In the summer of 1986, Opel gained iconic British sports car company, Lotus, and automotive world is wondering what on earth created the Viva family and gentleman salon was going to do with high performance cars. They had to wait three years to learn.
Take a normal family saloon car and put a 3.6 liter Lotus engine in it and what you get?
Vauxhall Lotus Carlton in 1990, which became the fastest saloon car in the world capable of speeds up to 176 mph.
Vauxhall Motors is owned by U.S. car giant General Motors (GM) since 1925 and since 1962, when GM acquired the German manufacturer Opel, both companies regularly share the same design, engines, parts and vehicles under different badges for different markets .
and early-Carlton were modest relations of what was to come.
is the first Opel Omega Carlton or as it later became known in Europe and the United States, was the British version of Opel Rekord in Germany.
Mark 1 Carlton is a typical 1.8 or 2.0 liter gasoline four door great family car aimed at the middle market to compete with the Ford Cortina and Granade.Prostran comfortable and right drive motors with a reasonable performance, it is also available as an estate car.
However, despite the many interior design upgrades and diesel versions, the sale is not spectacular.
Mark 1 Carlton is mainly built in Germany and assembled in the factory Vauxhall Luton from 1978 to 1986, when he replaced Mark 2, which became the basis for Opel Lotus supercar.
New Carlton was a completely different beast to its predecessor. Designed to be at Ford and BMW for the British executive saloon market, at the end of the presentation in 1986, Carlton / Omega range, I earned industry recognition of the European Car of the Year.
Mark 2 Carlton is powered by a straight-6 engine with 2.6 and 3.0 liter range. In 1986, the engine is a 12-valve, but later models offer more powerful 24-valve version of the Carlton GSi, which became the foundation of Lotus car production.
Mark 2 Carlton is powered by a straight-6 engine with 2.6 and 3.0 liter range. In 1986, the engine is a 12-valve, but later models offer more powerful 24-valve version of the Carlton GSi, which became the foundation of Lotus car production.
...3615 cc V6 engine, Lotus has built a four-valve aluminum cylinder head with twin overhead camshafts. Equipped with two Garrett T25 water-cooled turbochargers develops 377 hp car at 5200 rpm, with a whopping 419 pounds per foot of torque.
drive is taken over the six-speed transmission taken from the Chevrolet Corvette to strengthen the rear wheel differential. This allowed the Lotus Carlton and the incredible speed of 176 mph when tested on the track speed Nardo in southern Italy.
GM plans to produce 1100 cars in the beginning more than three years, but due to the recession that hit in that time and the high price tag of £ 48,000, sales were slower than expected, and only 950 cars were built up over time when Lotus was made last Carlton in 1992.
Lotus Carlton will probably go down in history as the fastest saloon car that nobody knew about! The fact that the car was so fast that caused so much controversy on joint advertising did not mention this fact, just that it could accelerate from 0 to 60 in 5.2 seconds! If they sell a car at an amazing ability, Vauxhall Lotus Carlton May had much different story.
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