Bean

GB, 1919 – 1929

(1) A. Harper, Sons & Bean Ltd, Tipton, Dudley, Worcs., 1919 – 1926

(2) Bean Cars Ltd, Tipton, Dudley, Staffs., 1926 – 1929

The Bean was a remodeling of the Perry light car, whose manufacturers were taken over by Harper Sons & Bean, motor components makers, after World War 1. The Bean was to be mass-produced, in one 11.9hp model only. Its makers were members of a consortium of firms, including the famous, old-established names of Swift and Vulcan, Hadfields, the engineers of Sheffield, Gallay Radiators and Marles Steering, that was intended to achieve efficient quantity production by rationalization of parts. In fact, Bean carried cost cutting too far with this car. Its 4-cylinder, side-valve 1794cc engine was rough, the gear change difficult and the suspension harsh. The Bean four-seater open body cost only £80. However, 1922 customers were car-starved and undiscriminating, and 80 Bean cars a week were made that year, even if the first target of 50.000 Beam cars per annum remained a dream. The bigger, 2.3-litre Bean Fourteen introduced for 1924 was more modern machine, with its unit construction of engine and gearbox.

Hadfields took over Bean early in 1926. For 1927, the Bean company followed fashion by introducing a six, the ‘Bean 18/50’. Its 2.7-litre, overhead-valve engine was made by Meadows, and a rather square radiator replaced the well-known rounded Bean shape. Also new in 1927 was the Bean Imperial Six, the first Bean designed specifically for export. Unlike the Bean 18/50 for sale this had a Bean-built engine of 3.8-litres with a Ricardo cylinder head. The Australian explorer Francis Birtles drove a disintegrating Bean prototype from England to India, and in fact the Bean Imperial Six was never put into production. From 1927 all cars were called Hadfield-Beans. The 2.3-litre 14/40 Hadfield-Bean, which joined the range in 1928, was no better, with its unreliable engine and overhead-worm drive rear axle, bad brakes and difficult clutch- and gear-change. It was also old-fashioned in that it used a fairly large, long-stroke, side-valve 4-cylinder engine. The latter was economical, and the 14/40 Hadfield-Bean for sale was cheap, but cost cutting presumably dictated the fitting of quarter-elliptic rear springs, which cannot have improved comfort. There was a Bean 14/70hp sports version, which had better brakes, with Dewandre vacuum servo assistance, but the only good car in the range, the old Hadfield-Bean Fourteen for sale, was desperately out-dated and no Hadfield-Beans at all were made after 1929.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; TRN

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

DeSoto

US, 1913 – 1916

DeSoto Motro Car Co, Auburn, Ind.

The DeSoto appears to have succeeded the Zimmerman. This was a large car with a 55hp, 6-cylinder engine, which was furnished with a compressed-air starter. The DeSoto model Six-55 five-seater touring car sold for $2185.

US, 1928 – 1960

Chrysler Motors Corp, Detroit, Mich.

The DeSoto was launched in 1928 as a 3.2-litre side valve six to compete with Oldsmobile, Pontiac and the cheaper Nashes. Styling and general design of the DeSoto were in line with the 1929 Chryslers, and at $885 for a DeSoto sedan 90.000 were sold in the first twelve months. A 3.4-litre straight-8 DeSoto on a 9ft 6in wheelbase was announced for 1930 as the world’s cheapest 8-cylinder car. However, DeSoto suffered badly in the Depression, and in 1932, when flexible rubber engine mountings and free wheels were made available, sales dropped to 26.000 DeSoto cars.
The DeSoto disappeared from the British market about this time, though certain ‘Chrysler’ models listed in England (the Mortlake, Croydon, and some of the Richmonds) were in fact DeSoto cars in all but name. A 6-cylinder version of Chrysler’s advanced unitary-construction Airflow, the SE-type with a 4-litre engine, was brought out in 1934, but was an unsuccessful as its bigger sister. Later DeSotos followed regular Chrysler lines closely though in later years there was a tendency for DeSoto to move into a higher price class than Dodge; by 1952 DeSotos started $300 higher than the companion make.
By 1939 the DeSoto cars for sale were being made with independent front suspension, hypoid back axles and column change. There was a choice at DeSoto of two 6-cylinder engines and three wheelbase lengths, the longest of these being reserved for seven-seater bodywork – DeSoto continued to offer a really roomy family car right up to 1954. A 4-speed semi-automatic Vacumatic transmission became an option in 1941, but DeSoto’s big post-war change of models did not take place until 1952, when the division followed Chrysler’s lead in adopting the oversquare ohv V8; the DeSoto version was of 4½-litre capcity and developed 16-bhp. With the advent of Chrysler’s ‘flight sweep’ styling in 1955, the side-valve sixes were dropped and the standard engine in a DeSoto was now a 4.8-litre eight, giving 185bhp in Firedome guise, and 200bhp in Fireflite form. Though this redesigning saved Chrysler sales generally, the slump in the medium-price class had an adverse effect on DeSoto and in 1959 the DeSoto division was merged with Plymouth. Last of the DeSotos were the 1961 models, unitary-construction cars with a choice of three engines: Plymouth’s 145bhp ohv ‘slant six’ as used in the Valiant, and V8s of 230 and 265bhp, the two former only in Canadian DeSotos. Production of DeSoto cars ceased in November 1960 after only a few had been delivered.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS
The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com