Norton Atlas

The Norton Atlas was a Norton motorcycle made between 1962 and 1968, until the Norton Commando replaced it. It grew from Bert Hopwood's 1949 Dominator engine, which had been bored and stroked over the years to 745 cc to suit the American market, and it was first built only for export with high-rise bars, a small tank and chrome valanced mudguards, in Norton's Featherbed frame. The engine gave 55 bhp but vibrated badly at high revs, and the 1964 model gained 12-volt electrics and a second carburettor. Specialists such as Dunstall built racers from it, and over seven thousand Atlas-engined Matchless-framed hybrids, the G15, N15 and P11, were built at Plumstead. The name returned in 2026, when Norton under TVS Motor Company unveiled the new Atlas and Atlas GT adventure and road bikes at EICMA 2025.