The Lotus Carlton was a Vauxhall Carlton upgraded by Lotus Cars to be a 177mph sports saloon with acceleration to equal contemporary supercars.

When released, it was the fastest four-door saloon car in the world.

The external differences were minimal with the addition of a rear spoiler, air intakes on the bonnet, Lotus badges on the front wings and bootlid, a bodykit and considerably wider wheel arches.

The car was only sold in one colour, a shade of British Racing Green called Imperial Green, a very dark green that in anything but direct light appears black.

Lotus re-worked the 2969cc, 24V straight six used in the Carlton GSi and bored it out to 3615cc.

In addition, twin Garrett T25 turbochargers were attached resulting in 377bhp and torque at 419lb/ft.

Power was transmitted through a six-speed ZF manual gearbox and power was driven to the rear wheels via a limited-slip differential.

The brakes were supplied by AP with 330mm ventilated discs all round and racing calipers.

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