A modified Sparrow warms ups at National Electric Drag Races. It ran a time of 14.932 sec. at 83.48 mph in the 1/4 mile.	AS THE STORY GOES......... back in 1989, Mike Corbin was standing on a freeway overpass in Los Angeles and looked down at the people stuck in the morning hour commute. He noticed that every so often, a car or motorcycle would pass everyone in the HOV Commuter lane. From that sight, Mike envisioned a one person car for the commuter.
From that day on, Mike wondered how to remedy the problem. In August of 1995, Mike talked with his son Tom about the idea. He drew some sketches on a napkin and together with Tom, decided to give it a try. In January 1996, a meeting was called and a new project was born. Utilizing key people from their well established Corbin Motorcycle Seat business, Mike and Tom began designing the Sparrow. The first Sparrow built, a yellow Alpha Sparrow, was shown to the world on April 1, 1996 at the San Francisco Auto Show. It was a huge hit and orders started to come in.	The above photo is of the Corbin Motors Assembly Line. Colorful Sparrow bodies awaiting assembly can be seen below.
Through 1997, DOT and NHTSA rules were met while the Sparrow was in delopement stage for production. A home for the Sparrow was created in the new Hollister, CA factory and Sparrow pre-production began. Due to the configuration of the Sparrow, the 100% electric Beta-tester was built for low production volume. Once again, Sparrows were taken to auto shows and were a huge success. On March 29, 1999, Corbin Motors was officially formed. In May 1999, the Sparrow met final DOT regulations. In September 1999, production sped up for the envisioned demand. And by mid-year 2000, Sparrows were flying out the door. Although it was expected that thousands of Sparrows would be built,only 285 ever came to full production. Numerous mechanical and electrical problems (mainly with the motor controllers), as well as several financial and employee related issues forced Corbin Motors into United States Bankrupcy Court in the Northern District of California on March 31, 2003. Ultimately, (within a little over two years of production) the Sparrow, under the Corbin name was finished.	Sparrow bodies consist of a monocoque chassis with a fiberglass top and a fiberglass bottom tub secured together with industrial adhesive. Two part polyurethane foam is injected between the two shells in varying thickness of 1" to 2". A thickened rib in the roof serves as a rollbar.