A PETROLHEAD has revealed the secret history of his extremely rare modern classic motor – claiming the model is infamous in some parts of the country.
Car enthusiast Paul Rees is a lifelong fan of the iconic Vauxhall Carlton – a nameplate that spanned decades from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.
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But when he bought an ultra-rare Vauxhall Lotus Carlton, a super saloon with a top speed of 176 mph, he was unaware of its notorious past.
Speaking in the brilliant Influx short film ‘Cars that made the 90s – Vauxhall Lotus Carlton’, which has nearly 850k views on YouTube, Reese said: “I’ve been into Carltons all my life, since I was a kid.
“My dad had one, an estate car, and I just loved the feel of the car and what the car was.
“It’s supercar performance in a saloon car.”
Delving deep into the car’s backstory, Rees was able to uncover a range of interesting facts about how it was made, its design and why it’s considered so controversial.
“So it’s got a new drive chain, it’s got a new differential gearbox, the block was recast, so it was strengthened because the GSi blocks they were testing kept blowing up, kept splitting because of the power,” he said.
“They stroked the engine to 3.6 – put mold pistons into it, slipper mold pistons, which brought the compression down.
“The cam shafts are the same, the in-depth valves are the same and the lifters, all the hydraulic valves, all the same as a 24 valve GSi.
“And then they put the two turbos on with a charge cooler from the Lotus Esprit, and that’s what you’ve got in front of you today.”
These days, there are only around 105 Carltons left on the road – and Rees has uncovered a malevolent reason why.
He said: “Because of its top speed and its acceleration, the government and the police decided to get together and try and get the car banned.
“They didn’t succeed thankfully, and that’s why the car is on the road today.”
The car gained particular infamy in 1993, becoming central to a crime that remains unsolved to this day.
“40 RA is a Vauxhall Lotus Carlton that was nicked up in the Midlands, West Midlands, by a gang of robbers,” he said.
“The car was actually used in a number of robberies around the West Midlands for several days and was never caught by the police.”
This specific Carlton, stolen from Worcestershire, was used by criminals largely due to its wicked speed – which was more than enough to escape the cops.
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“The police only had little Pandas [smaller patrol cars, such as a Rover Metro] which would only top out at 55 to 60 mph.
“And all they saw was this black Lotus Carlton disappearing in the sunset with a boot full of liquor and cigarettes.
“They never ever caught it.”
There are even rumours the car was rapid enough to outpace the West Midlands police helicopter.
Rees added: “They were that brazen, they did a burglary literally opposite the police station and still got away.
“It was later found in a canal in Null, where the thieves had dumped it.
“A barge went over it and crushed the roof in, and that’s how they found it.
“But the thieves were never ever caught.”
Influx, powered by Adrian Flux – one of the UK’s largest specialist motor insurance brokers – offers enthusiasts and petrolheads an eclectic mix of the world’s finest cars and bikes, plus rarely seen glimpses of the people and cultures behind them.
