A. Harper Sons & Bean was an iron foundry in Dudley that grew rich making shell cases in the First World War. Needing new work in peacetime, it bought the rights to the pre-war Perry light car in January 1919 and put it into production as the Bean 11.9, with chassis built at a new factory in Hurst Lane, Coseley, and bodies at the Waddams Pool works in Dudley. It was one of the first British firms to use moving assembly lines, and about 10,000 of the 11.9 were made.
Jack Bean’s plan for a General Motors-style group, Harper Bean Ltd, which included stakes in Swift and Vulcan, collapsed in the post-war slump, and production stopped in October 1920. Sir George Bean, two banks and the Sheffield steelmaker Hadfields rescued the company, the better Bean 14 arrived in 1923, and in 1924 Bean added light commercial vehicles.
Hadfields took full control in 1926, but the Hadfield-Bean 14/45 of 1928 went on sale without proper testing and badly damaged Bean’s reputation. Car production ended in 1929 and lorry production in 1931. Relaunched as Beans Industries, the firm went on making castings and components for other vehicle makers until 2005.
