Bean Cars Pty Ltd Presents
The Ultimate Book for the Adventuresome Motoring Enthusiast...
Chance it!
July 2026 will see the arrival of Chance it! the captivating account of the seat-of-the-pants motoring adventure in the spirit of adventurer Francis Birtles' epic drive from England to Australia.
Written by the adventurers themselves - true, die-hard motoring fanatics!
You can pre-order Chance it! on this website and automatically receive the monthly Bean Cars newsletter.
It's all About Passion...
"My motto's chance it!" exclaimed Australian adventurer Francis Birtles when asked whether he thought he'd survive his gruelling, upcoming solo attempt to drive a Bean Fourteen across the world from England to Australia.
And so modern day adventurers Warren Brown, Matthew Benns and Tony Jordan embraced the same passion when taking a deep breath to follow in Birtles' tyre tracks, piloting a century-old Bean identical to his across the globe.
Indeed motoring passion is what Chance it! is all about - a passion for cars, a passion for history and a passion for high adventure.
"It's taken the best part of two decades to bring this crazy across-the-world expedition to reality " Warren says, "But in fact a huge part of the adventure has been this unexpected, ever-growing journey to ultimately make the expedition happen, due in no small part to the incredible raw enthusiasm from the wonderfully supportive people we've met along the way - die-hard car enthusiasts who really 'got' what we were trying to do."
"Absolutely" Matthew chips in. "The support not only from our sponsors but from the motoring public was a terrific shot in the arm, something we needed at times when we just weren't sure what on earth was going to happen next."
Matthew and Warren have each had forty year careers in journalism, Matthew being the Editor at Large for the Sydney Daily Telegraph and Warren as the newspaper's Editorial Cartoonist - both of them renowned, best-selling authors having some fifteen books published between them.
Together they bring to life their astonishing trans-global adventure, recounting the excitement - and danger - in wrestling a 100 year-old car across some of the most inhospitable places on earth, forbidding, unfamiliar cities, freezing Alps in the Balkans, searing Arabian deserts, Malaysian jungles and of course the Australian outback in the wet season - never sure of what was about to happen next.
And to complement the adventure, team mechanic and historic rally driver Tony Jordan recounts the challenges in preparing the Bean for the journey, the strict regimen in maintaining the car on the road and the trials and frustration in dealing with an often non-compliant support vehicle!
"Keep falling forward!" Tony laughs, "That was our motto and we used it more than once, let me tell you!"
A Grand Adventure in the Grand Style...
Chance it! is a remarkably entertaining motoring book written by true automotive enthusiasts who for five months, lived and breathed this daring 21,000 km undertaking that was never guaranteed to succeed.
Visually splendid with sumptuous, stunning colour and historical photographs, illustrations, cartoons and maps, Chance it! also reveals stunning never-before-published photographs taken by Francis Birtles in preparation for his upcoming 1927-28 across-the-world adventure.
Chance it! intricately entwines all the disparate aspects as to how the expedition came to fruition - finding and securing a 1925 Bean car, preparing it for the journey, the high-hopes, the false-starts, how to ship a car across the world, customs idiosyncrasies, language barriers, mechanical headaches, border crossings, unexpected political upsets, disappointment and ultimate celebration.
And there are also detailed historical contexts that put both Birtles' expedition and the modern adventure into perspective - joining the dots as to how Birtles' adventure came into play, navigating international politics in a dangerous post-WWI world, his unusual relationship with Bean Cars Ltd and the automotive company itself - a fascinating study in the mercurial world of the roaring 'twenties.
Chance it!
Hard cover, coffee table book with dust jacket.
225 pp.
Delivery July 2006.
Bean Cars Pty Ltd.
ABN 11 671 588 748