Did you see these other Classic features?
BIGGER IS BETTER
P & M PANTHER
1936 road going International. Spring
frame available for special orders
Beginning of total Norton dominance. Tim
Hunt wins the Senior and Junior IoM in 1931
In late 1931 the first of the “Works Replica”
models were sold under the title of
“International”. If a customer bought one
to race, legend has it that the worksheet
attached to it on the factory floor was
stamped “Manx” which of course after WW2
became one of the most celebrated names in
the history of motor sport.
1931 was to be the beginning of glory days
for Norton; Tim Hunt won the Junior TT with
Jimmy Guthrie second, and in the Senior
Hunt again came first, with Guthrie second,
and Stanley Woods third. Hunt’s time for the
Norton International in Manx trim
Senior was 3 hours 23 minutes and 28 seconds,
with an average speed of 77.90mph. This was
merely the beginning of almost a decade of
Norton dominance on the race tracks, which
was interrupted by the Second Wold War, but
continued after the war from 1947 onwards.
So, from the birth of the CS1 in 1927 to the
“International” at the beginning of the 1930’s
and on to the Manx, the single cylinder Norton
engine must be one of the most durable and
successful in motorcycling history. I will look at
the first golden age of the Norton in a future
issue.
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