Norton Manx

The Norton Manx, or Manx Norton, was a British racing motorcycle built from 1947 to 1962 by Norton Motors. Norton had entered every Isle of Man TT from the first in 1907 into the 1970s, and the Manx was the culmination of that effort: a double-overhead-camshaft single of 350 or 500 cc developed by team engineer Joe Craig from the prewar International. The name was first used for a 1936 Manx Grand Prix model. Fitted from 1950 with the Featherbed frame of the McCandless brothers, it gained a new lease of racing life, and the engine was shortened in stroke in 1953. Norton withdrew from works Grand Prix racing in 1954 but the Manx became the backbone of privateer racing, and its engine also powered 500 cc Formula 3 cars. The last Bracebridge Street machines were sold in 1963, and new Manx-style bikes are still built by others.