'Bean...England's Sturdiest Car!'
A Brief History of Bean Motor Cars.
From Artillery to Automobiles...
What to do now the War's over...
With the approach of the end of WWI, British naval munitions manufacturer A.Harper Sons & Bean was suddenly faced with the realisation they were effectively no longer in business.
With their sprawling armaments factory at Dudley in the Midlands about to cease production, the company repositioned itself to build motor cars, in 1919 buying the tools, jigs and dies for a small pre-war car called a Perry, which within a matter of months had it's name changed to their own - Bean.
The first Bean car was fundamentally a carbon copy of the original Perry, the engine rated at 11.9 RAC horsepower and in the couse of production about 10,000 Bean '11.9s' were made.
Yet it was the staggering size of Bean's under-utilised factory-works that gave rise to management for the idea they could mass-produce cars in ever-increasing numbers, perhaps even rivalling that of Henry Ford.
So confident was the company in emulating the success of Ford's Model T they proposed an annual production of 50,000 cars a year, convincing other manufacturers to join a complex and somewhat fragile financial conglomerate which collapsed within a year leaving debts of £475,000.
Back in Business...
Before what seemed inevitable financial oblivion, the company was suddenly rescued in 1921 by Sir George Bean, Barclays Bank and the manufacturer's steel supplier Hadfields Steel and by 1922 was back in business producing 100 cars per week.
On the strength of the company's revival, in 1923 Bean Cars released an entirely new, and much improved model, the Bean 'Fourteen'.
While similar in appearance to the earlier Perry-based '11.9', the bigger 'Fourteen' sported a more powerful 2.3 litre engine, a four speed gearbox and four-wheel brakes.
Getting it Right...
The reinvigorated Bean Car company now set its eyes on the international export market - in particular British-trade-friendly Australia where American cars made up 75% of annual automobile sales - the British company keen to take the Americans on.
To accompany the push for car sales in Australia, Bean introduced a commercial arm, namely 25-30 cwt Bean trucks powered by the same 2.3 litre side-valve motor from the Fourteen car.
In 1924 the first Bean Fourteen tourer arrived in Australia and undertook a successful trans-continental crossing from Sydney to Darwin and back with adventurer Francis Birtles, journalist Malcolm Ellis and Bean representative John Simpson.
The same year Bean Cars released a new model known as the 'Twelve', fundamentally a scaled down Fourteen with an engine the same capacity as the old 11.9, available in a variety of body styles - a two-seater, four-seater and even a landaulette - and despite favourable reviews in the press, it was in fact slower than the older 11.9.
Broke Again...
Hadfields Steel Takes Control
However, as the company increasingly foundered and struggled against its greatest rivals, namely Morris and Austin, it rapidly accrued a staggering £1.8m in debt before its chief steel supplier Hadfields Steel stepped in to take control in 1926.
In an effort to reinvigorate current models, the smaller Bean Twelve was fitted with the more powerful Fourteen engine thus becoming the 'Short Fourteen', the standard car then known as the 'Long Fourteen'.
In 1926 Bean Cars was approached by Australian businessman Leslie Hinks to build a six-cylinder car to his specifications, a British car suited to Australian conditions he dubbed the 'Imperial Six'.
While only one Imperial Six was completed and unsuccessfully tested in 1927 by Francis Birtles and Malcolm Ellis on a disastrous trans-global attempt from England to Australia, Bean cars built almost five hundred 2.7 litre, Meadows engined six-cylinder cars known as the 18/50.
In 1927-28 Francis Birtles then successfully achieved the first trans-global drive from England to Australia in a pre-Hadfields-era Bean Fourteen speedster known as 'The Sundowner' - the car now gazetted as a nation treasure, residing in the National Museum of Australia, Canberra.
All Good Things Must Come to an End...
In 1928 Hadfields then released their own, all-new four-cylinder range designated as Hadfield-Beans - but due to appalling design and poor workmanship became cruelly known as 'Had-Beans.'
These cars were distinctly detached from the earlier models - gone was the distinctive, familiar rounded-radiator of the reliable Twelves and Fourteens, instead the new Hadfield-Bean 14/40, 14/45 and 14/70 models of 1928-29 became infamous for their unreliability, displaying 'alarming faults...giving endless trouble...'
With the brand's reputation for sturdiness and reliability in tatters and demand for Bean cars evaporating, Hadfields continued to pour money into the ailing company before ultimately ceasing production of cars in 1929 with trucks following suit in 1930...
(This is a condensed version of the Bean Company's history - for a more detailed explanation see Chance it!).
