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Bean Cars Ltd.
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| Defunct |
Bean Cars were made in factories in Dudley and Tipton, Staffordshire, Great Britain between 1919 and 1929.
The first Bean was a resurrection of the pre First World war Perry which had been taken over by A. Harper, Sons & Bean Ltd. Rated at 11.9 RAC horsepower the 1147 cc 4 cylinder engine was linked to a separate 3 speed gearbox. The car in chassis form initially cost £400 but this was reduced to £245. A four seat open body was £80. Production was divided between two plants, the one in Dudley producing bodies and Tipton being responsible for assembly. Production of the model peaked at 80 a week in 1922 with about 10,000 being made in total.
1923 saw the launch of the 14 a much improved model with a 2.3 litre engine in unit with a four speed gearbox. About 4000 of all the variants were made up to 1929.
In 1926, following financial problems, the company was rescued by steel supplier Hadfields, from Sheffield and a new model, the 18/50, was introduced with a 2.7 litre overhead valve six cylinder Meadows engine. However, this car was to only last a year with 500 being made. In chassis form it cost £365.
From 1927, all cars were known as Hadfield Beans and the 14 was updated to become the 2300 cc 14/40. This used the Bean engine again.
The last car model was the 14/45 launched in 1929 and a further upgrade of the old 14 by using a Ricardo cylinder head design. It also now had four wheel brakes and a worm drive rear axle. A sport model, the 14/70, was also available featuring a Dewandre brake servo.
No more cars were made from 1929 but the company continued to produce commercial vehicles for two years and after that concentrated on making components.
The Tipton factory was also responsible for making Captain George Eyston's world land speed record car Thunderbolt which took the record in 1937.
As a final flourish they purchased the Reliant car company in the early 1990's.
