@ramthecowy Thanks! 
@abg7 No idea, haven’t played GT6 so I don’t know. Probably quite a lot 
I could do exterior colours but that’d take a looooong time. I could do mini palette if you like?
2 Likes
I fully agree with your suggestion. The Erin prototypes should cost a few million credits in GT6 give or take.
I’d certainly hope so
A man approaches Erin showroom.
“Good morning there!”
“Good morning sir, may I help you?”
“You most certainly can! I’m looking to buy an Erin Nardella used or new. If you could direct me to on of your chaps that would be splendid.”
“Of course, while you wait, tea or coffee sir?”
“I’m fine, thanks,” the man replied with a smile.
A hour later, a green Nardella rolled off the lots, a grinning man at the wheel mashing the throttle as he hit the road.
Security summary for the day:
a small green unidentified car has entered the Cavallera property.
7 Likes
##“Back in my day, the wedge was all the craze”
(Said no one ever)
But there’s no denying that the 70s car world was crazed, ecstatic and bewildered over the wedge. It was the shape of the future. Goodbye curves, hello linear - the wedge became the symbol of modern.
And naturally, Erin wanted in on the craze.
#1972 Erin Tegale
Backstory
After the founder of the company Dominic Erin handed control over to his son Marco Erin in early 1970, Erin went through a bold period of change. Aged just 29, he had become CEO.
He’d always been close to his father, and had regularly joined him as he toured Europe and the world in the 1950s with Erin Motorsport. In 1968, the Erin Lira was launched, and he’d been the chief man behind the project. He may well have been young, but he knew what he was doing.
Erin went through a bit of an identity crisis in the late 60s, with the race team Erin Motorsport essentially competing for attention against the car making side of the company. So, Marco proposed a reshuffle. The car building side was reorganised and rebranded as just ‘Erin’. Erin Motorsport was reformed into Erin[color=turquoise]Sport[/color], given more autonomy and given direct access to Erin itself, including car designs, engineers/expertise and the X Department.
With internal politics dealt with, it was time to focus on Erin, and Marco knew exactly what he wanted - to turn Erin into a slightly exotic, always reliable and visionary car company. By the end of 1970, two new cars had been released: the Comprida and the Civera, the latter of which would become a very succesful race car thanks to Marco’s reforms.
Now, however, he needed a halo car. Something to shake the automotive world up a little bit with, and something to put Erin thoroughly on the map. Enter the Tegale.
Overview
The Tegale was a high-end, luxury sports car built between 1972 and 1979, when Erin’s financial disaster forced it out of production. It aimed to combine superb performance with class leading comfort and refinement. But that’s not all - it was going to look extraordinary.
Marco tasked his chief designer Harold Forgeley with styling the car so that it would put Erin at the forefront of modern car design. What else then but to utitlise wedge design on the Tegale: it would be as bold as Erin had become.
Not only that, but this car would be fast. 0-60 in just 6.4 seconds on the top-end GT-S trim, thanks to the 3.6l V8 under the bonnet, meant it could keep pace with a Ferrari 208.
Design
A typical full steel monocoque was used for the Tegale, keeping it sturdy, and the overall weight came in at 1153 kg. The vinyl roof was not optional - you had to have it - though a convertible version was also produced.
The styling was as Harold Forgeley described it “new”. Not just with the wedge front end, but with the thin, rectangular headlights and made straight lines found around the car. This continued with the interior, which was a wood and metal design inspired by art deco architecture.
This was also the first ever car from Erin to have pop-up headlights, which were to yet to become popular in Britain. Many saw it more as a quirk, as oppose to their actual intentions which were to maintain the wedge shape whilst still complying with headlight regulations.
Performance
The 3.6l SOHC V8 produced 206hp, meaing 0-60 in 6.4 seconds and a top speed of 142 mph. In short, it was bog standard for its day.
Double wishbones all round made sure this car was comfortable and sporty. While certainly not as sharp some of its competitors, the Tegale was reassuringly laid back in its handling, and was most at home on snaking mountain pass in the Alps.
Result
The automotive press were immediatley split on the Tegale. Some heralded it as brilliant piece of design. Others found it simply horrifying to look at from the front. Marco had expected this, and it was exactly what he needed; people were talking about Erin, and the debate over the Tegale’s styling boosted sales across the range.
Against its sports and even supercar rivals, the Tegale was only really competitve in a straight line. Some have even come to question whether it was actually more of a GT car.
Yet, within a few years, the Tegale was no longer a perplexing ugly duckling. Thanks to cars like the Aston Martin Lagonda, Lotus Esprit and Triumph TR7, the Tegale emerged as an innovative piece of automotive design. It’s performance level also put it into competition with the Italians outside of the race track for the first time, and Erin’s image of “that slightly exotic British car maker” had been established.
If this car were a song, it’d Bennie and the Jets by Elton John
Stats
13 Likes
#1983: The Year of the Plucky Trio
If 1982 was the year where Erin saved itself, 1983 was the year that it remade itself. The Nasaro was now doing well, and had begun it’s conquest of Group A racing in March. Now, Erin’s lineup needed to be completed. Gone were the GT coupes and quirky sports-saloon-coupe hybrids of past; the company was going professional.
So slap on some New Wave, grab your Filofax and style your best bangs; welcome to Erin in the 80s!
##History
Chris Famerley, hired by CEO Marco Erin at the age of just 25 to be Erin’s chief of design, has styled the Nasaro brilliantly. Now, Marco wanted a new design style to link the looks of the new Erin range together. Famerley therefore continued with the contemporary futuristic styling to create the boldest line up Erin had ever had.
Alongside a new Merna, there would be a supermini called the Visto and an excutive saloon called the Berlose. All of these cars had been early concepts in the late 70s before the financial crash, meaning that the designs simply had to be updated rather than built from new.
Things would be tough though. The low funds that Erin had and the very pressing need to get Erin’s income stream going again meant that all three cars had to be rushed to some extent. To save more money, Erin only designed 4 new engines in total, with the rest being made up by Toledo engines. Interior design was simple, shared parts were used consistently and the cars could certainly have done with more refinement.
But at the same time, these cars were a bold step for the company. Erin became one of the first makers in the world to use only fuel injection engines; incredible effort was put in to ensuring these cars were safer to drive than their rivals, something Erin remains committed to today; a lot of time was spent on how to market these cars, which the company had never done on such a scale before.
They laid out a whole new vision for what Erin was, and helped to revolutionise the brand. By the end of the year, the financial disaster of 1979 was distant memory. Sales went back up again, Erin[color=turquoise]Sport[/color] got a new Merna to take touring car racing and for the first time in 4 years, they were making a profit.
##1983 Erin Merna (Mk 4)
It was a miracle how long the Mk 3 Merna managed to stay in production for; by 1983 it was outdated and dying for a replacement. And in its place came the angular, handsome Mk 4. Famerly returned to the mini-saloon styling of the Mk 1 and Mk 2, but brought it into a new age.
As ever, the Merna was reliable, practical and good to drive. Even with the areas that had been skimped on like interior furnishings and suspension, the competitive price and great fuel economy mean that this car was a good buy. It was see massive improvements in 1986 when the facelifted version was launched, ironing out the various flaws and creating a solid family run about.
Engines ranged from a dinky 1.1l i4 up to a 1.5l i4, reworked from a Toledo-made engine.
If this car were a song, it’d be The Sun Always Shines On TV by A-ha.
##1983 Erin Visto (Mk 1)
The little Visto was made to be the fun-loving sibling of the Merna; compact, practical and light on its feet, this car was the result of years of research Erin had done into making a smaller car to sit alongside the Merna.
In many ways, this was just a smaller version of the Merna, but was more economical and cheaper. What really distinguished it from its rivals however was the styling; the Nasaro-style rear lights were way cooler than the rear lights of the VW Polo.
One of the biggest strengths of the car was its comfort. Thanks to the low weight, suspension didn’t need to be hard, allowing for a smooth ride not found on many cars of this price.
If this car were a song, it’d be Always On My Mind by The Pet Shop Boys.
##1983 Erin Berlose (Mk 1)
Differing itself from its smaller counterparts with chrome and decking its insides with a range of luxuries, the Berlose was Erin’s jab at the Germans. The ethos of this car was set out immediatley here: a superb long distance cruise, with enough guts to be fun to drive but also easy enough to do the school run in everyday.
A lot of effort was placed on making this car as comfortable as possible, using only V6s and i6s (aside from a V8 used on some American export versions), cladding the interior with leather and offering automatic gearboxes as standard. This car was also innovative; on some trims, you could get vented front disc breaks, while cruise control was offered as standard on all models.
Today, the Mk 1 Berlose is an esteemed Erin classic, and came to be one of the best alternatives to a Mercedes or BMW you could buy.
If this car were a song, it’d be People Are People by Depeche Mode.
#X-cellent!
1983 also saw th use of the ‘X Tune’ branding on Erin’s sports tuned trims expand. The logo had first been used with the Nasaro X a year earlier, and it was formalised soon after. While the X Department had existed since 1960, none of the cars they’d tuned used the ‘X’ branding until then.
##1983 Erin Merna X 2.0
Hot versions of the Merna had come before, but not like this. The '83 Merna X was nippy and nimble, with a slightly unsightly boot spoiler, lower stance and a gorgeous burble from its 2.0l Twin Cam i4, a de-turboed version of the same engine used in the Nasaro S.
Producing 135 bhp, 0-60 took 7.4 seconds, meaning it could compete with the best hot hatches of the day, though it was by no means as good as the Golf GTi or the later 205 GTi.
That said, the Merna X enjoyed a great career in motorsport, doing very well in Class B of the BTCC, taking 14 pole psoitions between 1984 and 1988, as well competing in some minor rally races under Erin[color=turquoise]Sport[/color] sponsored teams.
##1983 Erin Visto X 1.4
The Visto X of '83 was an unusual car. Hot-hatches were still developing and hadn’t really gone any further than hatchbacks, meaning that this tuned Visto become one of the only tuned superminis you could buy.
It wasn’t the best performance vehicle you could buy, though it was by no means dull - 0-60 in 9.4 seconds and great handling thanks to the short wheels base made it great fun to drive, even if it was overshadowed by the rest of the hot-hatch market.
There we are then! All cars that I’ve made previously, but updated, improved and in some cases redesigned. And now posted properly too!
Comments, critique, complaints, contradictions and conversation is most welcome!
(Please excuse some of the hilariously awful music videos in that playlist, but also look out for the really good videos for Don’t You Want Me, Two Tribes and Never Tear Us Apart!)
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80’s Erin is faster than my 10’s Saminda.
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I will make polite contradiction to one thing, although I also accept that Erin Motor Company was more global by that time than we were. [quote=“DeusExMackia, post:161, topic:5839”]
Erin became the first maker in the world to use only fuel injection engines
[/quote]
Not quite. But we’re American and were in the middle of the muscle-car era when we started throwing around our fancy mechanical fuel injection.
That said, I do think the Berlose and the Merna look excellent. Never much liked super-minis, but I’ll admit the Visto looks good in its own way.
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@Yamahafazer600 You are kidding me, right? Saminda, sort this out!
@Madrias Correction noted, thanks for saying! I’ll update the post 
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As always, such a nice presentation of very nice cars! That’s one of the things that makes Erin one of my favourite automation brands 
I’m not that fan of hatchbacks, but those looks completely in tune with the 80s hot hatch race.
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Thanks for the feedback! Well if we can’t convince you to buy one of our hatchbacks, how about a different model?
#The Sweetest Songs That I Could Sing - A trip through the many sounds of Erin engines.
Inspired by @ramthecowy’s posting of car sounds, I’ve decided to copy him unashamedly and try my hand at this - hope you don’t mind! 
Erin’s engines make many a-wonderful sound.
From the blunt bwaaar of the Merna XEco…
…to the brash war-cry of the Tauga X.
From the depths-of-hell bellow of the Scarlet X…
…to the screaming symphony of the GT95.
From the blokey swagger of the old Merna X…
…to the soulful angel-song of the Lagana GTS.
And to the soaring might of th- Oops no hang on, I haven’t released this yet
On a side note, the latest update has introduced a new coupe body with the same styling as the 2000s one, only with a shorter wheelbase, meaning that I’ll be updating the Erin Scarlet as I finally have a body with the right proportions!
6 Likes
#Erin Scarlet (Mk 4) - Final Update
At last, I have this car absolutely perfected. In one form or another, it’s been in development for almost 8 months, having first been released back at the Geneva Motor Show in March. Now though, with the game significantly updated and a body added that actually reflects the real-life size of this car (think Aston Martin Vantage/Jaguar F Type/Porsche 911 size), I finally have the perfect version of Erin’s ultimate car.
It’s also an excuse to make some moar photoshops 
Aesthetically, the car hasn’t changed that much. On this final version, I’ve tidied up the headlights, changed the side indicator design and removed the rear diffuser. Titleguy1 pointed out in the ‘Everyday Supercars’ review that it right. Not that it won’t make a return on any racing versions of the car…
##Trims
Two trims are availible, the Lex 3.3 and X 3.8. Rather than offering different levels of quality, the trims are differenced based on their driving style; both cars have the same interior, same infotainment system and very similar exterior designs.
Stats up to date as of Lite Campaign V2 release, 19/11/16
Lex 3.3 - from £54240
Made to be lighter, more down-to-earth than its X 3.8 counterpart. Uses the same 3.3l V6 found in the Tauga X, providing 417 hp. A semi-active suspension system is used for an uncomplicated, unintrusive and brilliant ride.
X 3.8 - from £74620
The ultimate drivers car, and the most advanced production car ever made by Erin. Just as fun and rewarding to drive on a track as it is on the open road.
Boom! Done. Finished. No more work on this car. It’s finished. Except of course when I have to remake it all over again in the UE4 update. But that’s not for a little while 
Now then, if only Sachiuri and Saminda would release that long awaited halo car… 
UPDATE: Stats updated as of 27/11/16 based on feedback from here.
10 Likes
MMMmmmmmmmmmmhmmhmhhhhhmmh 
lovely
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Ok. Beautiful, great car. But where is the sound? 
@szafirowy01 Why, it’s right here!
@ramthecowy Erin’s marketing department are…uh…glad you had such a response?? 
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If only i had the money to buy the Starlet Lex 3.3 , than i wouldn’t always get smoked 
No but seriously this is a great car. In terms of driver-friendliness this car is like no other in it’s range and it looks absolutely gorgeous. I don’t think it’s fair to take a fight to it in the name of an Okuma or any other car. I’d refuse to let the two cars on the same track. I simply have too much love for this car. Not sure what does it, the looks, the package, the marketing… but whatever it is, the Scarlet is a hell of a car. It’ll never be forgotten.
@Yamahafazer600 Ha! It is annoying how all the stuff you need to make such a car costs so much. But you cetainly get what you pay for
@ramthecowy My word, thank you for such high praise! I mean I absolutley love the Okuma, but it’s a very different car.
You’ve really cut to the core of what the Scarlet is about; emotion. Not just about how fast it goes, but how it makes you feel.
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From Le Sarthe to Le Showroom - The Lagana Story
By the end of 1960, Erin had barely been making production cars for 4 years, but they now felt ready to enter the world of mass production. Launching alongside the brand new Merna family car, the Lagana was to become the company’s best selling sports car for the next 5 years, and has since earned a coveted place as one of the most valuable Erin classics.
Origin
The Lagana began its life as the Erin Motorsport SP4-12, the company’s 1960 World Sportscar Championship entrant. Between 1960 and 1964, it would win the Targa Florio twice and score a 1-2 victory at Le Mans in 1960. An Erin-sponsored team would also race with the car in the USAC Road Racing championship.
1960 Erin Motorsport SP4-12 A in team colours
Powered by a sumptuous 3.0l V12 that produced some 303 hp, the car could do 0-60 in 5.9 seconds and topped out at 156 mph. It couldn’t match its Bonham or KHT rivals for outright speed, but in the corners and under acceleration, it was formidable.
This would be the last front-engined car that Erin Motosport’s Prototypes division would ever build, switching to MR vehicles like the rest of their competitors.
Erin had now been converting race cars into road cars for 4 years with some success, but CEO Dominic Erin was key for this new high-end sports car to do well. That meant it had to actually be usable on the road, and look good. Enter-Chief of Design Harold Forgeley, who’d only been at the company for a few years, who turned the sleek Le Mans racer into an instant classic.
1961 Erin Lagana GT-S
If ever beauty has taken form in steel and rubber, this is it. Erin’s position as a maker of really great sports cars began right here in the chrome-clad lines of the Lagana.
In making this car, Erin has stepped right into the firing line of the Italians as well as their fellow British makers, who were hotly contesting the high end sports car market. Here then was a plucky underdog that lacked the quality of its rivals but carried the same finesse as the endurance racer which it was based upon.
The 3.0l V12 had been detuned to be more usable, still knocking out 239 hp. The interior was certainly more luxurious than previous Erin’s, but didn’t quite match the quality of its competitors. And even though the aluminium body panels had been replaced with steel ones, it only weighed in 1064kg, way lighter than anything else in its price range.
Strangely enough, it was converted back into a race car for 1962, called the ‘GT-S R’, competing in GT championships around Europe, including the Challenge Mondiale. It would be the first time that Erin had made a large number of sales to private race teams.
Between 1962 and 1966, the GT-S R variant would make up at least half of the Erin Motosport team in the World Sportscar Championship (called the International GT Championship for Makers during this period), along side the top tier cars from the Prototypes division.
A total of ~9500 Lagana’s would be built, with at least 100 built for racing purposes. Today, a good quality one will set you back in excess of £800,000, while pristine, low mileage examples regularly go for over £1 million.
A 1962 SP4-12 C sold at auction for £19.3 million in 2013, becoming the most expensive Erin ever sold.
Boom! Now there’s a real classic. Feedback is most appreciated!
Winner of Best Car Design 2016 (EOTY 16)
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