The Corbin Sparrow

As we close the books on the second decade of the twenty-first century, electricity’s role in personal transportation seems assured. The market share of electric vehicles in the industrialized world approaches 5% in some regions, and is expected only to rise from there. This was far from the case 20 years ago when the electric powered Corbin Sparrow made its debut. Then, EV sales were lucky to register in the hundreds annually. But this was also the height of the dot.com frenzy. Entrepreneurs everywhere were promoting their vision of what lies ahead. It seemed quite reasonable then, that this tiny one-seat electric pod might one day carry us toward a utopian future of personal transportation. Like countless other brainchildren of that age, the Sparrow’s flight was as brief as it was bright.

The driving force behind the Sparrow was Mike Corbin, a man who took a circuitous path to building automobiles. From an early aptitude in electrical engineering (winning his Gardner, Mass high school science fair with a robot that was powered by a memory board and servo-motor) to the U.S. Navy, where he was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Ranger out of San Francisco as an electrician. After the end of his tour it was back to New England where he worked as an electrical subcontractor on Pratt & Whitney’s military jet engine business. It was the height of the Vietnam War. Business was brisk, and Corbin’s career prospects looked good. 

But as the 60s progressed and the war lost support, the future for the defense business grew murky. Mike Corbin was prepared. He had a long standing passion for customizing motorcycles. In his spare time, he had begun making custom seats and selling them at local meets. Word spread of his excellent work. By 1968, Corbin was able to abandon electrical contracting altogether. He took to crafting custom motorcycle parts full time. By 1971, his company, Corbin Gentry, was producing seats, frames, fuel tanks and handlebars for every American, British and Japanese bike on the market.  

It would take the 1974 oil crisis to call Corbin back to his electrical roots, where he applied them to motorcycles. At a time when electric vehicles were still the crazy dream of wild haired scientists at obscure environmental conferences, Mike Corbin was at the Bonneville Salt Flats Nevada setting in the land speed record for an electric powered vehicle. This motorcycle of his own design called Quicksilver topped 171MPH, a mark stood for 38 years.

Corbin’s motorcycle accessory business kept growing throughout the Seventies and Eighties. Operations expanded to California. It was here that he would soon become swept up in the tech craze of the 1990s. By late 1996, Mike Corbin was presenting his concept commuter car at the San Francisco auto show. The Sparrow PTM (Personal Transit Module) had one door, three wheels, a plastic body and was powered by electricity. This one seat pod featured a 20Kw motor that could be fully charged in 6hrs from a standard 110-outlet. It had a range of 25-50 miles, and a top speed of 75-80 MPH. According to Corbin’s marketing materials, operating costs were as low as 1 cent/mile. Sparrows also required only a motorcycle license to operate, and thus could be insured at lower motorcycle rates. But because of the fully enclosed body, drivers were not required to wear a helmet…which, incidentally, the Sparrow kinda looked like. 

During the week long San Francisco show, Corbin took in over $1 million in deposits. The interest was far greater than he expected, seeing as at the time he had only one car, no factory and no employees. Those were minor details, many of which could be solved with a million dollars. 

 But not all of them. Although production at Corbin’s Hollister, California plant officially began in mid 1998, it wasn’t until late 1999 before that the company had cars deemed ready for delivery. Deemed ready, however, is not always the same thing as being ready. Like so many other of the self-proclaimed vanguards that burst forth from the euphoria of the era, it was looking like Mike Corbin had bitten off more than he could chew.

The biggest problem was period technology. There were no lithium batteries in the late 90s. Instead, the Sparrow used a rack of thirteen 12-volt lead acid units wired together and weighing in at nearly 600lbs (out of total vehicle weight of 1350lbs!) The system was proving to be troublesome. When just one of the 13 batteries failed, the whole system shut down. Getting it working again was sort of like the old fashioned Christmas lights we remember our dads cursing at in frustration while looking for that one burned out bulb. And even when the batteries did work, the motor controllers often did not. It was a far too common experience for Sparrow owners to find themselves standing by the side of the road not being transported by their personal transportation module.

Working or not, they sure were cute. The Sparrow’s body was made of layered composite plastic - which gave it a strong resemblance to one of the rubber rain boots my daughter got for her 3rd birthday. It came in a choice of 12 vibrant colors. Parking a bunch of them together made you think someone spilled a jar of giant jellybeans. But not that giant. Each Sparrow was only 4 feet wide, 5 feet tall and 8 feet long.

Even, Hollywood would take notice of the Sparrow. The 2002 movie, Goldmember, was the third and most over the top (if that’s possible) of the Austin Powers sci-fi spy spoofs that starred Mike Myers in many roles. One of those was the evil Goldmember, formally known as Johann van der Smut, before he lost his own member in a freak gold smelting accident. No one has ever accused Mr. Myers’ films of being too high brow. Anyway, Goldmember drives a customized Corbin Sparrow, now sporting an impressive golden phallus, presumably to compensates for his loss. It was the perfect choice. The little car already looked a bit like a technocolor nut sack.

Alas, the Sparrow’s fame was fleeting. Like so many other startups of the day, Corbin Motors proved considerably better at conceptualizing and promoting its new technology then actually building something that could be sold at a profit. When the tech bubble burst in 2000, investment money dried up. 

Corbin Motor’s would build a total of 289 Sparrows before going filing for bankruptcy in 2003. In a December 2016 piece by Loz Blain on NewsAtlas.com, Mike Corbin spoke of the Sparrow as, “a great idea…what they call a big hairy-assed idea, but we had a lousy business plan.”  

But like Austin Powers, the Sparrow would have a sequel or two in it. The following year, Ohio-based Myers Motors (no relation to Mike) acquired the rights to the Sparrow for a song. After numerous modifications to fix the original car’s many glitches, it was back for 2006. Now called the Myers NMG-1 (No More Gas), another 30 cars were built before Myers also went belly up. 

It was Mike Corbin himself who would attempt another flight of the Sparrow. Announced in 2012, the Sparrow 2 boasted modern lithium batteries and an AC motor with nearly 80hp on tap. It also promised be much better appointed than the previous car, with scissor doors, backup camera, and full connectivity. 

Corbin’s plan was to do things differently this time. He has no investors and carries no debt. Cars are built to order. It is not clear how many Sparrow 2s have been built. While Corbin’s motorcycle accessory business is thriving, you have to do a fairly deep dive into the website to find any mention of the Sparrow. A recent search states that beta testing is currently taking place, and the taking of orders commences in 2018. 

And so it seems that few people, other than the occasional futuristic supervillain, are compelled to take to the road, all by themselves, in a 1-seat personal transit module. 

Copyright@2019  by Mal Pearson