THE SPARROW STORY
Announcing the Approach of the New Sparrow Beta Program in 2017
This announcement was published as the new Sparrow prototype neared completion. It said that in a couple of weeks Corbin would begin accepting applications for a Sparrow Beta Program, under which a limited number of hand-built cars would be supplied to drivers who could provide feedback. Costs were still being calculated and more details were promised. This is a historical record, not an open program.
From the Sparrow archive. Product plans, events and availability described here belong to the original historical period.
What the program was meant to be
The idea echoed Corbin's own history. In 1997 the company brought two pre-production Sparrows to the San Francisco Auto Show and called them beta testers, and around 2001 to 2003 a dozen or so Merlin roadsters were built as beta cars. The new program followed the same pattern: pre-production vehicles, fully operational but subject to change as the team refined the final design.
Later archive material described the plan in more detail. The cars were to be numbered, hand built at the Hollister workshop, and purchased rather than loaned, with staged payments during construction and a Manufacturer's Statement of Origin supplied for registration. The team preferred applicants in California so that pickup and factory service would be practical. Corbin's own history page from the period described limited beta cars as planned for 2017.