Vauxhall Carlton

Start with what the Vauxhall Carlton is: a 4-door sedan (car) / saloon / 5-door station wagon / estate, built from 1978 to 1994, as the oil crises and the first emissions rules rewired the industry. What it meant takes a little longer.

Where it came from

The Vauxhall Carlton is a series of large family car/executive car sold in two distinct generations by the Vauxhall division of GM Europe between 1978 and 1994. The Carlton was based on the Opel Rekord E (Mk.1) and Omega A (Mk.2).

With the exception of the pre-facelift Mk.1 cars, most Carltons were manufactured by Opel in Rüsselsheim, and differed only from their Opel Rekord/Omega sisters in badging and trim. It was replaced by the Omega B in 1994, mirroring the standardisation of model names across both GM Europe brands.

Under the skin

The record carries the shape — a 4-door sedan (car) / saloon / 5-door station wagon / estate — and the layout: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.

In context

In the Vauxhall line-up the Vauxhall Carlton has a clear place: it replaced the Vauxhall Victor/VX series; it handed the line to the Vauxhall Omega; the factory was Luton. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Mazda RX-7, the Toyota Supra, the GM (General Motors) Saab 900. Nearby in the Vauxhall catalogue sit the Vauxhall 10-4 and the Vauxhall 30/98.

Owning one today

MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Vauxhall Carlton has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.