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Lotus Carlton


cruiser647
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Still one of my top 10 of all time cars.

 

When I used to fly offshore from Beccles heliport in the 90s there was a disused (looking) hanger at the entrance that I saw open when I arrived once.

 

The thing was full of about 20 of them all in rows!!!!!

 

I had to have a closer look!

 

Roll on to about 10 years ago at South Mimms services, at the back of the car park was a gathering of a group of LCs/GSIs/Senators calling themselves the Autobahn Stormers. Trust me they still have that attention grabbing look today.

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I remember seeing them when they were new out.  They had a fantastic yet understated presence about them.

 

However, I can't say I recall them being the pin-up car or every schoolboys dream car.  I think they were too subtle for that.  The dream cars of my much younger days were very much the Countach (and still the King as far as I'm concerned), Testarossa, 911 Turbo, De Tomaso Pantera, Lotus Esprit Turbo, etc.

Edited by NewNiceMrMe
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One of my prized possessions as a kid was a brochure for the Aston Martin Vantage - the 5.3l twin supercarged one.  A family friend who worked for AM in Newport Pagnell got it for me.  She also got me a passenger ride in one.

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Talking of passenger rides, one of my earliest car memories not involving a car my parents owned was in a Capri.

It was a 280 Brooklands which had the Turbo Technics conversion from new, it had also apparently been 'modified' but I didn't really understand what that entailed as I was only about ten.

Anyway, it belonged to a mate (Anthony) who lived up the roads dad, he took us out in it and it might as well have been an F1 car, I'd never experienced anything that fast before despite my dad owning some pretty nice sports cars.

At one point he pulled out to overtake, floored it, the back squirmed about, and all of a sudden we had overtaken six cars and arrived at the horizon.

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I was always a big, fast saloon fan.  (and the odd AM, in V8 Vantage guise from the 70s)

 

I bought the Fast Car magazines when they had the AM Lagonda, Lotus Carlton, Merc 560 SEC or Ferrari 412i on the cover.

Was never really into the Lambos or other Ferraris at the time.

 

 

 

 

 

Autobahn Stormers - I remember that name and having seen a few bits about them on the web when I had my Senators

Edited by cruiser647
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The Lotus Carlton is one of those cars that has some sort of 'created a speed limit' myth around it I think, either that or it was slated by the press for being dangerously fast, something like that.

Just makes it all the more cooler.

Edited by Tipex
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The Lotus Carlton is one of those cars that has some sort of 'created a speed limit' myth around it I think, either that or it was slated by the press for being dangerously fast, something like that.

Just makes it all the more cooler.

 

IIRC, the press were in shock that this 4 door humble Vauxhall 'saloon' could piss all over the fast Ferrari/Porsche of the day.

I think it was more the fact that it was a Vauxhall and NOT a Ferrari/Porsche.

 

Move along a few years and BMW, Audi & Merc have their own equivalents.

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