The Vauxhall Lotus Carlton Is A Hot Family Sedan That Famously Outran The Police

The Vauxhall Lotus Carlton, also sold as the Opel Lotus Omega, is a proper modern classic, holding the title of being the second fastest sedan in the world when it came out. It was so fast, in fact, that it almost got banned in the UK. Now, one of these legendary sports sedans is for sale, and it looks to be a very tempting prospect.

As the story goes, back in the ‘90s, a group of criminals in the UK stole a Lotus Carlton registered “40 RA” to use as their getaway car for a series of ram raids. In the months to come, they stole about £20,000 worth of cigarettes and alcohol. Police were unable to touch the car, as its top speed was nearly double that of their cruisers at the time. As a result, the Association of Chief Police Officers as well as Parliament and The Daily Mail tried to get the Lotus Carlton banned, but to no avail. By the way, the thieves’ car was never found and its current whereabouts are unknown.

This particular 1993 Lotus Carlton is listed for sale on The Market and was purchased sight-unseen by the seller back in 2014. Their plan was to use the car regularly as an enjoyable daily driver, but it ended up going into dry storage. In 2018, they decided the car should be used as intended, so they took it out of storage and brought it back to life, having just finished the restoration earlier this year.

The exterior is finished in Imperial Green with silver wheels, the color scheme that every Lotus Carlton wore. Compared to the standard Carlton, the car features a new body kit, wider wheel arches, hood vents, a spoiler, and Lotus badging. The wider 17” monoblock wheels were manufactured my Ronal, and behind them sat 12.9” brake discs with four-piston calipers at the front and two-piston calipers at the rear.

On the inside, the cabin has been preserved well, but it does show some signs of its age. All the seats are free of tears and the black leather upholstery is in good shape save for a few creases. The headliner is also in good condition, displaying no signs of sagging, and the sunroof is fully operational. The wood trim isn’t in absolute perfect condition, but then again, the seller’s mission for this car was for it to be used rather than stashed away.

Powering the Lotus Carlton is a twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter inline-six that sends 377 hp (382 PS / 281 kW) and 419 lb-ft (568 Nm) of torque to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission. The sprint to 60 mph (96 km/h) takes 5.2 seconds, and its top speed of 177 mph (285 km/h) is what famously allowed it to outrun the police, whose cars at the time topped out at 90 mph (145 km/h).