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History & Products

1898 to 1939
From the inception of The Norton Manufacturing Co., the early side-valve singles, the racing Inters and Manxs and then on to wartime production

Norton Trials History 1926 to 1939
A detailed account of the machines and riders who rode for Norton in trials over the pre-war period

The War Department Model 16H and Big 4 Nortons 1936 to 1945
The story of how Norton built up its manufacture of military specification machines in the period leading up to, and during World War 11

Norton Trials History 1945 to 1954
A detailed account of the machines and riders who rode for Norton in trials over the post-war period

1940 to 1958
The post-war singles, Roadholder telescopic forks and the renowned Featherbed frame. Later, the AMC takeover, the first twin cylinder Norton and then the earlier Dominator Twins

1959 to 1970
One of the busier periods in Norton's history, involving the very last (and undistinguished) singles; the rather more distinguished Featherbed Inters and last Manxs; the later and larger Dominators; the smaller Lightweight Twins, the Atlas Hybrids and lastly the Commando

1967 to 1978
The development of the many Commando variants through to their demise

1978 to Present
The development of the rotary engined Nortons, several changes of ownership for the company and following a period of foreign ownership, the return of Norton to England

The History of the Overhead Camshaft Norton
From the early days of the CS1 through the development of the Internationals and finally the DOHC Manx

The Norton Twin Engine : Dominator - from Model 7 to Mercury
The evolution of the Norton twin engine from 1947 to 1968 over which time it increased in capacity from 500cc to 750cc

The Norton Twin Engine : Commando
The continuation of the Norton twin story as the Commando engine from 1968 to the end in 1978 by which time it had reached a capacity of 828cc

The Norton Lightweight Twins
The 250cc Jubilee, the 350cc Navigator and the 400cc Electra, Norton's first (and some Mk.lll Commando owners would say last) electric start motorcycle

The Atlas Hybrids - Part 1
Norton engines in Matchless frames, nearly all exported and now greatly sought after. A comprehensive history of the G15 series from 1963 to 1967

The Atlas Hybrids - Part 2
The next part of the hybrids story; a full description of the P11 series from 1967 to 1968

Interpol
A detailed outline of the development history of this specific Commando variant

The Norton Rotary
The development history of the Norton rotary engine

 


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