Tumbo

Haha...1 post since the start of this forum.

Tells pretty much what we all feel about Opel.

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Mirage77

Can anyone whip out the fastest car from Opel for me?

dOmInIX

I supose Astra Extreme Concept, 440 HP, 300km/h...
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alt

Wouldn't the Calibra be the fastest? I've heard of modified ones going 200 or so MPH.

Matt

^I guess he can.....

BMW_Dude

This would claim victory IMO, some would say it was better than the E39 M5!

The 1991 Vauxhall Lotus Carlton!

Here's a review:
Idling at the stoplight, you're all smiles. After all, you're in a brand-spanking new M5, the brutish super saloon from the Motorsport division of the Bayerishe Moteren Werke, and anything with the brass enough to pull along side looking for a stoplight battle is gonna catch a glimpse of the pipes, right??
To your left is a seemingly random sedan, dark green in color…..nothing special! Then something funny happens.
Light turns green! You're off…but so is he. As a matter of fact, he's right next to you, to 60, to 100…through the quarter mile it's a dead heat. Then you realize your uber-saloon's breath runs out at 155, that's when he rockets past you and on to an insane and controversial 176 mph. This is where you're perception of a German super sedan becomes forever tainted and the cozy world that you used to live in has been shattered by the all-conquering father of fast people carriers, the Vauxhall Lotus Carlton.
In 1991, a joint venture between Vauxhall and Lotus spawned the Carlton, which made press releases like crazy when GM announced that, unlike their German competitors, the 155mph speed restrictor need not apply here. They would allow the beast to rip all the way to its top speed like nature had intended.
With a Lotus-developed 3.6-liter, 24-valve, twin-turbo in-line six, it boasted a, phenomenal for the time, 377bhp at 5200rpm and an even more impressive, tire-pulverizing, 419lb-ft of torque. Another Lotus creation, the Corvette ZR-1, helped with the donation of its six-speed gearbox. Wheel-arch extensions, spoilers, and five-spoke alloys all helped give this rather mundane looking sedan a real autobahn stormer look.
Straight-line acceleration wasn't the only shining aspect of the car's incredible performance. Put it through the twisties and you'll see exactly what an M5 can't do. This car gets more sideways than any two-ton car could dream of, always doing so with perfect balance and grace.
Ferrari-baiting and corner carving aside, this was a true sedan capable of carrying four adults in comfort. The interior was an exercise in minimalism, sparsely ridden with only the necessary knobs and dials; some say it was downright hideous.
$80,000 was a price not many were willing to shell out in 1991, which partially explains why GM only managed to shift 440 of these ultra-rare saloons along with nearly 700 of its brother car the Opel Lotus Omega. Finding one today is a seldom occurrence, but if you are lucky enough to find an owner who wants to loosen the grip on one, expect to pay around 25 grand, which is pretty reasonable for a car that can out-accelerate a Ferrari Testarossa with ease.
The Lotus Carlton was a surprise to the public and journalists alike. Nobody expected such an explosive executive car, especially from the likes of GM. But the truth is, the visceral ride and unexpected performance are the cars true virtues that are still waiting to be matched by Germany's best. So the next time you pull up next to an M5 owner that appears a little spooked, ask him about the Lotus Carlton, I'm sure he'll have something to say about it.

The Emperor

Those "some" can only dream about it. Better than the BEST 4 door sedan in the world? Haha, my hairy @$$!

Tumbo

Seriously..it was faster then E39 M5... That car is a monster.

dOmInIX

Well, even that beautiful surrounding doesn't make it as nice as E39 M5...So ...

Tumbo

No it doesn't, but it's a classic. Imagine this car came in 1991... It crushed everything that was in it's way...

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