Lotus Carlton voted favorite Vauxhall ever

Markets outside the UK and Europe were unfortunately not made familiar with the rip-snorting Lotus Carlton - a heavily modified Vauxhall Carlton - during its short lifetime. Nevertheless, the utterly insane 177mph (285km/h) twin-turbocharged straight-six-powered sedan has grown to cult status since.

The Vauxhall owners that chose the Carlton picked it over some heady competition, especially the more recent Monaro, which won the competition for the favorite Vauxhall of the last 5 years. But competing with the legendary Lotus Carlton is almost impossible.

With statistics like peak power output of 377hp (281kW)and 419lb-ft (568Nm) of torque, a 0-60mph (96km/h) time of 4.9 seconds and 0-100mph (160km/h) time of 11.5 seconds, all in a 3,600lb (1660kg) body, the Carlton would fit in well with the high-performance sedans of today - on paper, at least.

The limited run of 950 cars - 320 of which were branded as Carltons, and 630 as Omegas, as the car was known in Europe - was still 150 units short of the original 1,100 car production target, due in large part to the hefty £48,000 price tag - roughly $120,000 in today's dollars.

The Carlton may not be limited to a soft place in the hearts of a handful of fans, however, as Lotus is thought to be considering a comeback of the car. If it were to come back, it would likely be based on the Vauxhall/Opel Insignia, the successor to the Carlton in the company's range.