Looks funereal, even more so with that gear knob. Perhaps owned by a funeral director with a grim sense of humour.

BTW, mud flaps look original.

I have had two Carltons - both excellent cars The first was a company car that I ran for nearly four years. It had some issues in the first few months but I think it was used 'n' abused in its first three months (10k) miies before becoming a 'nearly new'. When I lost my subsequent company car I brought my own Carlton which I kept for nine years (taking it up to 170k) with total reliability. It was replaced by an Omega which was the most unreliable car I have ever owned. Most problems were electric but affected ll areas from locking to engine management. The newer Ecotech engine although theoretically have a higher top speed never felt as lively and was thirstier. When the engine expired I just weighed in in having had enough!

I did look at going back to a Carlton a few years ago but could not find a good enough one despite travelling quite a bit. One of the main problems was rust. It can be particularly severe in the rear arches (with next to no metal left behind the trim strips) and in the bulkhead.

Having run an older Vauxhall in recent years I found that some spares can be a problem as Vauxhall do not really support cars over ten years old. For instance I had to get silicon hoses (over £100 the pair) as none were available anywhere. I also had to source a replacement spring set for Germany as again I could not source them in the UK. This in my view makes older Vauxhalls impracticable as daily drivers.

AFAIK the Carlton never got the 24v engine - but the "egg-crate grill" Senator did.