A. Harper, Sons and Bean: Cars
Note: This is a sub-section of A. Harper, Sons and Bean
General
1919 January. The first Bean car was a resurrection of a pre-WWI Perry design, a few of which were made in 1919 when the design was bought by A. Harper, Sons and Bean who reintroduced it as the Bean 11.9. Rated at 11.9 RAC horsepower the 1,147 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.
1919 Harper Bean formed to produce mass produce cars.
1920 Over 2,000 cars were produced this year
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 4,000 of all the variants were made up to 1929.
1926 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. The cars were produced and advertised by Bean Cars Ltd of Dudley.
From 1927, all cars were known as Hadfield Beans after they were bought by Hadfields and the 14 was updated to become the 2,300 cc 14/40. This used the Bean engine again.
1929 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.
List of Models
- Bean: 12 1919-27
- Bean: 14 1924-28
- Bean: 18/50 1926-28
See Also
Sources of Information