![]() AMC became insolvent and was sold to Manganese Bronze Holdings and Norton became Norton-Villiers. Then in 1962 the old Bracebridge Street factory was closed and Norton moved to Woolwich in south-east London.īut all was not well with the British motorcycle industry (insert endless discussion here) and big bike sales were falling in the face of changing tastes, a lack of development and, not least, fierce competition from Japan. Yet racing brought Norton finances low and in 1953 it was bought out by the Associated Motorcycles (AMC) group, which also owned Matchless, AJS, Francis Barnett and James. Street bikes with names such as Dominator and Commando and, in more recent times, the rotary-engined machines captured the imagination and provided a visually tougher alternative to the firm’s BSA and Triumph rivals. The Manx also took the Norton name straight out of its home in Bracebridge Street, Birmingham and into the wider world. It also built about 100,000 military motorcycles during the Second World War.Īfter the war it went back to racing, with the epochal single-cylinder Manx Norton with its “Featherbed” frame, which between 19 provided victories for the greatest riders of the age such as Geoff Duke, John Surtees and Derek Minter. Single and parallel twins were the mainstays of the company’s output, with lots and lots of racing. ![]() It started making its own rolling frames in 1902 and introduced its own engine in 1908. ![]() Norton Motors was founded in 1898 as a Birmingham-based supplier to the motorcycle trade. ![]() Standing beside the new Commando 961, it’s hard not to feel the glow of its promise, but also the weight of a troubled history that sits on this famous name. With the relaunch of the famous Commando name, the new Norton, under its Indian owner, has not only got to repair the reputational damage wrought in recent years, but also re-establish a name and brand. “We’re not here as a greatest hits band,” said Christian Gladwell, Norton’s chief commercial officer. ![]()
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