Special Purpose Vehicles is a company dedicated to custom, human-powered and appropriate-technology vehicles. It was founded in 1990 by Bill Darby a natural outgrowth of his long history of building vehicles from scratch, his love of bicycles, and his involvement in the International Human Powered Vehicle Association.

Bill had been building and tinkering with various human powered vehicles (HPVs) for several years; thus, Special Purpose Vehicle's first big project was a two-person, pedal-powered "car" named the Double Eagle. It was a success from the engineering standpoint, but it was built as a challenge, not a commercial product; the company quickly branched out into building recumbents and tricycles. Our first recumbent was named the "Genie" after its first rider. Right after being built, the Genie and its rider took off on a 5000-mile journey up, down, and across the USA and Canada. Designed to be sturdy and fairly light, and to feel/handle relatively similar to an upright, it has remained a popular model. Bill also designed several relatively inexpensive recumbents called the Sprite and the Neobyke which he also makes on order.

At the same time that Special Purpose Vehicles was building and refining its recumbents, it was also developing a small but steady stream of custom vehicles for people with various handicaps. Special Purpose Vehicles has outfitted people with problems ranging from bad backs or necks to cerebral palsy or missing limbs with solutions ranging from standard recumbents to extremely specialized trikes. This is a special challenge and source of satisfaction for Bill, and he enjoys spending time with each customer to come up with a vehicle that will really fit both their limits and their needs.

Special Purpose Vehicles has also exploited Bill's background in industrial design, building prototypes for a variety of alternative-fuel and human-powered vehicle manufacturers. He has designed and made models -- from first working prototype to final pre-production -- of some pretty nifty vehicles, which unfortunately we can't put pictures of on the Web. This has evolved into Special Purpose Vehicles' strength and its primary focus/direction for the future.