Erin announces plan to stop being a car company and instead to become a supermarket
CEO Paul Erin says “we’ve been thinking of doing this for quite some time”.
Erin have announced plans to become a supermarket chain by the end of the year, ending 60 years of car making. The company assured its ~40,000 employees that their jobs would be maintained, though considerable retraining might be required for some.
“It’s right for the times” said CEO Paul Erin in a press conference this morning. “With Brexit on the horizon, it’s fairly clear that no one in Britain is going to be able to afford our cars soon enough and no one else in the world is going to want to buy British cars either.”
“That’s why it makes sense to enter the food retail industry. We’ll be able to truly reinvent the brand” he continued.
Although they will no longer be making cars, the model names currently used will live on; ‘Berlose’ will be used for their range of luxury red wines, ‘Merna’ will be used for their cheap everyday food and ‘Tauga’ will be used on an extensive choice of baking products.
It was a tense first season opener at Spa-Francorchamps for ErinSport where the Superseason got under way. High temperatures meant the track was scorching at some point, causing a lot of issues for tire wear during the 6 hour event. The hard fought and action packed race resulted in a podium position for the team in LMP1, whilst the #55 Scarlet narrowly missed 3rd place.
Worries about the power delivery system of the GT18’s hybrid powertrain were rectified over night after some worrying moments in practice and qualifying, with both chassis’ running a smooth race. They couldn’t match the immense pace of the two KHT cars, though were able to hold off attacks from Maine Motors, with former Maine race driver Danny Garland-Monsort fighting the team he used to drive for during his stint. He drove his #14 GT18 to a 3rd place finish, while the #15 chassis finished 18 seconds behind in 5th.
The two Scarlet’s struggled to match the straight line speed of the Bonham Flemings and Merciel Corsaires on this one of the fastest race tracks in the world, forcing the team to rely heavily on strategy to remain competitive. WEC rookie Georgina Stevens had a few near misses in the in a battle with Sachiuri, but managed to put enough space between her adversary to secure 4th place. The #56 chassis came into contact with one of the Cavalleras during Josef Isaksson’s stint, leading to penalty stop that the car wasn’t able to recover from, finishing 8th in class.
Head of ErinSport Sam Wentfort was “pleased with the first race”, saying that “the team have learned a lot over this first race weekend, putting us in good stead for Le Mans next month”. Asked how he was feeling about the famously difficult 24 hour race, he said “its where Erin made its name, and we aren’t planning on changing that any time soon”.
Overview
The 5th generation of Erin’s full-sized/E segment saloon offer excellent characteristics of smooth ride, great performance and elegant looks.
Taking a more angular approach to Erin’s Aeonara design language, the car blends into the modern, urban environment it was designed for with ease, whilst offering owners an excellent driving experience thanks to its great engines and advanced suspension.
Above-average efficiency for this segment and a unique 8 speed advances automatic transmission make the Mk 5 Berlose an excellent long-distance cruiser, a USP that finds its way back to the very first generation of the car.
2015 launch advert for the Berlose showing a 300Vox trim with optional extras in Imperial Blue
Key features
Lightweight construction: Erin’s advances in using aluminium on production cars now allows us to keep costs in check whilst still giving the Berlose a fully aluminium body, aiding performance and efficiency.
Pureon engines: excellent performance, good running costs and class leading efficiency, including a bi-turbo V8 option.
TapTouch™ interface: custom designed, Android powered infotainment system that works alongside your smartphone, all controlled via a gorgeous 11" touchscreen display, including Gecko™ voice control.
The Range
Saloon: the classic 4 door variant of the Berlose.
J. Jacobsen in the #14 GT18 racing in the small hours of Sunday morning
ErinSport’s #14 GT18 chassis claimed the first overall victory at Le Mans for the team since 1997 today. Completing 388 laps overall, they were able to beat rivals KHT, Maine and GBSC, with its sister #15 chassis finishing 5th. It had been holding 2nd place for much of the race, but a collision with one of the Scagliati GTE cars at just after 5:20 am forced it back into the pits for major repairs. The team were able to rebuild the front half of the drivetrain and get the car across the line.
Retired former CEO Marco Erin was at the race too, having recently celebrated his 76th birthday. While in charge of Erin, he saw the company to success at Le Mans in the 70s and late 80s, as well as their victories in 1995 and 1997. But, he struggled to replicate such success with the GT01 and GT09 LMP racers, making this a particularly special day. He said he was “immensely proud to see us win here once more”.
The two Scarlet GTE’s had a tougher race against the Merciel Corsaire’s and Bonham Fleming’s who raced very strongly, forcing Erin out of a podium finish in the class. Rising star Georgina Stevens suffered a tire blowout on her #55 car which knocked down its placing considerably, allowing the #56 car to finish ahead 5th in class after a tense final-few-laps battle with the #48 Sachiuri Sagitta.
This marks Erin’s 14th overall victory at Le Mans, having first raced here in 1951.
Disclaimer: all events depicted in this post are specifically for the Erin canon only and do not affect/are not related to any other similar posts from other companies.
Kht eau rouge was plagued by gearbox troubles, and both cars spent over 2 extra hours in the pits, ruining their chances. KHT Ceo has congratulated Erin racing division on a job well done.
Tuning company and motorsport team Maula announced the car they would be competing with in the 2019 European Hillclimb Championship a joint press release with Erin today. The company, based in Exhall, Coventry, will be running in the Category I class with a heavily modified version of the current gen Merna compact, developed in partnership with Erin’s in-house tuning company/R&D organisation, the X Department.
The Maula Merna HC19 (pictured) is based on the 200X-AllDrive model, the top of the line hot hatch variant of the car. It uses the same Pureon Large i4 block as the road-going model, enlarged to 2.22l in a perfectly square design, with an NHI Turbocharging kit and custom straight pipe exhaust. Currently, the engine pushes 700 hp, though it’s believed there is further room for improvement. A complete overhaul of the cars aero and a lot of bodywork has also been done, as well as considerable weight loss too.
As of present, only preliminary testing and tuning has begun, with “more work to be done” over the coming autumn and winter in preparation for the start of the season. ErinSport have also noted that they are keen to see the car compete in the 2019 Pikes Peak Hill Climb as well.
Maula have a considerable history of working with Erin cars. Whilst more famous for their open wheel racers and motorsport supplies, the team came to fame in the mid 1990s with the special edition Maula Merna and more recently a Touge-prepped Mk 1 Berlose affectionatley known as ‘Big Mumma’.
More on the partnership is expected later this year when drivers are announced, though a date has yet to be confirmed.
ErinSport officially announce intention to compete in the new WEC Hypercar discipline
As hype builds around the successor to the current LMP1 regulations in the World Endurance Championship, the Erin Motor Company and ErinSport are pleased to announce that a project to develop a car to compete in the new Hypercar category is currently underway. A number of rumours surrounding the future of ErinSport’s current prototype racer - the GT18 - after the end of the current WEC Superseason preceded this announcement.
In keeping with the now approved regulations for the series, the project will lead to the creation of a hybrid-powered race car, including the mandated road-going production variants which will likely be built at Erin’s X Department Specialist Production Line in Nottingham, UK. As of current, the project is experimenting with basing the car on the current GT18 chassis and powertrain in order to speed up the development process.
As this is Erin’s first ever hypercar, it has been suggested that the company may seek out external help from more experienced manufacturers in this field. ErinSport aims to have the car on the startline at the first race of the 2020 season, and looks forward to meeting other manufacturers there very soon.
the first seconds
