An engineer driven by his passion

Henry W. Wessells III, 82, of Brookside Farm, Paoli, a retired Budd Co. engineer who collected and raced vintage Alfa Romeos, died of heart disease Tuesday in hospice care at Waverly Heights in Gladwyne.

A colleague at Budd introduced Mr. Wessells to the stylish Italian sports cars in the 1950s. A few years later he was racing them at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut; at Sebring International Raceway in Florida; in Pittsburgh; and abroad.

His collection included a 1953 Alfa Romeo Disco Volante once owned by Argentine dictator Juan Peron. In the 1980s, Mr. Wessells crashed that car at the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. He walked away with scratches, but the car was heavily damaged. He restored it to its original glory, his son Henry said.

It was not his only crash, said Fred Simeone, a friend who shared Mr. Wessells' passion for Alfas. "He was quiet and soft-spoken," Simeone said, "but he was an aggressive driver and a serious competitor."

Mr. Wessells donated his library and archives to the museum of rare sports cars that Simeone recently opened in Southwest Philadelphia.

Alfa Romeo historians regularly consulted Mr. Wessells on design, technical and aesthetic matters, his son said, and collectors often requested his assistance to evaluate authenticity and accuracy of restoration.

Mr. Wessells was a founding member of the Vintage Sports Car Club of America, and he and his wife, Nancy Hunter Wessells, hosted the Delaware Valley Alfa Romeo Owners Club's annual picnic at Brookside Farm. In the 1990s, he helped organize the revival of sports-car racing in Fairmount Park, a popular pastime at the turn of the 20th century.

Mr. Wessells, a descendant of Union Gen. Henry Walton Wessells, grew up in Ardmore. He graduated from Lower Merion High School, and after service in the Army in the States during World War II, he earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from Princeton University. He then worked on ballistics development at the Army facility in Aberdeen, Md.

In the early 1950s, he joined Budd in Philadelphia. From 1974 to 1977, he was Budd's technical representative in Europe and lived with his family in Paris. He then spent three years at company headquarters in Troy, Mich., before retiring in 1980.

He and his wife were longtime residents of Paoli and active with the Open Land Conservancy of Chester County. Dedicated beaglers, they were members of Ardrossan Beagles Inc.

In addition to his wife of 51 years and son, Mr. Wessells is survived by sons Hunter, Cooper and Arcangelo and three grandchildren.

A memorial gathering will begin at 11 a.m. Aug. 25 at the Simeone Foundation Museum, 6825 Norwitch Dr., Philadelphia.

Memorial donations may be made to Ardrossan Beagles in care of Francis Jacobs II, 14 Rabbit Run Rd., Malvern, Pa. 19355.