The Real Story of 40RA. The Lotus Carlton that Outran the Police and became an Urban Legend.

Cars, rather than their number plates, are normally the basis for automotive legends. But in the case of the Vauxhall Lotus Carlton (Opel Lotus Omega in Europe) registration 40 RA, the number plate definitely takes the lead.

The car was stolen in November 1993, and immediately was taken on a 6 week rampage of the West Midlands as a getaway vehicle for robberies from newsagents and shops. In January 1994 the robberies stopped, and the legend of 40RA began.

The advent of the internet turbo charged the rumour mill on this car, with more fake stories than true ones. Has it ever been found, was it scrapped, was it cloned?

This time we dig deep into the media archives to find out what really happened to the car, and also find out what car the 40 RA number plate is now attached to.