From 2024, Lotus has embarked on the path of electrification. In 2021, the company unveiled the Evija supercar and began production of its first Off-road vehiclethe Eletre, in 2023. A third EVthe Emeya, was added to the Lotus range this year. Technically, it is the company’s first vehicle to resemble a four-door sedan.
However, it was not the company’s first foray into the four-door segment. In the early 1990s, Lotus sold a super saloon based on the Opel/Vauxhall Omega. It was called the Carlton and was one of the wildest saloons of the time.
The Carlton was created at a time when Lotus was owned by General Motors, as were Opel and its British sister model Vauxhall. GM had already commissioned Lotus to develop the powertrain for the then-upcoming Chevrolet Corvette C4 ZR-1, so it’s not surprising that the partnership was extended to a European-made vehicle.
Both the ZR-1 and the Carlton were launched in 1990 and were quite impressive in their respective segments. Powered by a 375bhp V8 engine (later upgraded to 405bhp), the ZR-1 set no less than seven endurance and speed records. Lotus had no such ambitions, but the Carlton was also enormously powerful and fast.
Powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter inline-six, the sedan came with 377 horsepower and 568 Nm of torque, slightly more than the Corvette. While it wasn’t as fast as the ZR-1, which accelerated from 0-60 mph in 5.1 seconds, it outperformed every souped-up sedan of the era, including the BMW M5 E34 and the Mercedes-Benz 500E.
The Carlton’s top speed of 176mph was equally impressive, especially when high-performance saloons with electronically limited top speeds were hitting showrooms. The Lotus was also only 4mph slower than the Corvette ZR-1. The Carlton was so ridiculous that the Daily Mail and the Association of Chief Police Officers launched a campaign to ban the saloon in the UK.
Lotus and Vauxhall planned to build 1,100 examples, but due to the recession in the early 1990s and the high price tag of £48,000, only 950 cars rolled off the assembly line before production ceased in December 1992. The company built 320 Carltons and 630 Omegas. It goes without saying that the Carlton is a sought-after collector’s item in 2024.
But that’s not to say that all 320 examples were pampered by their owners. As incredible as it may sound, the example shown here was abandoned for a whopping 30 years. That’s right: this Carlton was driven for two or three years before being parked in a front yard, completely exposed to the elements.
Granted, the sedan doesn’t look terrible for a vehicle that’s been sitting around for so long. However, the damage is so extensive that major repairs or perhaps even a restoration are required. The owner doesn’t seem happy about people posting the car on the internet, though, so who knows how long this Carlton will remain a sad junk find. Check it out in the video below.
