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Monday, December 1, 2008
The 1989 Lotus Carlton sports sedan has been voted the UK's favorite Vauxhall in a poll of 630 owners ran by Opel's British sister-company, Vauxhall. The results, which also included votes for the favorite Vauxhall from the last five years, were gathered over a single month and put the Lotus Carlton in first place ahead of the Calibra coupe and Cavalier. The Lotus Carlton, also known outside the U.K. as the Lotus Omega, was virtually a Vauxhall Carlton (Opel Omega) on steroids that had been developed in collaboration with Lotus which then belonged to GM. When it was launched in 1989, the Lotus Carlton was officially the fastest four-door production car in the world.
The heavily modified Calrton was fitted with an upgraded straight-six engine, which was stroked from the standard Vauxhall 3.0-liter unit used in the GSi, to a capacity of 3.6-liters. Lotus then added twin Garrett T25 turbochargers boosting output to 377HP. Power was driven to the rear-wheels through a 6-speed manual ZF transmission borrowed from the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. The Lotus Carlton was capable of accelerating from standstill to 62 mph (100 km/h) in a mere 5.4 seconds and had a top speed of 176 mph or 283 km/h.
Running second overall to the Lotus Carlton as favorite Vauxhall of all-time was the Calibra coupe that stood out from the competition thanks to its sharp looks and its class-leading Cd figure of just 0.26. Based on the British equivalent of the first-generation Opel Vectra, the Cavallier, the Calibra made its world debut at the Frankfurt Show in 1989. Four-wheel drive and turbocharging enhanced the Calibra's range in later years, with a total of 40,000-plus cars being sold in its six-year production run.
Vauxhall owners also voted on their favorite model from the last five years. Unsurprisingly, the car with the most votes was the current VXR8's predecessor, the Monaro (based on the homonumous Holden coupe), which entered UK showrooms in 2004.
