a successful ebay snipe for chewy

[mudfud]

hi guys.

I have been wanting one of these sparrows since they were new, but price had been too high.

sniped this in the last 15 seconds, and boy was there a flurry of activity, both automatic and manual. my bid just barely held.

so, I will soon be the ER doc in the green jelly bean driving around in salinas. sure to be unique, eh?

and you will notice the wife test drove it yesterday, too. said she wanted a sports car... this does go 70 mph...

guess I have really blown my wad for the year. so much for this year's bonus...

happy new year to all pachitalkers. I love this forum and really appreciate the support and knowledge and humor that we share around here.

be safe tonight!

chewy

[hanabi]

Wow!!

That is fantastic!!

Cute and Funky!!

[dattia]

LOVE IT! Congratulations!!!

[compirate]

For those interested (which I was and am ):
HighTechScience.org's Sparrow Electric Car

[BigBearSteve]

That's a cute little car...

Where's the rest of it??

[mudfud]

hey BBS, I was just looking at small motorcycle cargo trailers... maybe I could put my diesel/greasel generator back there to increase the range... it could be the "fry bird"

[compirate]

will it charge and run at the same time?

I see there's a brake charging option, yours have that?

Looks like something out of the movie Cars

[luckydog]

nice, only 45 to 50 still on the road

[beachcat]

wow

[mudfud]

you can charge the pack while driving, it's like a hybrid that way.

I don't think the sparrow was set up for plug braking (where you reclaim energy when decelerating). it takes a bit more electronics and a different controller, and works better on an AC motor system, I think (like modern hybrid vehicles). these older EVs were all DC.

the guy that I bought it from commuted regularly from alameda to fremont in california. this is probably 30 plus miles, so he would stop halfway and charge up for an hour...

I plan to start mapping out all the charging stations, to see if I could make it to sac'to in a day...

this is why the diesel/greasel generator would be cool. "could I have 5 gallons of grease with my happy meal?" once the food bits are filtered out of the fry oil, a warm diesel can actually run off the veggie oil without any conversion.

more modding to come, I'm sure.

[hanabi]

For those interested (which I was and am ):
HighTechScience.org's Sparrow Electric Car

Oh My!!

There was a purple option!!



Also found a brochure for sale on ebay

1998 Sparrow Electric Car Sales Brochure Microcar on eBay (end time 06-Jan-10 17:18:40 GMT)

and lots of info on this website

CORBIN SPARROW

[mudfud]

my buddy has a purple one for sale soon, too.

[dishpan]

I love it! Very unique and lot's of potential from a tinkering point of view.

[compirate]

Ain't it just the cutest thing?

[Moparformances]

a truly green car

[mudfud]

yeah. I was thinking of powering with used veggie oil and naming her "soy bean"

[MrGneiss]

Super Rad car!!

[takethecastle57]

I remember when the guy Corbin , who does corbin motorcycle seats said here in Monterey County he was going to make these cool bean rides ( yes, it's a Arbycoffee saying ) so now you have 3 electrics heh Chewy Very Cool !!

[mudfud]

yeah. it's too bad it didn't work out. I think the factory was in Hollister, right in our 'hood... I plan to use the green bean in salinas to go up and down the hill to work, occasionally out to eat and the hardware store (though it might be hard to bring wood planks back with a sparrow). I think she can make it from salinas to monterey, so as long as I can charge at your place, I can make it a day trip!

happy new year!

[digital1]

I use to ride a motorcycle that was kinda like that but...you know...Bigger.
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We can print window cling that is see-through from the inside. That would be cool to put "Cars" eyes on that thing for real.