Unusual Machine: There’s A Corbin Sparrow Electric Vehicle For Sale

This is a Corbin Sparrow electric vehicle from the year 2000. It’s an unusual EV that was designed to accommodate a single person, and offer the best possible aerodynamics and range for its size.

It’s being offered as a project vehicle, it has a bank of lead acid batteries that need to be replaced before it can be driven anywhere. The new owner may want to look into using more modern lithium-ion batteries as it would potentially save a lot of weight, and significantly increase the range.

Fast Facts – The Corbin Sparrow EV

• The Corbin Sparrow is a single-passenger electric vehicle from the year 2000. This example is offered as a project car due to its need for new batteries and possibly other work. Originally equipped with lead-acid batteries, modern lithium-ion replacements would improve performance, reducing weight and increasing range.
• Mike Corbin, an electrical engineer and motorcycle enthusiast, founded Corbin Motors in the late 1990s. After gaining recognition for his electric motorcycles, he developed the Corbin Sparrow as a small, personal electric vehicle for urban commuting and errands.
• The Corbin Sparrow debuted in 1996 and quickly attracted attention during the Dot Com Boom. While the vehicle saw strong initial interest, production challenges and the use of heavy lead-acid batteries limited its success. Only about 300 units were sold.
• The featured Corbin Sparrow has been in storage for a decade, with only 2,300 miles on the odometer. It is now for sale in Pennsylvania, requiring new batteries and some mechanical checks before being roadworthy again. Surviving Sparrows often benefit from modern battery upgrades for improved range.

The Incredible Story Of Mike Corbin

Mike Corbin is a name that should arguably be much better known in the world of electric transportation. He’s an electrical engineer who showed an early aptitude for working with electricity all the way back in high school in the 1960s.

Above Video: This short interview with Mike Corbin tells the story of how he came up with the idea of the Sparrow and how the vehicle was developed.

As a young man, Mike worked as an electrician aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger out of San Francisco as a serving member of the U.S. Navy. After this, he worked as an electrical subcontractor on Pratt & Whitney’s military jet engines.

Mike had long been a fan of motorcycles, having built a number of custom bikes himself over the years. He realized there was a market for comfortable, professional grade aftermarket seats and he started his eponymous company selling seats for a wide range of motorcycles. This company remains in business today, and is one of the most respected motorcycle seat makers in the world.

After the 1973 Oil Crisis, which sent fuel prices shooting into the stratosphere, Mike began to bring his two passions together – electrical engineering and motorcycles. He developed an electric land speed racing motorcycle named Quicksilver. He would personally ride Quicksilver to a top speed of 165.397 at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, setting a record that would remain unbroken for almost 40 years.

1973 would also be the year that the Corbin-Gentry XLP-1 would become the first electric motorcycle registered for use on public roads in the USA. Other electric motorcycles built by Mike would become the first to climb to the summit of Mt Washington in New Hampshire, becoming the first electric vehicle to ever do so.

By the 1990s Mike had shifted his attention to developing a true mass-market electric runabout. A car with space for one person and some groceries, that would be ideal for getting around town, running errands, and commuting modest distances.

He founded Corbin Motors in the late 1990s to manufacture and sell the Corbin Sparrow, which was described as a Personal Transit Module (PTM). The first Corbin Sparrow was developed as a proof of concept and shown to the world at the 1996 San Francisco Auto Show, not far from Mike’s base of operations in Hollister, California.

The Corbin Sparrow was flooded with interest at the show, 1996 was right in the midst of the build up to the Dot Com Boom and there was a lot of money in San Francisco, as well as a lot of interest in all things electrical. The Sparrow received over a million dollars worth of pre-orders, the only problem was that there was only one, and Mike didn’t yet have any sort of production line for the model.

By 1999 this was all largely worked out, and Corbin Sparrows began leaving the production line in modest numbers. As is always the case with new models from new automakers, there were some teething issues. Another issue was that this was just before the time of affordable (or relatively affordable) lithium ion batteries, so the Sparrow was fitted with a bank of a dozen automotive 12 volt batteries in an array.

The batteries added 600 lbs of weight to the car, the car itself weighing 1,350 lbs in total, so it was almost half the curb weight. The older lead acid batteries also didn’t offer particularly good range, with just ~50 miles of range with a top speed listed as 75+ mph.

Ultimately, only about 300 examples of the Corbin Sparrow would be sold. It would achieve some fame, being featured in the 2002 film Austin Powers in Goldmember starring Mike Myers, Beyoncé Knowles, Seth Green, and Michael Caine. The Sparrow would also feature in the 2012 film Looper starring Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Emily Blunt.

Today the surviving examples of the Sparrow represent an interesting, early time in the history of modern electric vehicles. Many owners have upgraded their cars with lithium ion battery packs to vastly improve range.

The Corbin Sparrow EV Shown Here

The vehicle you see here is an original Corbin Sparrow from the year 2000. It was reportedly bought new by the seller’s neighbor, who put just 2,300 miles on it.

That same neighbor recently gifted it to the seller after a decade in storage, and as noted above the original bank of 12 volt car batteries will need to be replaced before it can be driven. It would also be wise to have the electric motor checked, and of course you would want to check the brakes as well as flushing and replacing the brake fluid.

The car is now being offered for sale out of Wellsboro, Pennsylvania on Bring a Trailer with a clean Pennsylvania title in the seller’s name. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.

Images courtesy of Bring a Trailer