Insignia goes back to the '80s

Andrew Frankel
July 7, 2014

Remember the Lotus Carlton? Vauxhall does. It may be 23 years since the 377bhp, twin-turbo super saloon was launched, but that has not prevented Vauxhall from invoking its memory for the new Insignia VXR Supersport.

The new car has a little less power (325bhp) and a slightly lower top speed of just 170mph, but at £29,995 it costs in real terms less than half the £48,000 asked for the Carlton in 1989. Indeed Vauxhall claims it’s both the most powerful and quickest car on sale for under £30,000.

How has Vauxhall created this Supersport wonder child? Simply by removing the electronic speed limiter from the normal Insignia VXR and dropping its list price by nearly £4000.

Andrew Frankel

Senior Contributing Writer

After an inglorious stint in the City convinced him that he could handle cars better than he handled money, Andrew joined Autocar many years ago as a junior tester. Since then he has become one of the industry’s senior figures. Editor of Motor Sport for five years, he now runs our road test section.

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