350Z
May 10 2009, 06:25 AM


QUOTE
The Lotus Carlton (in mainland Europe, the Lotus Omega) was a Vauxhall Carlton saloon upgraded by Lotus Cars to be a 177 mph (285 km/h) sports car. Like all Lotus vehicles, it was given a type designation — Type 104 in this case. The external differences were minimal to the five seater with only the rear spoiler, air intakes on the bonnet, Lotus badges on the front wings and bootlid, and considerably wider wheel arches telling it apart from any other Carlton. 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' modifications included an upgraded engine, which was stroked (the bore remained the same as the original block) from the standard Vauxhall 2969 cc 24v straight six unit, used in the GSi, to a capacity of 3615 cc. Lotus then added twin Garrett T25 turbochargers and an intercooler to give 377 hp (281 kW). A six-speed manual ZF transmission from a Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 was used to transfer this power to the rear wheels. The car was capable of 0-60 mph in 5.2 seconds and had 12.5 in (330 mm) AP ventilated disc brakes with racing calipers all round.
Uwe
May 10 2009, 08:41 AM
Classic sleeper. Cool.
speedyK
May 10 2009, 09:20 AM
Doesn't do much for me. Hardly grabs your attention in this pic, does it?!

Put it this way: there is a
very, very VERY, VERY long list of cars I'd rather own!
350Z
May 10 2009, 10:05 AM
Well it is a sleeper so not grabbing attention is kinda the point.
moe
May 10 2009, 11:14 AM
One of the greatest sleepers ever built. Should be frozen.
dukenukem
May 11 2009, 09:10 AM
Thats a classic sleeper. Wicked quick and just enough hint for the educated to identify one when its not unleashing its fury.
Dr. Strangelove
May 11 2009, 10:15 PM
Try picking a date up in one. Uncool. Sorry guys, its good, but not cool.
MustangAficionado
May 11 2009, 10:38 PM
To me, this is what cool's about at the core. Yeah, the NSX to me gets the cool badge despite me be underwhelmed in it because of its looks - but this car could look much worse and still be cool to me. Same reason the Buick GNX is frozen - shit's a wolf in sheeps clothing.
A wolf in a pink and chrome blazer doesn't get any points from me unless its a classic sexy design.
I would 100% love to own this car.
And BTW, if I didn't associate the look of the Lotus with its heritage and performance, it would not be very cool looking at all.
You can pick up a date in a Mercedes SLR, Ferrari California, Porsche Boxer ect. And those are all the worst cars those companies make, very uncool.
moe
May 12 2009, 02:29 AM
^ It's not REALLY a Lotus. It's a Vauxhall Calrton done up by Lotus... admittedly very done up.
Also, saying the California and Boxster are the worst cars their respective manufacturers make is pretty weak, considering the two really don't have a weak link in the range right now...they haven't had one for quite some time. I suppose Porsche has the Cayenne, but it's not a bad car, it's just a bit dated and ill-proportioned.
And the SLR the worst car Merc makes? Not by a long shot. A-class, B-class, and the CLC all share that dubious honor.
MustangAficionado
May 12 2009, 08:08 AM
I wasn't saying it's cool because it's a lotus. The Cayenne isn't a car. The SLR is the worst piece of crap mercedes makes in recent time followed closely by the CLS. A boxer is not cool. The California's a stretch, but it's not really a GT car to me, not a track performer, has no heritage. It's not cool simply because it's a Ferrari, however I would agree you could argue other points.
Kip_666
May 18 2009, 12:33 PM
Hood vents, big ass spoiler, skirts and a low bumper. How is this a sleeper?
Still cool though.
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