The Weaver 1 cc diesel made its appearance in the June 1952 issue of the British magazine Model Maker in the form of the first installment in a series of three articles describing the construction of this simple sideport diesel engine. Since the Weaver could be built entirely without the use of castings, it was viewed as a very suitable subject for home construction. As far as I'm aware, the engine was never produced commercially.

The Weaver 1 cc diesel was designed by the very talented Arthur F. Weaver, a prominent competitor in model rail-guided car racing at the time. In fact, the engine was specifically designed for use in model car racing. However, it proved to be a very useful aero powerplant when fitted with a prop driver in place of the flywheel shown on the plan.

The series of articles detailed the construction of an example of this little unit by the draftsman/author W. W. "Bill" Ransom, a friend and club-mate of Arthur Weaver. The series included the publication of the plan drawn up by Ransom. Years later, the late Ron Chernich re-drew the plans in CAD format, also publishing his own construction log in which his personal experiences in building the engine were recorded. Additional examples were built by Ken Croft, Roger Schroeder, Russell Watson-Will and Ken-ichi Tsuzuki, among many others. Further examples continue to be built today. 

Given the ongoing attractiveness of this fine little engine as a subject for home construction, I've prepared an article about the Weaver 1 cc diesel which appears elsewhere on this website, complete with plans for building the engine.