Will the Corbin Sparrow be Reborn?
The twisted tale of the Electra Meccanica SOLO begins in a motorcycle seat maker’s shop in Hollister, California circa 1996.
How does Canadian-based Electra Meccanica share history with one of America’s EV pioneers? It starts with a custom motorcycle saddle.
If you’ve ever owned a motorcycle, you might have heard of Mike Corbin. Mike’s been making custom motorcycle saddles since the late 60’s designed to replace those often uncomfortable seats supplied by manufacturers. But in the mid 90’s this former electrician was inspired to create a small, three-wheeled electric car called the Sparrow.
Apparently, Myers Motors had purchased the Corbin Sparrow assets. However, according to Inside EVs, Mike Corbin retained rights to the Sparrow brand name as well as many of the design rights. Maybe that’s why the current Myers Motors website is about crowd funding a new vehicle, rather than purchasing one of their Sparrow-clone vehicles – “NmG” (for No More Gas) – no longer in production (NLiP).
So who is Jerry Kroll and why is he sitting on this Sparrow?
But things seem to have changed.
Now, Electra Meccanica is making a totally new 3-wheeled personal electric vehicle – the Solo. Carbon fiber, instead of steel tubing and fiberglass. Sleek and modern, instead of funky and fun. Perhaps this is because Mike Corbin, who retains those funky and fun design rights, is developing the Sparrow 2, which still preserves the adorable, cartoon-like look of the original Sparrow. Corbin is scheduled to release the Sparrow 2 sometime soon.
So if and when they are available for purchase, which EV do you want? Of the three, Electra Meccanica appears to be the most likely to enter the market.
Sparrow reborn? Your guess is as good as mine.
More information and real conversation about this vehicle. I’m looking forward to the Sept. 9th launch of the Electra Meccanica Solo in Vancouver BC. I’m in line for mine in 2017 in the U.S. and I was impressed with the company and the vehicle.I launched https://www.soloowners.net It’s an informative forum for Solo enthusiasts and future owners. I look forward to being a part of this beneficial community. Please stop by, make yourself at home and let’s talk Solo.Together we’ll be taking back the road.
Thanks, Dale. Check out the new SOLO article.
I bought #17 Corbin sparrow in the uk. bad news followed as the electrics were shot. but if you go to you tube corbin sparrow 2017 you will see its not going to be dead for long. As a builder of custom bikes i had to think how best to get the little car (a very rare little car) back on the road.