Small cars, huge dreams

Two Quebec entrepreneurs are confident they can meet Tom Corbin's goal to build thousands of fuel-efficient commuter cars. Jim Mueller reports.

Jim Mueller The Ottawa Citizen

Friday, October 18, 2002

Tom Corbin certainly has headaches, but they're fewer and less severe since a pair of Quebec companies signed on to produce body and chassis systems for the Sparrow EV and its first cousin, the Merlin roadster.

You've probably seen the Sparrow by now.

It's the head-turning electric three-wheeler driven by Goldmember and his henchmen in Mike Myers's latest Austin Powers flick.

Corbin Motors of Hollister, California, sold 355 original Sparrows at $14,900 U.S. apiece, essentially building them by hand at a rate of one or two a day. Laying-up fiberglass body panels in moulds on site, bending steel for chassis components --slowly, methodically.

As one might expect, Corbin experienced the normal snags a low-volume vehicle builder stumbles over at startup. A load of faulty electric controller units prompted recalls. Customers complained of long waits for delivery. A planned production facility in Florida was put on hold while the company sought an infusion of operating capital -- $40 million from private investors.

And then the Sparrow slammed headlong into the U.S. economic downturn.

"We could have walked away," said Tom Corbin, president of Corbin Motors, which is a subsidiary of Corbin Pacific, Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of custom motorcycle seats. "Except we believe in the Sparrow concept. We're convinced there's a market for a one-passenger electric commuter. In the States, we estimate 87 per cent of commuters travel 18 miles or less to work, and 93 per cent of them make the drive alone. Consider the impact on the environment if we could change the consumer mind set and get half of them into electric commuter vehicles."

This doesn't mean drivers would have to abandon their conventional sedans and sport-utility vehicles, he stresses.

"SUV's are great. I own one myself. I have a Denali we use on weekends, when we load up the family and drive to Sacramento to see my mother-in-law.

"But during the week I drive my electric. It's clean, it's fun, it's economical. I pay less than one cent for each mile I drive in my Sparrow."

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Tom Corbin knows he'll need a faster, cheaper way of punching out reliable product if he hopes to sell his reworked, $16,900 Sparrow II and the new Harley-Davidson-powered Merlin roadster, another single-seat three-wheeler, in any sort of volume. (The company, he reports, has 900 advance orders with deposits for the Sparrow IIs and 1,200 for the Merlin, which will cost $23,900 U.S.)

But set aside the Sparrow II for a moment.

The notion of completing 1,500 Merlin roadsters alone in 2003, with annual increases to 5,000 and 10,000 thereafter, presents a daunting challenge. It's one Mr. Corbin puzzled over until he met SLP Canada president and founder Terry Maxwell -- or rather, until Mr. Maxwell tracked him down.

"I knew Sparrow from industry magazines," explained Mr. Maxwell in a telephone interview from his company's headquarters in Lachine, Que. "I picked up another magazine at an industry show and there was Sparrow again, and I thought, 'Whoaa, we can do this! SLP Canada should be fabricating Sparrow panels.' I had to find the Corbins and talk to them."

He did.

Terry Maxwell made an old-fashioned cold call without proper introduction. He flew directly to California and phoned Mr. Corbin from his hotel room.

"That's all true," confirmed Mr. Corbin. "Terry started telling me about SLP Canada's capabilities and I asked him over to tour our factory."

"It was 11:30 a.m.when I arrived," remembered Mr. Maxwell, picking up the story, "and Tom invited me along with his family to lunch."

Mr. Maxwell said they started chatting about everything but Sparrows. "I talked cars and hot rod racing and Tom's father, Mike, sat there listening, not saying anything.

"Halfway through lunch he leaned across the table and put a hand on my arm and said, 'Terry, we're gonna do business with you because you came yourself. You didn't send a salesman.' "

(Tom Corbin later confirmed the conversation: "My dad said, 'Terry's our guy. He lives and breathes cars!' ")

That was encouraging news for Mr. Maxwell, whose firm lost a major account when General Motors killed the Camaro and Firebird lines after 2002. SLP Canada had employed 260 Quebec craftsmen to modify Camaros and Firebirds into limited-production SS and Firehawk models -- about 50,000 since 1993.

"Niche builders like Corbin Motors are where we'll find business in the future. Not GM or Ford," said Mr. Maxwell. "I've beat up Quebec (government officials) on this subject, pushing for funding for tooling costs for smaller companies to get started. I tell them, 'Look, GM and Ford are never coming back here, but we can build Sparrows and Merlin roadsters, and Merlin coupes down the line, and keep good, talented people working.

"And when the Tango (another all-electric minicar, from Commuter Cars Corp.) goes into production," he tells the Quebec government, "We'll have that too. We have a five-year contract with Corbin and a three-year contract for Tango."

Mr. Maxwell managed to shake loose a $1.5-million loan from Investment Quebec, the cost of tooling for the Sparrow and Merlin Roadster models.

No more fabricating body panels by hand back in Hollister. With a process known as resin transfer moulding, or RTM, Mr. Maxwell figures SLP Canada is good for 12 minutes per Sparrow body panel (each body has 11 panels). In this process, resin is injected into fiberglass in a mould, where the panel is held until it cures.

When demand increases enough to switch to a sheet moulding compound (SMC) process, the time comes down to four minutes per Sparrow. With SMC, sheets of premixed resin and fiberglass are run through 12,000-ton compression moulds.

"Tooling for sheet moulding compound is expensive," Mr. Maxwell warned. "Starting with an RTM process is wisest, because of the high startup costs involved with SMC. We would rather make adjustments using RTM tooling at one-tenth the cost, and build the first 500 Sparrows this way, knowing we have them correct before sinking millions into SMC moulds.

RTM allows us to make design changes and improvements. You certainly don't want to junk a million-dollar SMC tool."

Supposing that the Sparrow II and the Merlin roadster catch on, and if the Merlin coupe goes into production in 2004 as planned, Mr. Maxwell feels confident SLP Canada is looking at $25 million per year by the third year of the Corbin contract -- enough to create 1,000 jobs for Quebec.

But he also knows it all comes down to public taste and Corbin's roll of the dice with his Merlin roadster.

Electric vehicles are a long-term sell; there's a consumer education element involved. Merlin, with its exotic, mini-hot-rod stance and 88-cubic inch Harley-Davidson engine, has impulse buy/adult toy written across its cowl.

Except that Harley owners expect dependability, and that means a seamless melding of body and chassis components. For that, Mr. Maxwell's SLP Canada is thankful to be collaborating with Quebec-based Camoguid Inc., fabricators and suppliers of chassis systems for the gas-powered Corbin vehicles.

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Maurice Gagne chuckled at the mention of Terry Maxwell and Tom Corbin. Mr. Gagne is director of special projects for Camoguid, Inc., based in Acton Vale, Que., east of Montreal. He obviously enjoys his association with both men and his company's involvement in Merlin roadster project.

"My friend Terry Maxwell had the contract for body parts and knew Corbin was looking for frame and metal work," explained Mr. Gagne, "so he asked if I wanted to visit their California factory with him and meet the Corbins, and of course I went along. Who turns down a chance for business?

"Camoguid will produce the chassis system, including steering and suspension components. We'll also do the brackets for holding Terry's body system in place and the transmission shifter linkage, too. Think of Camoguid as creating chassis and metal parts for Merlin roadster."

Mr. Gagne, like Mr. Maxwell, is concerned with how quickly his firm can increase production capacity as orders come in for the Harley-powered pocket rocket.

"Ideally, we would want to move from manual welding to robot welding as soon as possible," he said. "It's the difference between doing 10 cars a week and 70, and that's with a single-arm robot. We have the potential, using a two-arm robot welder, to do 40 to 75 cars a day in a precise, flawless manner, so Terry's body parts line up and attach perfectly."

Mr. Gagne says producing the body and frame systems in Canada makes perfect economic sense. "Corbin Motors won't need to invest in production technology or facilities. They're free to pursue the creative and marketing sides."

Mr. Maxwell agreed. "The Corbins are concept people. They've shown they can build Sparrows and Merlin roadsters themselves. We're just taking the burden of producing body and chassis systems off their shoulders. This is what we do -- and we do it well in a cost effective manner."

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Corbin Motors has no Canadian dealers for the Sparrow II and Merlin roadster as of November 2002, although a Vancouver entrepreneur has expressed interest in a dealership, and Mr. Maxwell's wife, Claudette, just took possession of Canada's first privately owned Sparrow.

Both vehicles can be licensed as motorcycles in the States and Corbin Motors expects they'll have the same designation in Canada. It will sell them directly off its Web site (www.corbin.com).

"As 100-per-cent-occupied vehicles they're often eligible to use free commuter lanes in cities with toll roads and toll bridges," Mr. Corbin added. "I know in San Francisco the Sparrow scoots right across the Bay Bridge without paying the $3 daily toll.

"Better yet, you're avoiding an average 30-minute backup at the tollbooths there. And they park up as motorcycles, too. You can easily fit four Sparrows in one parking space."

The Merlin roadster, anticipated to get 35 miles per U.S.gallon (6.7 litres per 100 km) and hit a top speed of 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), also qualifies as a motorcycle. But what about the single-seat Merlin coupe, due in 2004?

Mr. Corbin, Mr. Maxwell and Mr. Gagne all see the coupe, which will have a smaller engine than the roadster, as the potential slam-bang hit of the three. Especially if a projected 90 miles per gallon (2,6 L/100 km) figure holds true. But will Corbin be able to finesse the Merlin coupe as a motorcycle with U.S. and Canadian authorities?

"I don't see why not," Mr. Corbin said. "You have three wheels on the ground and it weighs less than 1,500 pounds, and that is a motorcycle the way the laws are currently written."

He believes the company is giving commuters the right range of options, starting with the Sparrow II EV to get from Point A to Point B and back, and moving to the Merlin roadster for those looking for a weekend toy or Harley riders who might want something a little different. The coupe should appeal to those more comfortable with a gas-powered commuter.

Mr. Corbin said he hopes his company's affiliation with its Canadian fabricators lasts for a long time.

"My dad and I have our family reputation riding on Sparrow, and about $12 million in family money invested," he added. "We're in this to the end."