Letters
Old Bean
Sir: The mention of the Bean car in the ex- cellent review of Home James by Mr Arthur Marshall (13 February) brings to mind the fact that around the mid-Twenties the car supplied for the then Prime Minister, Mr Stanley Baldwin, was an open tourer Bean, with the usual retractable hood and side screens. The rear axle developed a characteristic whine similar to the later Riley. My chief engineer at New Scotland Yard (where I worked for some 42 years) was responsible for its purchase, and on change to a new model of another make, had it for his own use.
On occasions I was able to borrow it for official purposes and thus created a mild sensation when I once emerged from a secondhand junk shop carrying a pair of skis (costing me 2s 6d) and was confronted by a police sergeant and constable who had recognised the 'VIP' registration plates and wanted to know what I was doing with the Far. Happily I was able to assist with their Inquiries. Hooray! Incidentally, let us have more — much more — of Arthur Marshall. Lloyd Mills 19 Cherry Tree Avenue,
Porthcawl, Glamorgan
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