Bean cars
Encyclopedia
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
, Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, and Coseley
Coseley
Coseley is a town located mostly within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the English West Midlands. Part of the Black Country, it lies south east of Wolverhampton and north of Dudley....
, Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, England, between 1919 and 1929.
Origins
The company traced its origins beck to two auto-industry component suppliers, A Harper and Sons and Bean Ltd., both based in England's Black CountryBlack Country
The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...
. Having studied the mass production techniques recently pioneered by Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
, the two companies got together to form a company for the mass production of passenger cars. For a few years in the early 1920s Bean outsold Austin
Austin Motor Company
The Austin Motor Company was a British manufacturer of automobiles. The company was founded in 1905 and merged in 1952 into the British Motor Corporation Ltd. The marque Austin was used until 1987...
and Morris
Morris Motor Company
The Morris Motor Company was a British car manufacturing company. After the incorporation of the company into larger corporations, the Morris name remained in use as a marque until 1984 when British Leyland's Austin Rover Group decided to concentrate on the more popular Austin marque...
. Their business model seems to have depended on undercutting competitors on price, however, which rendered the business cruelly dependent on maintaining high volumes regardless of the condition of the wider economy which, during these years, was undergoing a period of sustained turbulence.
Bean cars
The first Bean was a resurrection of the pre-World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
Perry car
Perry (car)
The Perry was a British car made by the Perry Motor Company based in Tyseley, Birmingham who made cars between 1913 and 1916.The company can trace its roots back to 1824 with James and Stephen Perry making pens in a workshop in London, later moving to Birmingham and building bicycles...
, 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
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
producing bodies, and Coseley being responsible for assembly. Production of the model peaked at 80 a week in 1922; about 10,000 were 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 Limited
Hadfields Limited
Hadfield's Limited was a British Steel manufacturer. Previously named Hadfields Steel Foundry Co. Ltd., by leading metallugist Robert Abbott Hadfield in 1888 following the death of his father, Robert Hadfield, who had founded the works in 1872...
from Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, and a new model, the 18/50, was introduced with a 2.7-litre six-cylinder Meadows
Henry Meadows
Henry Meadows of Wolverhampton, England were major suppliers of engines and transmissions, to the smaller companies in the British motor industry...
overhead valve engine. However, this car was to only last a year, during which time 500 were 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 1928 and a further upgrade of the old 14 by using a Ricardo
Ricardo
Ricardo is the Portuguese and Spanish cognate of the name Richard. Therefore the name means "Brave Ruler".-People with the first name Ricardo:*Ricardo Arona, Brazilian mixed martial artist*Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portuguese comedian...
cylinder head design. It also now had four-wheel brakes and a worm drive
Worm drive
A worm drive is a gear arrangement in which a worm meshes with a worm gear...
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 subsequently concentrated on making components.
Bean trucks
In 1924, partly in recognition of the economic need to maintain production volumes, a small one ton truck was added to the range, and from then until 1931 Bean also manufactured commercial vehicles, concentrating on the lighter end of the market. The original truck was essentially an adapted passenger, car, but in 1927 an unashamedly commercial truck was launched, now with a payload capacity of 30cwt (1500 kg). Unfortunately for Bean, MorrisMorris Commercial Cars
Morris Commercial Cars Limited was a British manufacturer of commercial vehicles founded by William Morris, who was also the founder of the Morris Motor Company.-History:...
entered the UK light truck sector at the same time: intense competition in the sector largely drove out the only other competitors in the UK market (mostly imports originating in the USA): Bean's own finances also suffered, despite ongoing funding from Hadfield Steel
Hadfields Limited
Hadfield's Limited was a British Steel manufacturer. Previously named Hadfields Steel Foundry Co. Ltd., by leading metallugist Robert Abbott Hadfield in 1888 following the death of his father, Robert Hadfield, who had founded the works in 1872...
, and the company's foray into commercial vehicle production ended in 1931 as Bean reverted to their former role as a components supplier.
Record breakers
Australian expeditionary Francis BirtlesFrancis Birtles
Francis Edwin Birtles was an Australian adventurer, photographer, cyclist, and filmmaker, who set many long-distance cycling and driving records, including becoming in 1927 the first man to drive a car from England to Australia...
made a number of epic and record breaking journeys in Bean Cars, including being the first person to drive from England to Australia in 1927.
The Coseley factory was also responsible for making Captain George Eyston
George Eyston
- References :*...
's world-land-speed-record car Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt (car)
Thunderbold is a British Land Speed Record holder of the 1930s, driven by Captain George E.T. Eyston- Records held :Between 1937 and 1939, the competition for the Land Speed Record was between two Englishmen: Captain Eyston and John Cobb. Thunderbolt's first record was set at on 19 November 1937...
, which took the record in 1937.
As a final flourish they purchased the Reliant
Reliant
Reliant was a British car manufacturer. The company was traditionally based at Tamworth in Staffordshire, England, but in 2001 it moved to nearby Cannock. It ceased manufacturing cars shortly afterwards.-History:...
car company in the early 1990s.
Factories
The Dudley factory is still in existence as part of an unconnected private business. The Coseley site remained in the automotive business as a parts supplier until being forced to close due to financial problems in 2005, and was demolished three years later. However, the newer phase of the factory that was built during Bean's years as an industry supplier was sold off and demolished in 2003/04, and the land (actually located over the border in TiptonTipton
Tipton is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands, England, with a population of around 47,000. Tipton is located about halfway between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is a part of the Black Country....
) was occupied by new houses within a few months. One of the streets on this new estate, Thunderbolt Way, takes its name from a former Bean product. A large collection of Bean cars is to be seen at the Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway
Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway
The Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway is located near the villages of Wormshill and Bredgar in Kent, just south of Sittingbourne. It is a gauge narrow gauge railway about half a mile in length....
.
On moving to the Coseley site, Bean built a block of offices on Sedgley Road West on the Tipton side of the border with Coseley. However, these were purchased by Tipton council who opened them as their municipal offices on 7 March 1935, a use which lasted for the next 31 years until Tipton council was abolished and the bulk of the town was placed under control of West Bromwich
West Bromwich
West Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...
council. The building was then used by Dudley College
Dudley College
Dudley College is a college of further education in Dudley, West Midlands, England.-History:In 1862 the Dudley Public Hall and Mechanics Institute was built. In 1896 this was expanded to become the Dudley Technical School, which became Dudley Technical College in 1926...
until 1993 and has since been used by a number of different ventures.
The address Bean Road (Dudley DY2) has long existed for a residential street within 200 yards (182.9 m) of the Dudley factory, while Bean Road (Coseley) provides an access to the former Coseley factory site, and the nearby Bean Drive is a cul-de-sac off Thunderbolt Way in Tipton.
Main car models
| Type | Year | Approx Production | Engine | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11.9 | 1919–1927 | 10,000 | 1796 cc four cylinder | Also known as the 12 |
| 14 | 1924–1928 | 4000 (all 14s) | 2300 cc four-cylinder | Became 14/40 in 1928 |
| 18/50 | 1926–1928 | 500 | 2692 cc Meadows four-cylinder | |
| 14/45 | 1928–1929 | see 14 | 2300 cc four-cylinder | Updated 14. Usually advertised as a Hadfield Bean |
| 14/70 | 1928–1929 | see 14 | 2300 cc four-cylinder | Sports version of the 14/45 |