Practice makes perfect is a lesson the Corbins have learned the
hard way.
Practice makes perfect is a lesson the Corbins have learned the hard way.
The company is getting back into the single-person automobile market after a disastrous first attempt that started in 1999 and ended in 2003 when Corbin Motors filed for bankruptcy.
Corbin Motors, which produced the environmentally friendly, three-wheeled Sparrow and Merlin Roadster cars, lost more than $11 million of investors’ money before going bankrupt.
Chief Operating Officer Tom Corbin said the company is in the process of designing a new single-person car.
“It was hard; we lost a lot of money and a lot of investors’ money,” Tom Corbin said. “But we learned a lot and now we’re trying again.”
Unlike the Sparrow, which was powered by an electric engine, the new vehicle, dubbed “Raven,” will use a small gasoline engine designed to get from 60 to 80 miles per gallon.
The three-wheel car is expected to be completed and on the market in mid-2008, and the company is hoping the price tag will come in at less than $15,000.
Mike and Tom Corbin are hoping their next attempt at getting in the single-person car market will be a success.
“The Raven is like a suped-up Sparrow,” Tom Corbin said. “We’re hoping this one is going to fly.”
