CLASSICS
WORDS AND PHOTOS:
Rhys Jones
LAST OF THE GREAT
BRITISH CLASSICS
t is fifty-two years since Norton launched
its Commando, but that, of course, isn’t
the beginning of the story. The layout of
the Commando engine was essentially that
of the 500cc Model 7, originally designed
by Bert Hopwood in 1947. His brief from
the factory was to design a vertical twin, in
keeping with those of the competitors, BSA,
Triumph, Royal Enfield, AJS and Matchless.
The vertical twin trend, which began with the
Triumph ‘Speed Twin’ in the 1930s, took off in
earnest following the war in the mid-1940s.
The Model 7 Dominator was launched in
1948. In 1953 the Dominator 88, was given a
Featherbed frame like the celebrated single cylinder Manx Norton. In 1956 the Dominator
99 expanded to 600cc. Top speed at this
stage was 169km/h. Inevitably the model
became a 650cc in 1961.
The next significant addition to the Norton
vertical parallel twin catalogue came in 1962
with the 750cc Atlas. Power was up from
31bhp on the 600 Dominator 99 to 49bhp.
Top speed had also risen to 177km/h. It was
at the time the largest capacity vertical twin
in the world. The Atlas ruled the roost for five
years, before Norton rocketed their trusty
twin into what has very likely become one of
the last great models of the classic British
bike era, the Commando.
1948. First twin-cylinder Norton of the
modern era. 497cc Dominator Model 7 Model 7 engine detail
1953 Model 88 with a Featherbed frame Model 99 600cc, bigger motor
1962 750 Norton Atlas was raced regularly 1968 The first 750cc Norton Commando