The Commando years

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Madnorton

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These have been loaned to AN, the info within spans the years from 1966 - 1986, The end of the AMC through the entire NV - NVT period, in some detail as you can imagine. Hopefully one day it can be used to correct some myths that now seem to be folklore.

As someone said in another thread ''some old boys will tell you anything for a Rum and Coke'' looks liek all them Rum and Cokes have fogged their memories, I doubt if much of what they could tell you is anywhere as accurate as the contents of these files.

Sadly much of the contents cannot be disclosed at the moment.

https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/news/
 
Not really, some will still dis-believe it, and say Dennis Poore and others made it all up and the government announcements and statements were all wrong, Hansards dispels that one though as they can corroborate each other.

The history from end of AMC, how the companies were set up, what was exchanged for what, the subsiduary's, the appointed directors, everything to the demise of NVT itself. It is all there, nearly 400 pieces of history itself.
 
The twists and turns of the sordid history is what has made Norton the marque it is...

...and actually something I’m sure I’m not alone in being fascinated by - surely the most interesting of all the names of the era!
 
Madnorton said:
These have been loaned to AN, the info within spans the years from 1966 - 1986, The end of the AMC through the entire NV - NVT period, in some detail as you can imagine. Hopefully one day it can be used to correct some myths that now seem to be folklore.

As someone said in another thread ''some old boys will tell you anything for a Rum and Coke'' looks liek all them Rum and Cokes have fogged their memories, I doubt if much of what they could tell you is anywhere as accurate as the contents of these files.

Sadly much of the contents cannot be disclosed at the moment.

https://andover-norton.co.uk/en/news/
Click to expand...

Will the information be released in some form in the future?
 
Not till after at least one court case, the second one will be the interesting one ;) .
 
Or Wikipedia. where others get the information from they rely on.

Mythmakers of the world, who weren't involved and have no access to internal information, unite!
 
ZFD said:
Or Wikipedia. where others get the information from they rely on.

Mythmakers of the world, who weren't involved and have no access to internal information, unite!
Click to expand...

Well, the truth is what you say it is after all. I don't think the average Norton owner will ever see this stuff. There's money to be made with it.
 
It is not about money to be made. From personal experience in 40 years in the Norton world, and a very recent one with a group of self-proclaimed and self-appointed keepers of the Norton Grail, I know interest is VERY limited in the real story. Wikipedia and heresay suffice. Most people aren't that interested in Norton company history, and some who should be haven't got a clue and no intention to waste time on disillusioning issues like the truth.

Whoever has a serious interest in Norton history, say an author or a private individual with that hobby, is welcome make an appointment, to come to North Way, Andover, and look through what we have.
 
I have been asked already to put into a book, that won't happen as a, there are enough books out there as it is, and b, other than the non press file it is already out there. The non press file itself is amongst other things, just the pre-cursors and share dealing, private and government papers, for what happened for the press announcements to be made.

As ZFD says, if anyone wishes to view, then I am prepared to do this even in my own time as there is a lot of it to look through in these files, I might even make you a cup of tea. I may also do a tapestry and use the Villiers bench to display it on for the open day.
 
Why are there enough books out there already if this collection has so much new information that is heretofore unknown?
 
The books out there are mainly concerned with what width the pinstripe on the petrol tank of model XYZ was in what year and who said what about whom.

The information we now have concerns the behind-the-scenes economic and political history that is of interest not for the hobbyist/pub opinion leader/dinner speaker/important owners club type, but for the serious historian interested in how the Norton assets went from one company and hand into the next, what the reasoning behind the transfers was, and how it was done.

The only books that are already pretty good in this respect are Steve Wilson's Norton history and the widely unknown Steve Koerner book "The strange death of the British Motor Cycle Industry".
 
Does this have information about where components such as engines and frame were made and what years? Woolwich did assembly from the start of the Commando, but where the engines made there? Same for after the move to Andover assembly.
 
Originally everything was made in Woolwich until Woolwich was demolished and production shifted to North Way/Andover, just across the road from our new premises, into the newly-built Norton factory.

Then the engine/gearbox units were made in Wolverhampton in the old Villiers factory and shipped overnight to Andover, where complete bikes were assembled until the complete production went up to Wolverhampton in '72 or early '73. Interestingly those who were there at the time differ in opinion when exactly that happened.

The files we have are on company matters, not normally on production procedures. Matters like these are rarely covered in the files.
 
ZFD said:
Originally everything was made in Woolwich until Woolwich was demolished and production shifted to North Way/Andover, just across the road from our new premises, into the newly-built Norton factory.

Then the engine/gearbox units were made in Wolverhampton in the old Villiers factory and shipped overnight to Andover, where complete bikes were assembled until the complete production went up to Wolverhampton in '72 or early '73. Interestingly those who were there at the time differ in opinion when exactly that happened.

The files we have are on company matters, not normally on production procedures. Matters like these are rarely covered in the files.
Click to expand...

This answers what I was looking for. Any quality differences in the engine assemblies from Woolwich compared to Wolverhampton?
 
ZFD said:
Originally everything was made in Woolwich until Woolwich was demolished and production shifted to North Way/Andover, just across the road from our new premises, into the newly-built Norton factory.

Then the engine/gearbox units were made in Wolverhampton in the old Villiers factory and shipped overnight to Andover, where complete bikes were assembled until the complete production went up to Wolverhampton in '72 or early '73. Interestingly those who were there at the time differ in opinion when exactly that happened.

The files we have are on company matters, not normally on production procedures. Matters like these are rarely covered in the files.
Click to expand...

I worked at Wolverhampton in 1972 and 1973. My memory is that they were in the process of transferring the full-motorcycle assembly to Wolverhampton when I arrived (June - 72) and the process was completed by spring of 73, but I can't be remember anything to make me feel certain about the exact dates.

PS - I am *so* glad that this information has become avaiable. In the past couple of years, we've lost Bob Trigg, Keith Blair, Sam Wheeler and any number of other individuals who held Commando history in their heads. We *must* document the full history as soon as possible.
 
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