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[Buying GuidTw o very d i ff e re n t v a rie n th e s up er sa to on th

L o tu s G a rt to n/ Om e gait s p erfo rm an ce h eart5~e l{e ; 50~E I s t li e ci ro n f is t i n a v eL ve t. S "b th w e re c (e slg

c ru ls e'th e a Uto baabsurdly-high

BAHNSTORMERST he Lotus Carlton w as the 180m ph supersaLoon that had Daily Mail readers spLu tter in-

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uying Guide]

tus CarltonLayoutEngineMax p ow e rM'axtorqueTransmiss ionSuspension

F ro nt e n gi ne , r ea r- wh e el d ri veL o n gi tu d in a l, 3 61 5 cc , i n -l in e s ix

377bhp @ 5200rpm419l b f l@4200r pmS ix -s pe ed m a nu a l

F r on t: MacP he rs on stru ts , l owerwi shbones , COil s pr in g s, A R B. R ea r: S e mi -

t ra il in g a rm s , c oi l s pr in g s, s el f- le v el li ng , A R BSteering Recircu la ting ball, 2.6 tu rns lo ck to lockBTakes Fron t :3 30 mm d ia m et er v e nt il at ed d is csWheel sTyres

R ea r: 30 0m m d ia me te r s olid discs17 x 8.5 in fro nt, 1 7 x 9.5in r ea r, f or ge d a ll oy

2 35 /4 5 Z R1 7 f ro n t, 2 65 /4 0 Z R1 7 r ea r231bhp/tonP ow er to w eig ht

0-6Dmph 4 .Bsecs176mphMa x speed

L otu s's s tr aig ht- six sta rte d lile a s th e 3- litre C arlto n G S i u nit.L on g er p is to n s tr ok e made 3 .6 l i tr es ; tw in tu rb os d id th e re st

T he 5 00E w as M erc ed es ' a ns we r to th e 3.5 -litre ,315 bhp B MW M 5lsee issu es 5 and 32 fo r buy inggu ide detaitsl. In sid e, it c ou ld h av e b ee n mistakenfo r a w ell-a pp oin te d 3 00E , a lth ou gh a ll th eim p ort an t o pti on al e xt ra s, s uc h a s a ir -c on di ti on in ga nd e le ct ri c e ve ry th in g, w e re f it te d a s s ta nd ard .G et be hin d the w hee l, m ash the th ro ttle an d th erew as no do ub t it w a s som eth ing spec ia l: 100m phca me up in 14 .7 se cond s, w hich w as rem arkab lefo r a c ar w eig hin g o ve r 180 0kg ,A good Lo tu s Carlton can be bou gh t now fo r aslit tle a s 1 2,000 in le ft-h an d-d hv e fo rm [th is w as

th e Co ntin e nta l v e rs ion , kn ow n as th e L otu sO m egal. Y ou h ave to pay cons id era bly m ore fo ra rhd UK c ar - b etw ee n 20 ,000 a nd 25 ,0 00.T he S OO Ew as o nly e ve r a va ila ble a s a le ft-h oo ke r,w ith o nly a h an dfu l b ro ug ht 'In to th e UK off icially ,an d th a t h a s kep t p r ices very low - 13,000 w illb ag y ou a good 'un.So in te rm s o f p r ic e an d pe rfo rm an ce , th ese tw o

s up ersa lo on s a re p re tty w ell m atc he d, th ou ghth eir im a ge a nd c ha ra cte r a re v ery d iffe re ntB ut le t's face it , w ha t m atte rs m os t n ow is th e ir

re al-w orld e ffe ctiv en es s. A ll th at d ra ma , p ow era nd c la ss c ou nt fo r n oth in g a th e ca rs a re to oexp en s iv e a nd un re lia ble to run . A nd the g oodnew s is th a t, d esp ite be ing a lm os t a de cade o ld ,bo th cars stil l c om e u p to th e m ark. O f c ou rse youhave to unde rs ta nd w hat you a re taking o n ; bo thw ill co s t sub s ta n tia lly m ore to ru n than a new caro f equa l v alu e, and y ou h ave to be a ble to sepa ra teth e w hea t f rom th e ch aff w hen y ou bu y . G et it r ig h tth ough and , w hichev er y ou ch oose , you [and you rf ou r p as se ng ers l w o n't b e d is ap po in te d.

EvolutionT he par t th a t L otu s p la yed in th e deve lopm en t a tth e Ca rlton has been w ell docum en ted ; it is afa r le ss w ell-know n ta ct th a t M erced es a lsorec eiv ed ou tsid e he lp w ith th e 500E, in th is ca sefrom Porsche B ased on the 300E tha t M ercede sha d been bu ild ing sin ce 1986, e ach ca r m adesever a l journeys b etw ee n th e S tu ttg art fa cto rya nd P o rs ch e' s Rossle-Bau p l an t i n Z u ff e nh a u se n ,rece ntly va ca ted b y t he 9S 9. Each w as bu ilt byha nd and too k 18 days to c om ple te ; m ore th a n7000 exa mp les w ere p roduc ed in th is w aybe tw een 1992 and 1994. W hen y ou cons id e r th eam oun t o f e ffo rt th at w en t in to p ro duc ing eacho ne , th e 57 ,0 00 p ri ce t ag w a s u nd er st an da bl e.A ll L otu s Carlton s beg an life on the O pel

p ro du ctio n lin e in R us se lh eim b efo re b ein gs hip pe d to H eth el, w he re th ey w ere d isa sse mb le da nd g ive n an o ff ic ia l L otu s type num be r - 104.

B elo w : th is c ar is b ad ge d L otu sOmega , which m ea ns it's theCar lt on 's l e ft -h and -d r iv eC o n ti n en ta l c o u si n. Me c ha n ic a ll yand pe rfo rmance ,w ise , t he y w e rei de n tic a l. L ef t- ha n d- dr iv e c ar sa re c o ns id e ra b ly c h ea p er

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4 1 bought one'James W ad(l ington- ' [. !l 'bU i39t Ui'is particular l o tl Js . .Omega o n C h ri st m as Eve In1998, so you could' say Ural itwas the ult imate Chr is tmasp r esen t ! It w asn 't th e first o ne

I'd h ad , though - 1 ' ' 1 5 Q \ d (T lYirsf som e fou rmonths previeusly\ hay;ing said ~bat I w oU l d n 't

,DlIYanother fo r at leaspwo years, I just couldn't -hel[2 fmy,selkbeing without one of:these!Jlensters was just too hard to bear.'I'd wanted one/since I was 18 . though at th a t

stage i t seemed l ike an impossible dream, bJt Ialway~ kept my eye D P ' f3tchange 8 1 Matt just tose e wha t th e prices Wer e doing an d eventual lysaw one fo r 1 8.0 00 w hic h w as Just insid'~ rTW'p ri es ra ng e. r really am a V au xh al l rn an t hr ou gha :n :d th ro ug h a nd o ve r th e y ea rs r' d ow ned aC arlto n G 5l a nd th re e S 'e na to Ts ; i t ~as on e at

. these Senators that I part-ex'ed for the Latus.'Jt ( "e al l? :, S a f ab ul ou s m a ch in e, but there is

kd"

more-to it than jus,t th e loo ks an d theperforrnanca > it's cne of tbo5Harswi,th~ugehis tor ica l importance, V au xh al l c er ta in ly won'tbuild anything like it again, and I expect rio-onee ls e w i ll e i. th e r. It's also th e fastest ca r that Lotuhas ever made,'You h av e to be awa r e of t he p o te n ti al problern

- p ar tic ula rly th e Hming cha in - but o therw isemy advice for anyone thinking abou t gettjng aLotus C ar lto n i s to ju st go fo r it. I'm con s id er ingc;hanging this one for a right-hand-driv:e wers)obut , whatever happens, as long as i t 's p o s s ib l e -t obuy p.eJrol,'l l a lw a y s own a Lotus Car l~Qn . '

'i

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[Buying Guide]

Specifi.cationMe rc ed es 5 00 ELayou tEng ine" 'axpowerMa x t o rq u eTransmiss ionSuspens ion

F ro n t e ng in e, r ea r- w he el d ri veL o n g it ud i na l, 4 9 73 c (, VB

3 26 bh P @ 5700 r pm35Mbf t @ 3900 r pm

F o u r- sp e e d a u tom a ti cF ra n !: M a cp h er so n s tr ut s, c oi l s pr in g s,

9 as f il le d d am p er s, A RBRea r.mu l ti - li n k , s e lf - le v e l li n g ,

c o il s pr in g s, A R BR e ci rc u la ti n g b a ll , 3 _ 3 t ur n s l o ck -t o -l o ck

V en til ate d d is cs f ro nt a nd r ea r. A S S1 6 x 8 in c as ! a llo y f ro nt a nd r ea r

225(55 Z R1 6 f ro nt a nd r ea r192bhp / ton

5 .9secs155mph l r es t ri c te d l

S tee r ingBrakesWheelsly resP o w er t o w e .i gh t0-60mphMa x s p ee d

it w as a b it 0 1 a s qu eez e, b ut th e 5 -litre V Bfro m th e 5 00 SL ju stf itte d u nd er t he E -c la ss 's b on ne t. W at ch o ut f or o ve r- he at in g14nl l!VO

W ork b egan o n 'the fa s tes t V au xh all ev er ' in1988, w hen Lo tu s [w hich at th a t tim e w as G M-ow ned l w as g iv en a b rie f to p rod uce a C arlto ncap ab le o f com pletin g th e d ash to 60m ph in le ssthan s ix secon ds . C hie f en gin eer S im on W oo dqu ic kly rea lis ed th is re qu ired a t le as t 360b hp an dthe b es t w ay to ach iev e it w ou ld b e to add aco up le o f G arre tt T 25 tu rb och arge rs . O f c ou rse , itw as n't qu ite a s stra ig htfo rw ard a s th at, e sp ec ia llyas lo tu s h ad id en tif ie d th e 's afe ' s pe cific o utp utlim it fro m an iro n b lo ck as 100b hp /litre an d th eG S i e n gin e w as o nly 2969c c. S tro ke w as in crea se d[th ere w a-s n o b orin g) to e nlarg e th e d is pla ce me ntto 3.6 litre s an d th e p ro ject w as on .Chass is d eve lo pm en t w as le ft in the h and s o f

T ony S hu te and th is w as no sm all ta sk. F ro n t andre ar g eo m etry w ere a ltere d, s us pen sio nc om p on en ts s tre ng th en ed , an d 17-in ch w h ee lsw ere fitte d s o th at h ug e 13-in ch v en tila te d b ra ked isc s w ith fo ur-po t A P rac in g ca llipe rs co uld b eb olted o n to s lo w it a ll d ow n ag ain . T he s tee rin gw as a lso d ev elo ped to im pro ve fee l- v ita l w ithth is am oun t o f p ow er and no tra c tio n con tro l. T h es ix-sp eed ZF gearb ox w as chosen no t b ecau se o fth e num be r o f ra tio s , bu t b ecau se it w as th e on lyo ne ava ilab le ab le to co pe w ith th e to rqu e. T hea ero dy na mic p acka ge a ch iev ed z ero lift a t b othfron t an d rea r w ith ou t in creas in g d rag o ve r th es t anda rd Carltons an d, o f co urse , en do wed it w ithth os e b ra wn y lo oks .D esp ite th e v isu al re s tra in t, the 5 00E a lso h ad

rath e r m ore w ork th an ju s t a larg e eng in ein sta lla tio n. S tiff er , s ho rte r s prin gs w e re f itte d,low erin g th e ca r by abou t an in ch w hen com pa red

w ith th e 300E , a nd it w as h yd ra ulic ally se lf-le vellin g. W id er w h eels a nd b ee fie r b ra ke s w erefitted to keep ev ery th in g in ch eck and the tra ckw as in crea sed by abou t 4cm a t b o th th e fro n t an drea r . T he in jec tio n sys tem w as rev ised fro m th atu sed in th e S L5 00 to in crea se to rqu e b y 2 2lb ft,b ec au se o bv io us ly 3 32 lb It ju st w as n't e no ug h.T he 5 00E w as p ric ed con sid erab ly h ig her th an

th e B MW M 5 [5 7,220 as op po sed to 45 ,75 0] an dit w a s a ls o le ft- ha nd d riv e o nly , s o u ns ur pr is in glysa les w ere s low . In fac t, few er than 150 w ere so ldth ro ug h th e o ffic ia l d ea le r n etw o rk in th e UK,a ltho ugh m ore th an 7000 w ere p ro du ced fo r th eres t o f Eu rop e. T he L otu s to ta ls a re a lso qu itelow : o nly 95 0 w ere ev er p ro duced and , o f t hem ,on ly 28 2 w ere rig ht-h an d d riv e UK example sIth ese w ere a ll b uilt b etw een 1990 an d 1994),Du rin g its sh ort ru n th ere w ere n o signif icantch ang es m ad e to th e Ca rlto n, b ut the 500Erec eiv ed a g en tle fa celif t in A ug us t 1993 w ith an ew g rille in lin e w ith th e res t o f E-c la s5 ran ge ,w hile its n am e ch ang ed to E S O O _Wh ee la rc h es w e re s li gh tl y f !a re dt o c ov er th e W id er t ra ck a nd f att err ub be r; w ith a s lig ht ly lo w er r id eh eig ht to o, th e 5 00 E e xu de dq ui et m e na ce

(.-.

..~.- - ._,.~., ..~.--..~.~-, _ ._...-.:o6',,~'o).M__.~ ................

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1bought one'Guy Harman - '1 have onlyow ned th is ca r fo r a m on th , bu tit is one I h ave w an ted sin ce Iread the old artic les in Ca rm aga zin e w he n Row an A tkinso nu sed ' to w rite a bo ut the SOOE

tha t he owned. I tend to buy and sell-on everysl x to eigh t m on th s, pure ly becau se J'm .a rea l

ca r nu t and Ju st w an t to . t ry d iffe rent ca rs ,a lthough I e xpec t l'Il b e hang ing " on to th is onefo r a lit tle w hile lo nq er;'It is qu ite a firs t fo r m e, in tha t it's bo th th e

firs t M erc ed es an d the firs t au to ma tic I 've evero wne d an d I h av e to say it 's a bso lu tely b rillian t.lts disc re et. hu ge ly p ow erful, su pe rb ly w ellsc re wed to ge th er [p rob ab ly b ette r tha n the carsMercedes are build ing now ) and I h ave to adm it Ilike the ide a of it b eing the o nly fou r-do orPorsche. In fac t it'd be nice if th ere w as asubtle , sm all Po rsche badge on it somewhere .'It is m y everyday car. I bought it from Mep ,

w ho acquired from a G erm an com pany d irec torw ho had a chau ffeur w hisk h im up and dow n theau tobahns, and it cam e w ith a fu ll Merced 'esserv ice h isto ry . It has a few stone-chip s on theno se, but th ey are ju st about th e on ly ble rn lsho n th e .......o le of the car:With the SO OEyou rea lly do ge t a lo t of ca r fo r

th e m cney. The on ly change I m igh t m ake to it i sto fit a new exhau st to re lease a litt le m orepow er a t th e bo ttom end. Pe te r Ward fromR ac in g T ec hn olog ie s h as alre ady "in form ed m etha t h e can m ake m e a bespoke item that wou lddo the job and it does sound quite tem pting""

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[Buying Guide]

DR IV ING T : E M T O D A YT hey were Legends in their own Lifetim es" b ut do they still hit the spot?

esp ite th e sim ilaritie s inconcep t, the se tw o are asd ifferen t to d riv e as th eyare to look at. T h e M er c'sim pecc ab le b uild qu ality is

obv ious the m om ent you c lim b aboard .T he o do mete r rea ds 10B ,O OO km , b u tit's hard to believe it's covered such ad istance. T he doors shu t w ith bank-v au lt so lid ity , th e le ath er a rm ch airsappear bare ly b roken-in and all thesw itc hg ea r fe els sa tis fy in gly r ob ust.Tw is t the key and the huge VB w akesso qu ietly th at a p assin g p ed estrianw ou ld never suspec t the pow er nowa vailab le u nd er y ou r rig ht toot.A ro un d to wn th e 5 00E rid es su perb ly- sm ooth and com fortab le w ith no t as ing le rattle o r squeak. T he longgearing lon ly four ratio s in the au to'box, rem em berl m eans that the 0-30is n oth in g p articu larly sp ecial an daround tow n the 500E feels m orelim ousine than sports sa loon . It's on lyw hen the derestriction s ig n a pp ea rsthat the car really sh ines. A nd no t jus ton m oto rw ays; the chass is has enoughdynam ic flu id ity to push on in a w aythat's at odds w ith the size o f the car,

In sid e th e Lo tu s. th ere 's n o h id in gthe fact that underneath it's still a ten -y ea r-o ld C arlto n, a lb eit a d ec en tlya pp oin te d o ne . A ctu ally , th ere 'sso meth in g stran gely ap pealin g ab ou td riv ing a Vauxhall that's been on ac ou rs e o f s te ro id s, Ja me s W ad din gto n'scar is one of the bes t exam ples aroundand , w ith the benefit o f a recen tr es pra y, lo oks a bso lu te ly s tu nn in g,The eng ine fires w ith m ore vo lum e

than the Mere's and burb les w ithm ore eagerne ss and urgency . T herea re o the r sounds, too - the fuel pum pzizzes b eh in d y ou , w hile th e se lf-lev ellin g su sp en sio n w hirrs itse lf in tothe attack position . T he clu tch ish eav y, b ut th at's th e o nly aw kw ardp art o f t he d riv in g exp erien ce, an dfrom 3000rpm as the tu rb ine s beg in to

spoo l. up, you can hear the sw ell inpow er. We drove the car in the rainan d in th ose co nd itio ns y ou 're alw ay saw are of the to rque passing th roughthe rea r w hee ls, bu t it's no tin tim ida ting - the feel th rough thew heel and seat le aves you in no doub tas to w hat's go ing on . the ride is firm .there are m ore rattle s and the leathersqu eaks, b ut it's ch aracterfu l. A ndw hen you do find som ew here tou nleash th e m on um en tal p erfo rm an ce,the res t o f the w orld becom es no th ingless than a b lu r.B o th of these cars felt as good as

the day w hen they cou ld still bebough t new , w hich is w hy you 'llp ro ba bly f in d it a bso lu te ly im p ossib leto p rise them aw ay from their veryp le ase d-w ith -th em se lv es o wn ers .

L ot us l oo ke d e ve ry i nc h t he180mph recketsh lp i tw a s ;5 00 E r et ain ed th e c le an ,u n de rs ta te d l in e s o f 300E

14211 !VD

M 05 t o f th e c ars th at c ha ng eh an ds in th e U K do sop ri va te ly ; t he re a re v er y f ew! - sp ec ia ll st s o r d ea le rs . B o thm od els can take tim e to fin d,t he b uy fn g process ettenta kin g w ee ks o r e ve n m o nth sto.complete, which requires ala ir d eg ree o f tenacity and ah ea lth y d ol lo p o f p at ie nc e.Right-han.d-drive Carltons ar em o r e com mon in th e U K tfra rtn e le ft-h an d v er sio n. b utd on 't r ul e out a left-heokar; As p ec ia li st c ompa n y such asM ep M oto rs po rt o f N or fo lkwi l l scour th e res t o f E U rqp efo r th e b est e xa mp le s a tth eb re e d. O b v io u sl y when usjhga sp ecialist it sh ou ld b e o newith a g oa d r ep uta tio n Ith ec lu bs sh ou ld be a ble to h elphere - see below } a nd yous ho u ld s tI LLs pe n d j us t asmuch t im e c h ec ki ng th e ca rove r as y ou w ou ld w ith a sp r iv a te p u r ch a se .D oi ng t he h ar d w o rk y ou rs el f

a nd i m po rt in g p er so na ll yra re ly p ro ve s w or th th eh as sl e. T he professionalim po rte rs h av e a ll th econtacts an d w ill a lw ay s g etto the bes t cars be fo re you ;th ey also ten d to bu y fo r less,s o e ve n i nc lu di ng theirccrnrnlssicn i t 's un l i l

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B e fo re y our ea ch f or y o u rc h eq u e b c ok ,c he ck o ut th ep a rt s p ri ce s

Lotus Carlton Mercedes 500EClu tch kit 684 n /aS ta rter m oto r 101 120H ead lig ht u nit 309 212Fron t b rake pad set 310 6 5Rear b rake pad se t 229 2 9Fron t b rake d isc [pa ir! 613 118Rear b rake d isc lpairl 613 103F ro nt d am p er 9 0 173R ea r d am pe r 174 317Windsc reen 189 231O i l f i lt e r 2 2

9000 miles 16000 rn iles l" 407 12518,000 miles [12,000 rn i lesl 657 50027,000 miles [18,000 miles l 467 12536,000 miles [24,000 miles ) 657 500 i nt er v al s f or M e re i n b r ac k et s

Insurance Sou rce : Pr ivi lege Insurance 0208 256 2178Driver A, Mar ke ti ng m a na ge r, 26, liv es in C ro yd on , c ar g ara ge d, 3 years 'no c la im s bonus, three po in ts fo r speed ing Aug '9 6Driver B : S ol ic to r, 3 6, Pe terborough , ca r ga raged , fu ll NCB, c le an re co rd .L otus Driver A lB : 1792/775 w ith a 25 0/25 0 co mp ulso ry exc ess.M ere Driver A lB : 1199/519 w ith a 500/250 com pulso ry excess,Veh ic les m us t have Thatcham cat 1 an ti-the ft system and tracking dev ice.

Wha t you 'll pay Su b - 10 ,000High 'ml leage 500Es and Lotus Carltons With snapped tim ing chains 10,000 - 13,.000Most 500Es sit in th is p rice b racke t. You w ill also find som e lhd LotusO megas here, usua lly the m ed ium - to h igh-m ileage exam ples

13 ,00 0 - 16 ,00 0The very best o f the im ported Lo tuses - expec t low m ileages, fu llh isto rie s and p lenty of b ills and rece ip ts. Som e of lhe w ell-used rhdUK cars can be had here

16 ,00 0 - 20,0 00U K. rhd L otus Carltons w ith aVel-age m ileage in good cond ition

20,O O O-plu 5The very best, rarely used rhd Lotus shaw cars

o Brakes/Steering, B oth cDlthese b ig , heavy cars W~ rkb rakes hard . and yo u shou ld exp cthave to r~ pla~ e the front discs as wtli .epads at regu la r in tervals - a mafactor i n:t he ( un ni ~g cestspartlculaWith theCarltcn and especially if yointo t r ack ; d ay s.T fl Ei WOE ha s a tendenti to w earstgering pump b y W D ,D O O miles> o

: is j< ls ta :~ ea [.t ha t fa ils , bu t b c c a si o nJf~the;i ,Nhole unit.Q.TransmissionThd ,_a tus Carlton 's hydrau lic du tchb ee n t h, ro ug h it num ber o f rev isions,there ~~veb ee n i ns ta nc es o f f ai lu rea\l of them. It's no t common but s obell housings have cracked (and the 7 6 0 0 to rep lace); p ivo ts and bo lts halso been known to snap. T he re 's ly au c an check fo r w ithou t taking thapart, bu t irs w orth bea ring in m indTh e two g ea rb oxe s a re v ery d iffere

eu r both th 'ehe.avy-duty s ix -s pe edl 'p iwu~lQf the NprToJk mach ine andf ou r- sp ee d a ut o4 -i av il ! s to od the testt er q) )! l: