a car like that being driven at pedestrian speed, Fuz drove like an old lady, embarrassing to watch!.

At the time I thought they were amazing and I wanted one. I don't think they've aged well and they do nothing for me now.

Can anyone actually look at a Carlton without thinking of “40RA” 🤔

I hated the front end look of the Carlton the way the bonnet drooped down on to the front bumper, I worked for a Vauxhall dealership from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s and until the mk1 Astra came out the cars were absolute shit

With a name like Carlton 😆, here in West we had a tv show with a nerdy dude in it named " Carlton" . the car does not look that bad for a British car or Australia wherever it's from. With the name alone this car can't be taken serious 😆.

40 RA

What a waste of time this was. Missed opportunity to do a good review.

Should of took it on the bus way and caned it 😂 - or Oulton is only down the rd 😎