AJ Wheaton was a book publisher but between 1928 and 1939 he also designed and built motorcycles. Starting at his fathers printing house in 1926 he made two motorcycles. He chose an 1000cc Anzani V twin as the powerplant and welded a frame out of tubes. Sporting a sky blue tank, the resulting motorcycle attracted much interest and the next year he built twenty.
This is what Brough Superior was also doing in larger quantities- with better promotion- and this limited the sale of AJWs. By 1930 they were priced the same and John Wheaton realized he couldn't compete head on.
He tried making Villiers powered lightweights and when the Rudge Python engines became available in 1931, a series of 350 and 500 cc motorcycles were offered, while the V twins were discontinued.
In 1933 Rudge stopped selling engines, but production carried on using various engines from different suppliers. The depression was further hurting sales and when WW2 arrived the company called it quits. Some estimates say only about a dozen AJWs of all types survive.
Below the 1932 letterhead featuring the logo for the single cylinder Flying Fox.
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