Description

1922 Bean 14 Tourer

Very original and much loved Bean; family transport; weather equipment; a well known car: spare engine

Bean Industries had an aggressive plan to become the next 'Ford of Detroit', pumping literally £millions of investors money in expanding production facilities along the lines of Fords Highland Park site in their Smethwick, Tipton and Dudley factories.

Scuppered completely by the depression of the early 1920s when car demand all but disappeared, production resumed on a much more modest scale in 1922 and in 1924 Bean’s 11.9 was replaced by two newer models, the 14 and the 12. A combination of bad management and poor investment meant things soon went from bad to worse and increased competition from rivals like Austin and Morris meant the climate had changed and Bean struggled to make ends meet.

Ten years had passed since Bean's first bold attempt to turn Dudley into Detroit, but in that time only 17,000 cars had rolled from the factory gates but by 1929 it was all over.

Today fewer than 100 Bean cars are known to survive worldwide – the majority of them in Australia where a Bean 14 won everlasting fame by becoming, in 1924, the first motor car to drive across the continent and back. An epic 14,000 mile journey across the trackless, still largely unexplored outback.

This lovely original 1924 14hp example has led a much more sheltered life and comes to us from a deceased’s estate. Complete with weather equipment including side screens, it lived down south in the 1990s and moved closer to home in the early 2000s when it was owned by Malcom Knowles, a prominent Councillor who lived in the Stourbridge area.

He passed away in 2012 and we think this was when it was acquired by the vendor’s late father, also of Stourbridge. He used it regularly and it was often seen around and about.

He sadly passed earlier this year and the car has been in a nice dry garage since. It hasn’t run for a little while, but should provide few issues getting it up and running again.

There are several spare beaded edge tyres in the rear and it comes with a spare engine partially dismantled. The car carries the lovely patina of an older restoration that has been much loved.

Full of quality parts such as lighting and a full instrument display, for someone looking for robust and reliable family transport, this Bean looks just the ticket.

The file includes a V5C, copious notes about starting and driving from a previous owner and a super original sales brochure from 1924 – listing the Five-seater Tourer at £395…

For more information – contact matthew.parkin@brightwells.com