THE SPARROW STORY
Finishing Touches Before the New Sparrow Prototype Was Ready for the Road
This brief note from the build captured the last stage before the new Sparrow prototype could be driven. The interior was being completed and finishing touches applied. What remained was a set of suspension adjustments and a wheel alignment, after which the team described the car as practically road ready.
From the Sparrow archive. Product plans, events and availability described here belong to the original historical period.
The last steps before first drives
Alignment is one of the final jobs on any hand-built vehicle because it depends on everything else being in place. The suspension must carry its real load, including the battery pack and bodywork, before wheel angles can be set properly. On a three-wheeled layout like the Sparrow, where two front wheels steer and a single rear wheel drives, the front alignment largely determines how straight and stable the car feels.
In the sequence of archived updates, this note sits between the fitting of the battery pack and wiring harness and the later reports of shakedown drives on Central California highways. It marks the point where the project shifted from assembly to testing.