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 ...