Senator B --I presume?

[kid-jensen]

Had a Senator B for about 5 years, great car in a lot of respects, but rust killed it eventually.

Replaced it with a W124 (my first Merc) but rust killed it eventually......I'm detecting a pattern here.

The Senator inline six Cam-in-Head was a good engine, but a bit breathless at high revs. Used to accelerate faster if you changed-up early, which is counter-intuitive with an auto, you just wanna keep your foot down! Bit thirsty too...

The later engines had twin overhead cams and 24 valves. A lot better in the areas that mattered, but the cam chains seemed to be made of chocolate and trashed many an engine, usually writing off the car.

 

[E55BOF]

I drove a senator for a while fitted with a Ferguson Formula 4 wheel drive.

Ex-BRIXMIS or something of the same sort? I don't think the four-wheel-drive versions were available to the general public.

 

[WOODYTHEWISE]

not a lot of people have heard of Brixmis, or Soxmis. Yes, it was a Brixmis car. The boot was in fact an extra fuel tank....200lts

 

[grober]

Another spin-off car that used the Senator running gear was the Bitter SC. A few 4wd versions were made using the Ferguson 4wd system.
1984 Bitter SC 4x4 - Piston Juice
A bit more on the Bitter SC here

Bitter Sc Review | CCFS UK

 

[markjay]

I posted this YouTube video before...:

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[grober]

Perhaps better known as the Vauxhall Lotus Carlton in the UK. Lotus Carlton - Wikipedia
With an engine supposedly hampered by induction restrictions sticking a couple of turbochargers on it would seem a good idea!

 

[SmartAmg]

Perhaps better known as the Vauxhall Lotus Carlton in the UK. Lotus Carlton - Wikipedia
With an engine supposedly hampered by induction restrictions sticking a couple of turbochargers on it would seem a good idea!

It was! What a motor in its day, still is in fact,
175mph and 0-60 5 secs
are tidy figures even in today's power mad world. But back then it caused an outcry.

 

[whitenemesis]

Another spin-off car that used the Senator running gear was the Bitter SC. A few 4wd versions were made using the Ferguson 4wd system.
1984 Bitter SC 4x4 - Piston Juice
A bit more on the Bitter SC here

Bitter Sc Review | CCFS UK

Aston Martin Lagonda look alike?

 

[Edd1968]

Love this thread. Big old engines, fast cars, the Lotus Carlton - what a car!

 

[grober]

Aston Martin Lagonda look alike?

The Bitter SC was reckoned to be a straight lift from Pininfarina's Ferrari Tipo F101 series most familiar in the UK as the "400" model twice as many cylinders mind.

 

[Darrell]

The Bitter SC was reckoned to be a straight lift from Pininfarina's Ferrari Tipo F101 series most familiar in the UK as the "400" model twice as many cylinders mind.

A gentleman’s Ferrari.

 

[Scott_F]

Perhaps better known as the Vauxhall Lotus Carlton in the UK. Lotus Carlton - Wikipedia
With an engine supposedly hampered by induction restrictions sticking a couple of turbochargers on it would seem a good idea!

Back in the 90s, a cousin of mine had a Mark 2 VW Golf GTi - the "fast" 16v version. Although tame by today's standards, in those days it was one of the quickest hot hatches around and was very desirable.

I remember him telling me of an occasion when he was making rapid progress in lane 2 of a dual carriageway whilst passing slower traffic in lane 1. Approaching a roundabout, he looked in his mirror and saw a Lotus Carlton bearing down on him. Braking as late as possible, he changed down, held a tight line through the roundabout and floored it through the gears on exit getting absolutely every inch out of his GTi. Checking his mirror again, the saw that the Carlton was now sitting on his rear bumper and when he'd passed the last of the traffic in lane 1 he moved to the left and watched the Carlton go past him "like I was parked" and disappear into the distance.

He got rid of his not-so-hot hatch fairly soon afterwards.....

 

[del320]

Ah, I'm getting all misty-eyed reminiscing over the good old days when fast cars were proper exciting.

At 28, I was tooling around in my 145 bhp SAAB 99 Turbo which, in it'e day, was one of the fastest-accelerating cars around. Sure, the advertised 0-60 time of 8.9 secs was no great shakes (up to 30 a Fiesta van would see me off) but the subsequent 20 mph increments up to 100 mph in top gear were frightening. Brutal turbo lag and torque-steer.

Google suggests the quarter mile was a shade under 15.9 secs. By comparison, a '76 911 Carrera could only manage 14.7 secs, whilst a '86 Sierra Cosworth managed 14.4 secs.

All of which reminds me of the time a Cosworth humbled me at the lights - I thought I was standing still...

A different matter on the open road though - I once did Edinburgh to near Dingwall (150 miles) in two hours. (no Perth by-pass and no cameras).

 

[E55BOF]

I was very happy with the performance (250-260 bhp) of my SAAB 9000 Aero, and my 9-5 Aero after that - then I bought my first E55...

Mind you, in one of the E55Ks I was on the A43, 'making progress', when a VW golf of some desription floored it coming out of a roundabout behind me. So had I, but he was slowly overhauling me nevertheless. We rapidly (in all senses of the word) approached stupid mph, and I chickened out (I like having a driving licence...). I was very impressed.

I wonder how the 5.5 BT would get on? That was one VERY quick Golf.

 

[grober]

I would hazard a guess a VW Golf 3.2 V6 R32 DSG 4Motion. Power 250bhp Top speed 155mph 0-60mph in 6.3 seconds They had the reputation for being a bit nose heavy in the handling department compared to the 4 cylinder cars evidently but in a drag race " There ain't no substitute for cubic inches" as AJ Foyt used to say.

 

[E55BOF]

My E55Ks have all been pretty healthy, and their 0-60 mph times were under five seconds. I suspect it was more likely to have been a Revo-tuned example, though I've no idea what the gearbox ratios were. It wasn't overly noisy, but it did have a full roll cage, and we were near Silverstone, so who knows...

 

[Doodle]

A supercharged R32 with a lot of work done to it, maybe. A stock, or even Revo-mapped one wouldn't see which way an E55k went in a drag race.

There's a lot of TFSI swapped stuff (mainly into Mk1/2) that are exceptionally healthy though, and also the 1.8T. My friend has an S3 with nearly a decade of development work into it, running a GT3582 to develop 520hp at the wheels.

 

[MercedesDriver]

I posted this YouTube video before

Perhaps better known as the Vauxhall Lotus Carlton in the UK. Lotus Carlton - Wikipedia

It was! What a motor in its day, still is in fact,
175mph and 0-60 5 secs
are tidy figures even in today's power mad world. But back then it caused an outcry.

Love this thread. Big old engines, fast cars, the Lotus Carlton - what a car!

I think I ever saw one, brand new, at the dealers parking and was told it was owned by a dealership manager. Fantastic car. Wolf in sheep’s skin.
There is one for sale
1993 Vauxhall Lotus Carlton 3.6i Turbo 377BHP Low miles/Pristine condition Rare | eBay

 

[E55BOF]

Lot of money for something a W211 E55 or E63 will see off for a tenth of the price; one for a collector, and not a car to be driven all that much.

 

[MercedesDriver]

Lot of money for something a W211 E55 or E63 will see off for a tenth of the price; one for a collector, and not a car to be driven all that much.

It is a lot of money but there are only few left in the UK. VAUXHALL LOTUS CARLTON TURBO - How Many Left?