During General Motors ownership of Lotus, the American car Giant set the engineering department the task of producing the ultimate saloon car for it subsidiary Vauxhall and Opel marques.
The base for this exercise was the Vauxhall Carlton/Opel Omega, a large family 4-door rear wheel drive saloon.
Using the GM 2969cc 6 cylinder engine as a basis, Lotus engineers increased the capacity to 3638cc and added a pair of small Garrett Turbochargers.
To cope with this power, a new ZF 6-speed gearbox was fitted, with a high top gear which gave 70mph at just 1650rpm.
The chassis was also extensively uprated. Brakes were Ventilated discs with 4-pot Calipers fitted to the Front. The Front and Rear Track was increased with the fitment of larger wheels.
The Front and Rear spoilers combined to give zero lift, while the resulting drag coefficient was just over 0.30.
The Carlton body was fitted with side skirts, wheelarch extensions and twin bonnet vents, which were both functional and aggressive looking.
A dicreet Lotus badge was also fitted at the bottom of the front wing, to suggest this was no ordinary Carlton.
The Lotus Carlron was going to be limited to 155 mph like most German performance cars, but common sense prevailed and the Lotus Carlton showed its true potential. At 175 mph, this became the fastest production saloon in the world. With 0-60mph in 5.0 secs and 0-100mph in 10.9 secs.
The design brief had been achieved, and for those lucky enough to have �48,000 to spend, it was a worthwhile investment.
Voted European Car of the Year in 1987, the Carlton/Omega had class leading aerodynamics and a good chassis.
The result was 377 bhp.
The standard suspension system was retained, but stiffened and strengthened, with the rear suspension being self-levelling to give effective aerodynamic downforce at all speeds.
