First introduced at the Earls Court Show of 1967, the Norton Commando is arguably the British marque’s most iconic model of all time. The Commando was met by an incredibly warm public reception, selling a lot of units and taking home five consecutive “Machine of the Year” awards from MCN from ’68 to ’72. Though the model wasn’t without its shortcomings, many of these issues would be resolved over the production run.
The Commando would first hit the market in ’68 with the 750 (technically 745cc), but by ’73 a torquier 850 (technically 829cc) would be introduced. Powering the “850” was an air-cooled OHV four-stroke parallel twin pushrod engine with two valves per cylinder. The 850 reportedly put down 58hp at 6,800rpm, boasted a top-speed of 115mph, and weighed in at 420lbs dry. The engine was powerful, but its power came with a pretty major problem: vibration, and lots of it.
Ever since Rem Fowler won the twin-cylinder class of the 1907 TT, Norton looked to competition as a means of promoting its bikes – a tradition that would continue into the 1960’s and ’70’s, (though Norton’s recent V4 racer appears to be reigniting this strategy.) Because Norton didn’t have the resources to develop a brand new power-plant for its racer – but still aspired to hang with the likes of Honda – the decision was made to instead focus on the chassis, as the once cutting-edge Featherbed frame had become pretty long in the tooth.
The solution was to bring on Rolls-Royce engineer Dr. Stefan Bauer, who would design a new frame around a single 2.25-inch top-tube. Dr. Bauer would partner with then chief engineer Bernard Hooper and Bob Trigg to deliver a design that essentially bolted together the engine, gearbox, and swing-arm assembly where they would be isolated from the chassis via rubber mounts. This new design would become known as the “Isolastic anti-vibration system” and was a pretty revolutionary offering upon its release in 1968.
The story of Norton’s Production Racer doesn’t really start until 1969. After decades of being on top, the British (and American) motorcycle industry had succumbed to the rise of machines from Japan, leaving many once prosperous marques in shambles. At this point in time, AMC had just shut down and with it so did the company’s Plumstead, London factory where the majority of Commandos were assembled. The location was then slated for development and a compulsory purchase order was issued and as part of the deal, Norton-Villiers – the Manganese-Bronze Holdings-owned company born out of AMC’s closure – acquired a new factory located in Andover, Hampshire.
In addition to being a relatively state-of-the-art facility – especially when compared to Norton’s prior operations – the new factory happened to be right next door to the Thruxton race circuit. Norton-Villiers’ Chief, Dennis Poore, set up Commando production at the new trackside facilities, as well as establishing a new race shop and department which was headed up by ex-AJS racer and development engineer Peter Inchley. Inchley would be given a team and would set up in what became known as “The Long Shop”; which previously served as a hangar for B17 Bombers during WW2.
Unsurprisingly, Inchley’s first success would be won at (you guessed it) a race at Thuxton – the 1970 Thruxton 500 mile to be specific – which was won by Peter Williams and Charlie Sanby. Later that year, Williams was well on his way to winning the Production Class at the TT aboard his Norton but would unfortunately run out of gas just before reaching the grandstand on his final lap, giving the win to Malcolm Uphill on his Triumph Trident. Williams lost by just 1.6 seconds that day. Back on the mainland, Inchley continued pounding away, further developing the Commando with test riders Williams and Sanby.
The team back at the Long Shop kept at it, further refining the 750 and squeezing out every ounce of horsepower the twin could muster. The racer, which became known as “The Yellow Peril” would go on to experience decent success, and Norton would have its Thruxton-side race shop churn out what is believed to be a little over 100 Production Racer Commandos complete with race fairing and seat, fiberglass tanks, a handful of trick power-boosting internals, and other knickknacks such as a Boyer ignition and 5-speed Quaife gearbox.
Upon the release of the Commando, a handful of privateer efforts would also utilize the British scoot in competition, including a few noteworthy pilots such as Mick Andrews and Paul Smart. Then in the early-’70’s John Player Special (JPS) Cigarettes would sponsor a factory race team which used machines that were heavily derived from the Commando 750. This led to Peter Williams taking the top spot of the podium at the ’73 TT in the Formula 750 Class. The following year, Norton would cash in on the success with a limited production run of John Player-liveried roadsters.
As undeniably cool as the JPS Nortons are, the most sought-after Commandos are without a doubt the production racers – a batch of jazzed-up street-legal Commandos. Examples can easily fetch around $30k, so it’s no surprise to see that a handful of Norton enthusiasts have gone through the effort of turning existing roadster examples into “production racer replicas”, which brings us to the example that is currently for sale…
This 1975 Norton Commando 850 Racer Replica wasn’t built by Peter Inchley’s “Long Shop” race department at the factory and therefore isn’t a genuine production racer, though it has been rebuilt using only genuine “Norvil” parts including titanium valve guides, a compression ratio of 10-1 (factory settings: 8.5-1), a 4-S cam, flowed heads, Dunstall power exhaust, aluminum wheels with SS spokes, and several other odds and ends such as complete replica bodywork all in the iconic school-bus yellow paint.
This roadster’s transformation occurred in the 1980’s and since that time this example has been used for various competitions where it reportedly placed at the nationals in the late-1980’s in Byron, Illinois, as well as winning several other Midwestern events in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Arizona. This example also underwent a complete engine rebuild about 2,000 miles ago – as it stands today there’s only 8,500 original miles on the odo. According to the seller, this machine is capable of a cool 13-second quarter-mile, making it on-par with the actual bikes (which had 750cc motors). I’d also be willing to bet this example could hang with a real Commando Production Racer’s 131mph top-speed.
All in all, this is a beautiful example that’s reportedly 100% ready to race or display. It has a clean title and needs absolutely nothing aside from a new home. You can find this 1975 Norton Commando 850 Replica Production Racer for sale here on Craigslist in Los Angeles, California with a price of $14,000, though if it doesn’t sell in the near-future the current owner plans on polishing it up a bit more and then relisting it at around $16k.