OK, so the Carlton International never turned up. Got my money back via eBay so no big deal but a bit of a disappointment. However for an eBay junkie like me that just gave me a whole new excuse to buy another bike. Or two….
Carlton Corsa 1976
So I have wanted to get a Carlton for some time, ever since the fake “Franco-Suisse”. So I looked agian with a view to getting a bit of a beater for winter commuting. I settled on a 5 speed 1976 Carlton Corsa in tired but complete condition. It was stupidly cheap even with delivery, so I got it sent to work and rode it home the same day. Not bad going really.
Front view
Anyway on the weekend I cleaned it up and it came up a lot better than I expected. I can’t help myself, I can’t not fix things. Some new faux leather bar tapes, new Schwalbe kevlar reinforced tyres, a careful clean of the paintwork and chrome and she looks amazing. She is a tad on the heavy side but rolls a lot easier once I correctly set the front wheel bearings which had been over tightened.
No sooner had I done that when I stumbled upon a genuine classic, a 1963 Carlton Flyer.
Just spotted this nice site dedicated to the owner’s beautiful collection of Carltons, including a twin of my Corsa…
Talk Wrench - Bikes and Bits 
Thanks for the comments on my site.
I’ve just today bought an old carton, excatly the same model and colour for £80! its fantastic but needs a lot of work (rusty) and probably a fresh paint job. Any ideas how i could maintain or replace the writing on the bike?