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The Lotus Carlton is a supercar that should never have existed. The base model was dull to look at and lifeless to drive. So how did Lotus turn it into one of the most lusted after saloons of all time?

Simple. British car designers are the best in the world, and they like nothing more than creating something to crush the opposition, says Stuart Milne.

In 1990, Lotus pulled the covers off their latest supercar. Or did they?

It didn't look like a supercar - more like an angry minicab - but it sure as hell went like one.

Lotus took 950 crisp, fresh Carltons from Opel's factory in Germany and set about giving them a makeover. Not in the Trinny and Suzanna sense; more in a way that a heavyweight boxer would prepare for a world championship fight.

The original 3-litre, straight six was removed and tweaked to 3.6 litres. It was then strapped down and force fed by two huge turbochargers. This meant the power increased from a weedy 177bhp to a whopping 377bhp.

That's the equivalent of adding the power of a new Golf GTi.

No standard gearbox could hope to handle that power, so its 6-speed 'box was liberated from the top-of-the-range Corvette ZR-1 to feed the power to the back wheels.

This meant it could rocket to 60mph in just 5.2 seconds. It wouldn't stop trying to headbutt the horizon until it hit 176mph.

That was the official top speed, although there are rumours that - if you had the guts - it would push 187mph. It would take another ten years before Porsche built a 911 Turbo that was faster.

At almost 200mph, the standard Carlton suspension and brakes would never do, so these were binned in favour of some beefier gear that meant the Lotus could stop and corner safely.

And the bodykit actually had a purpose other than scaring children.

The front bumper had vents and ducts to cool the engine and brakes, and there was a massive rear wing to keep its rump stuck to the road. The flared wheel arches were only there to house the enormous wheels and tyres.

Inside, the Lotus retained the original (boring) dash, but acquired some chunky leather seats. It came with all the toys that were available in 1990, including a CD player and electric windows. Want sat-nav? You'll have to get a Tom Tom.

Lotus and GM (Vauxhall's owners) originally planned to build 1,100 Carltons, but the recession in the early nineties meant that only 950 were built. Only 284 of the planned 440 official UK cars found their ways to British homes, so today sellers will charge whatever people will pay.

Costing £48,000 new - a snip given its Ferrari-bashing potential - used models start at around £10,000, but you'll pay up to £30k for a mint example.

Read previous Look at the Wheels on That columns.