Dan Trent: Chasing the Autobahn dream in a Lotus Carlton

As I trundled along I took solace in the fact that I’m not the first to experience such frustration, my mind wandering to another tale of a British motoring journalist getting a reality check on the Autobahn. In his story ‘Rain stopped play’ for Car back in 1991 the incomparable Russell Bulgin recounted his attempt to max out a Lotus Carlton and see if it really could hit the claimed 176mph that had so enraged some sections of the press. I remember reading the story back in the day and still have it in a book compiled by his friends and colleagues after his untimely death in 2002 – suffice to say Bulgin and the Lotus Carlton were an influential combination and my recent Autobahn experience resonated with those he described, albeit in far sharper prose than I could ever manage.

Predictably as soon as I was back from my trip I was into the classifieds seeking out Lotus Carltons, the dream of taking it to Germany in honour of Bulgin’s adventure seemingly fitting. 

Since entering the profession myself I’ve come desperately close to driving a Lotus Carlton too, Vauxhall keeping one on its historic fleet and occasionally lending it out for special occasions. How close? It was in the office car park not so long ago and I got to walk around it, awestruck. The keys, frustratingly, were still out of reach though. 

Considered a big hulk of a car by early 90s standards it’s still a big hunk of metal. The standard Carlton on which it as based was always a handsome machine to my mind, the big Ronal wheels and pumped-up body kit added by Lotus as part of its makeover given added menace by the dark metallic green they were all painted in. There’s no point trying to better Bulgin’s words, his assertion GM design boss Wayne Cherry and his team were wont to “enjoy playing Motorhead albums very loud while leafing through photo-albums full of Stealth fighter pictures” nailing the Carlton’s look perfectly. 

The sheer impertinence of a £48,000 Vauxhall claiming supercar-beating top speed was, perhaps, key to the indignation and calls for the car to be banned on safety grounds. There was even a notorious case of a gang of ram raiders who used one to terrorise the West Midlands, untouchable to the wheezing panda cars attempting to give chase. That bad boy reputation just adds to its appeal to my mind, the mighty 377bhp and 419lb ft of torque from its twin-turbocharged 3.6-litre straight-six still thrillingly potent even in a modern context of 600hp-plus Mercedes-AMGs and M BMWs. Those who have driven Vauxhall’s example say it still feels thunderously quick, even today.   

With fewer than 300 sold in the UK they’re not exactly plentiful in the classifieds either. Silverstone Auctions sold one with just 4,500 miles on the clock for £72,000 earlier in the year, a reflection of the car’s iconic standing among those of us raised on its legend. I’ve written before about the weird association between mileage and value and, in this case, I fear its new owner will be more interested in tucking it away as an investment than risking a few stone chips on a flat-out Autobahn run.  

I’ve found another though, a privately offered one with a more realistic 66,000 miles on the clock. Enough to make it usable but low enough to make it valuable, the £49,950 it’s up for to within a few hundred quid of what it would have cost its first owner over a quarter of a century ago. The fact it’s offered with a box file full of supporting goodies, including the book, presentation pack and a few other trinkets gifted to owners upon delivery adds some further authenticity. Your money would surely be safe, put it that way. 

Ownership would simply have to include a return trip to Germany and an attempt to finish the job started by Bulgin back in 1991. I’d love to be the one to do it. Maybe not in the rain though.  

[Sources: Car Magazine, The Independent]

Photography courtesy of Silverstone Auctions