Bean might be the most successful British car manufacturer you’ve never heard of. Automobile production began in 1919 and continued until 1937, but that was only the beginning as subsequent owners continued to produce components for the auto industry until 2005. Along the way Bean outsold Austin and Morris throughout the early 20s and built the car which captured the land speed record in 1937.

It all began as the Perry car. James and Stephen Perry were making bicycles in Birmingham England when they branched off with a cyclecar in 1911. By 1914 production also included a 4-seat 4-cylinder tourer called the Perry 11.9. Following the Great War, the Perrys decided not to resume producing automobiles, so the tooling and manufacturing rights were put up for sale. George Bean, chairman of the firm A. Harper, Sons & Bean had prospered making shell casings for the war effort but at the end of hostilities he was left with a large factory and no work. Bean took the opportunity to make a jump start into automobile manufacturing and the Perry 11.9 became the Bean 11.9.

Jack Bean, George Bean’s son, was an ambitious businessman and planned to become one of England’s leading car manufacturers. He visited the United States and purchased machinery to install one of the first twin track assembly lines in England. By 1922 production was up to 100 cars per week including a 4-seat tourer and a 2- seater with dickey. In 1923 the

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