The legendary Lotus Carlton is the kind of car that comes along once in a generation.

At a time when really fast four-door saloons were the preserve of BMW and Mercedes, this Vauxhall (Opel) derived super saloon arrived on the scene demolishing the opposition.

Oddly, it wasn't its huge performance or masculine good looks that created the most fuss, but the fact that the Daily Mail was so outraged by its stated top speed of 176mph, that it declared it too fast for British roads.

Of course, the Lotus Carlton - or Type 104 to Lotus aficionados - was nothing of the sort, and although it shared its major components with a mainstream executive car, its level of development across every aspect of automotive dynamics had resulted in a truly special performance car.

It was powered by a twin-turbo version of the venerable straight-six used in the range topping Senator, which developed a remarkable 377bhp.

To achieve that figure, Lotus had put a lot of work into the 3.6-litre power unit, up...