Erin and ErinSport - Historical Thread ['62 Erin Ghaleda]

OHHHHH YEAAAHHHHH BABY
We’re gonna be doing some serious business when UE4 comes around.

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I really like this generation it seems like such a nice honest. Just enough unique design touches and quirkiness to stand out but at the same time still looks very realistic. I can’t wait for the UE4 revamps…dem I5s!

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There are some very nice cars in here. Hope to make a nice challenger to this company one day :smiley:

@Rk38 Thanks! I5s are gonna be so good. HYPE.

@Empire Be my guest, Erin always loves a good bit of competition :wink:

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What a car! While Cav won’t have a competitor for the mk5, we will probably be around for the mk6.

[rainbow]HYPE[/rainbow]

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#On today’s episode of “I’ve been messing around in UE4”…

Only a handful of Erin concept cars have ever actually been shown, but I feel it’s time to change that. Here we have some shots of the 2013 Erin Scarlet Mk 4 Concept, original referred to as “Project 71”. The concept vehicle would make its proper debut at the Geneva Auto Show 2013.

At this point in time, the exterior was fairly similar to the final product, though the rear was still sparse and many details had yet to be added. The aim was to translate the classic long nose, 2 door coupe design into a modern interpretation, that also introduced a whole new design language to the Erin range.

This was one of 8 potential designs that then (and still) Head of Design Alexa di Atorgia and her specialist team had lined up, the earliest of which dates back to 2005, when most thought that a Scarlet follow-up would never happen. Chris Famerley, who had been Head of Design from 1981 to 1997 at Erin and had worked on the old Scarlets was drafted in to advise the team.

At this point too, the engine was still only in its early days, with the only definitive details being that it would be a N/A V8 and it would use VVT/L technology. The interior was completley unfinished, as indeed were most of the innards on the car. The concept on display at Geneva used suspension parts borrowed from the Mk 2 Tauga to save on costs.

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:chestnut: :chestnut: :chestnut: :chestnut:

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Now this is how you should remake a car made in the Kee engine version with the UE4 build! It clearly looks the business and gives some backstory on how the latest Scarlet came to be.

And now, it seems inevitable that the rest of your lineup will also receive the UE4 treatment, including the many historic models.

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Sorry for the double post, but here’s a rival for the Mk4 Scarlet that I made in the Kee engine stable release version: the Albury Crusader Mk.V.

It first went on sale in 2013, the same year the Mk4 Scarlet concept was first shown; if I recall correctly, the Scarlet did not enter production until 2016.

Heavier than the Scarlet, its MOHV crossplane V8 did not have the stratospheric redline of its British rival, but countered that with masses of torque throughout the rev range. Also, it was more comfortable and had a character closer to a muscle car or a grand tourer, in contrast to the Scarlet’s more focused demeanor - and still came in at under $35k with a 20% markup attached.

If anyone else has a rival for the Mk4 Scarlet, please let me know - I’m surprised that nobody has discussed competitors for that particular generation before.

Ah trust me, it has its rivals. Some very strong competition in this field currently, including the Himmel E.O., Zenshi GTR, Sachiuri Sagitta (when it’s launched) and even some variants of the EADC Corsair (though I believe that’s now the Merciel Corasair @Dorifto_Dorito?)

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Yep, Merciel Corsaire. Ive still got to update it with a new V10 engine spec though :slight_smile:

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Arguably also the LV Octane.

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Some trims of the 2011 Storm Wildcat would certainly give it a run for the money. Not quite the same intent behind it, but… it’s similar to previous Storm/Erin rivalries. The brutal American sledgehammer against the British laser beam.

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And there’s the Shromet Dragon and the Cavallera Okuma, maybe even the base spec model of the now retconned Piranha

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#1994 Erin Agathe

Picture this; it’s 1990. The Nasaro, now one of the most successful sports cars Erin has ever made, is about to end production. A replacement is needed. The Nasaro’s competition has changed drastically through its lifetime, and the main rivals to it were now a slew of Japanese performance coupes.

So what does Erin do? Try to copy them, of course!

The Agathe is an oddity in the Erin back catalogue. It wasn’t very successful and was only around for a few years. and scarcely gets mentioned when talking about company history. Only around 500 were ever made between 1994 and 1996, despite a considerable amount of research and development going into this thing.

The idea was to make a British-born competitor to cars like the Toyota Supra, Mitsubishi 3000GT (aka GTO) and Mazda RX7, and continue Erin’s mid-size coupe lineage. The chassis was custom designed, with a 2.52m wheelbase and a similar coupe shape to the Scarlet’s of the day. The styling was unique, done by a specialist junior team who it was felt were more accustomed to the kind of looks buyers were demanding in this sector.

That said, it still got the signature Erin L-shaped tail lights, albeit reinterpreted a bit, just to ensure it wasn’t totally alien in the company’s lineup. Inside, you got 4 seats and a standard mid-90s interior, with comfort being exchanged for low weight.

Aside from that, the innards were fairly standard for an Erin sports coupe. RWD with a viscous LSD, 5 speed manual gearbox and all-round double-wishbone suspension. Engine wise, you could have a tuned version of the 2.5l i6 availible on the Berlose of the day or the Gen 1.5 version of the 3.3l V6, the same as the one in the base-model Scarlet Mk 2. That meant 222 hp on the X Tuned trim, in a car that weighed just 1226 kg.

What went wrong then? Well, for starters, Erin failed to realise one crucial thing; the reason these Japanese coupes were getting so much attention was because they were from Japan, meaning the Agathe lacked that same slightly exotic feel to it and didn’t have the same appeal. It also came off as a bit of a knock-off to some reviewer.

Secondly, it didn’t have the same magic as the Nasaro had had. When it launched in 1982, that car was a bold, futuristic statement of a car. This felt more like an experimental vehicle that had been deemed roadworthy as oppose to a genuine successor.

What’s more, it wasn’t terribly good as a car either. The boot was small, it was uncomfortable at low speeds and was fairly noisy to. Driving it was certainly rewarding, but it was hardly a drivers car like the Scarlet, nor did it feel like a proper Erin performance car like the Merna X or the later Berlose X-AllDrive.

Specs for the 330X trim

A lack of sales and the poor reception quickly ended the life of this Erin oddity, and it was soon forgotten. Today, it has a small but dedicated fanbase of collectors. As far as Erin classics go though, there are far better options, especially with the enthusiast-status of the Merna Mk 4 and 5 and the myriad of other performance vehicles from this period from Erin.

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I’d drive :stuck_out_tongue: Especially some 250 variant - why? Because I like I6s more than V6s (I know, weird from someone running a V6 EVERYTHING company) and a sports Erin with an I6 is something really unique :slight_smile:

V6 everything you say…

Ok, less than LaVache :smile:

Seems awfully similar to the RJ10 Kimura Helruna of similar vintage :wink:

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Dammit, I was going to point out the name thing :stuck_out_tongue: