strangely attracted to................

[Rocket88]

Vauxhall Carltons/Senators [late model ones] don't know why as they're as shite as you can get, just like the shape, the fact that they're rwd, and usually well specced [some of which may actually still work]

[Volksy]

A freind of mine had a late model Carlton 1.8 GL, although it was no ball of fire, it was utterly dependable. Well spec'ed too, came with 4x electric windows, central locking etc etc.. Comfy old bus too.The plod seemed to love their Senators too, so they must be pretty dependable.

[r.welfare]

They've nearly all gone due to rust rather than any mechanical mishaps, a real shame. I've been semi-tempted by some late-plate Carlton estates on the Bay recently, I must say. Carlton GSi's seem to command bizarrely high prices, I'd rather have a Diamond estate (same engine) TBH, what a sleeper!Like the Cavalier, provided the tinworm is kept at bay the simpler, well-proven mechanics and electrics mean they are usually a better shite-level buy than the cars that replaced them. But then I'm probably biased as the £300 Omega 3.0V6 Elite I had was, predictably, a bit worn out.The 3-litre 24v autos are actually more economical than the manuals. Strange but true!

[Rocket88]

They've nearly all gone due to rust rather than any mechanical mishaps, a real shame. I've been semi-tempted by some late-plate Carlton estates on the Bay recently, I must say. Carlton GSi's seem to command bizarrely high prices, I'd rather have a Diamond estate (same engine) TBH, what a sleeper!Like the Cavalier, provided the tinworm is kept at bay the simpler, well-proven mechanics and electrics mean they are usually a better shite-level buy than the cars that replaced them. But then I'm probably biased as the £300 Omega 3.0V6 Elite I had was, predictably, a bit worn out.The 3-litre 24v autos are actually more economical than the manuals. Strange but true!

Had a gsi Carlton manual, and a Senator with the same engine, and you're right, the Senator with auto was better on juice than the gsi with manual. I also found that the Senator was more economical at 80 mph than it was at 60..........[on private roads, officer] I reckon it's something to do with torque curves, gearing etc etc

[shite_meister]

Totally with you there, I'd bloody love a Senator especially a 24v its always been on my wish list, I nearly bought one ten years ago-it were a manual in a nice shade of metallic green but it was ex-plod with basic spec and 240k miles on the clock. I saw a late Carlton Diplomat (2.6) go at Jacksons Car Auction in November for 50p yes 50 pence!!! it was filthy but nothing a good clean couldn't sort, I didn't bid as I was there specifically for something else but in retrospect I was a cock for not bidding at least a quid!!The only chance I had of getting a Senator here was last year, a local 'mechanic' told me about it years ago and when it finally came up for sale I made enquiries to which the answer was I'll let you know when its been valeted which really meant "I'm selling it to someone else", the dick that bought the minter stacked it a couple of days later into a curb and wrecked the suspension and then scrapped it-Cock

[FredTransit]

A member of my Mk1 and M2 forum still hasn't decided what to do with this one

 

http://autoshite.commlm/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5270

 

Whatever he decides (he bought it to save it in the end, but may not keep it) he's going to test it first.

[Rocket88]

Had a couple of those [in Vauxhall Royale guise] bit arthritic compared to the later ones. Mind you one of those with a 24 valve lump woiuld be interesting............

[trigger]

My neighbor recently scrapped his K reg Carlton 2.0 CDX auto, Was a tidy old thing which had only done 50k, He is disabled so never really used it in the 10 years he had it.He took it in for MOT the other month and it failed on a small hole in the inner wing by the foot well.The garage told him it would cost £700 to fix as the dash and wireing would have to come out to get it do, So he weight it in and got £90 for it instead.

[FredTransit]

My neighbor recently scrapped his K reg Carlton 2.0 CDX auto, Was a tidy old thing which had only done 50k, He is disabled so never really used it in the 10 years he had it.He took it in for MOT the other month and it failed on a small hole in the inner wing by the foot well.The garage told him it would cost £700 to fix as the dash and wireing would have to come out to get it do, So he weight it in and got £90 for it instead.

You fookin what??? This is exactly why the bleedin scrappage scheme is working too.

[trigger]

I know, Sadly he had done it all before he told me or else i would of offered it on here, £700 for a patch did sound a lot, even if you did have to remove the dash and wireing.

[Rocket88]

I know, Sadly he had done it all before he told me or else i would of offered it on here, £700 for a patch did sound a lot, even if you did have to remove the dash and wireing.

Which, if you're careful, you don't..................

[johnbaz]

i had a 2.0l GLI carlton in white, it weas a bit scabby but it was just soooo comfy and a fantastic ride, it was quiet nippy too for a big (ish) car...it occured to me that i couldn't remember when the MOT was so i dug out the paperwork and there was four days MOT left on it, being ever the pessymist, i scrapped it thinking it would need plenty of work to get the certificate john

[Station]

There was a recent Lotus Carlton replica that had had a full twin turbo conversion by Courtney (Vauxhall tuners) that went for 800 quid on ebay in about 2007. A local garage bought it, whose owner was brother in law of a girl I worked with. It said it smoked a lot, but was obviously overfuelling. Was going to buy it, but the bloke was an arsehole who couldn't be arsed.They are very good cars, but the Omegas are better, with BMW build quality, and a top of the range Elite model (with 3.0 V6, leather, Bose sound system, phone system, etc) can be had for 300 quid.

[MrRegieRitmo]

They are very good cars, but the Omegas are better, with BMW build quality, and a top of the range Elite model (with 3.0 V6, leather, Bose sound system, phone system, etc) can be had for 300 quid.

The Omegas as in what we got over here, or as in the German equivalent of the MkII Carlton?

[Pillock]

I know, Sadly he had done it all before he told me or else i would of offered it on here, £700 for a patch did sound a lot, even if you did have to remove the dash and wireing.

Which, if you're careful, you don't..................

I've never known the dash have to come out for some fibreglass and underseal ;)I was Wikipedia'ing the Carlton Mk2 / Omega A (the shape they did the Lotus version of) and was astounded by the choice of engines the europeans got - four 1.8s, four 2 litres and a 2.4 in straight four flavour. A 2.6 and five different three litres jobbies in straight six, plus the tuned 3.6 and 4.0 ones plus diesels gives 23 engine choices...!

[r.welfare]

2.4 lump is the Frontera engine, I think this is becoming popular in Manta circles. Not sure it offers much over the 2.0i TBH.

 

Station, I had a £300 Omega Elite, a manual one to boot:

 

 

Trust me, the picture flatters it. Sure it was full of kit but a lot of it no longer worked, it was getting rusty underneath and went wrong with tedious monotony...the huge oil leak was the final straw...

 

Given the choice between a £300 Omega and a £300 Carlton though, the £300 Carlton is likely to strand you less and be easier to fix In fact, if I wanted a £300 V6 estate car I'd have another Mitsubishi Sigma like a shot!

[Pillock]

Much like the Sierra-Mondeo jump, and the Granada-BugEyedScorpio leap, the 'upgrade' from Carlton to Omega isn't much of an upgrade. Extra toys yes, but lots more complication for little benefit once they hit 10-12 years old. My ex's dad had a string of Omegas for company cars, he actually only had them for 18 months instead of 2 years like the rest of the fleet because the Omegas had a reputation for costing lots of money as they got towards the 2 year mark. It was more cost effective to shift them early and replace than it was to deal with the grenading engines, shot auto boxes and even rust.Still, I'd quite like a cared-for facelifted estate for general pooch transport. Probably a bit thirsty for everyday use though because I'd be too tempted by MV6s.

[Rocket88]

IMHO the 4 pot and 6 pot Carlton/Senator engines were the last [for longevity] decent engines Vauxhall made, 6 pots capable of huge mileage [as long as you don't ignore noisy timing chains]

[oldford]

Vauxhall had their breakdown/recovery with the AA. The Omegas were covered for AA relay plus, with the replacement hire car option. Europcar had to maintain a fleet of a 100 or so of Omegas (supplied/owned by Vauxhall) exclusively for the temporary replacement of broken Omegas.I stumbled across a listing of these on the computer one day, some of them hadn't moved for 6 months.I liked the 3 litre Senator automatics that they had back in 1989, a liitle over 2000 rpm at 80 mph.