Photo: Courtesy Dan Gurney/All American Racers
Harry Weslake, born circa 1902-04 had been practicing the arts and sciences of carburetion, port design and combustion since the early twenties. He designed his first carburetor when he was seventeen and went on to design cylinder heads for Norton, Vanwall, BRM, Coventry Climax, Jaguar, Chrysler’s 427 hemi-head, AAR Eagle, and Ford, of course, with many others. His business, Weslake Engineering, is located at Rye, East Sussex, England. British countryman by birth and upbringing, he had in general a poor opinion of big-towners, engineers and businessmen. His lifelong passions were shooting or fishing.
Harry Weslake passed away of a heart attack in his Eighties while sitting in the grandstands in Wembley Stadium in London. He was watching a championship motorcycle race which featured Weslake powered bikes . Harry’s stepson Michael Daniels, who was technical director of Weslake Engineering, is involved in engine consulting work and lives close to Rye.
The industrial site originally used by Harry Weslake has remained derelict since the 1980s and it was purchased in 2003 by AEI Security & Communications Limited. The original building has been refurbished, taking about 12 months to complete. The site is now called “Weslake Industrial Park.”
Sources:
Road & Track, June 1966, p 46-7.
Dan Gurney’s All American Racers web site – www.allamericanracers.com/