The Commando hit the road in 1968, and this is one of the first. How did the press rate it?
Although the London Earls Court Show bikes were finished in silver paint with an orange seat, by the time the first Commandos began trickling off the production line the following April, they had been toned down and looked much the better for it. Black was back in fashion for the seat, frame, forks and cylinder barrels. Those green plastic discs had disappeared from the sides of the gas tank, however the clocks still featured the motif. There were now much larger silver discs with the words “Norton Villiers” and the traditional Norton curly “N” logo for the tank and top of the fiberglass seat unit. The side panels remained silver, but there was a choice of tank and seat unit colors for the European and American markets, with British Racing Green and Grenadier Red options.
This is the 309th Commando — engine and frame number 20 W3/126434. Crated and shipped to the U.S., it was ridden hard until the owner finally parked it and walked away. “We purchased this bike at the swap meet at Barber Motorsports Park sometime around October 2014,” says Jeremy Pendergast of Baxter Cycle. “It had been sitting derelict for some time, but was mostly complete.” Based in the western Iowa village of Marne, Baxter Cycle has been in business more than 45 years. With a huge stock of original parts for classic British bikes, it didn’t take the team long to restore the Commando to its former glory before selling it to Frenchman Yves Delamare. You must admit … it looks damn good. But not everyone who saw the Commando when it debuted at the 1967 Earls Court Show appreciated the shock of the new. Reporting in Motorcycle Sport, editor Cyril Ayton noted his disappointment. “After all the brains and manufacturing resources and the whispering campaign that has been going around the dealers — Watch out for Norton Villiers, they are bringing out something sensational — we were a little let down,” he reported, before adding: “There was certainly a new machine, a strange, slightly science-fiction-looking monster in a ghostly, unrelieved silver.”
Part two of Phillip Tooth’s series on the Norton Commando. Don’t miss the preview of part one: Saved by the Commando!
Order the July/August 2024 issue of Motorcycle Classics to learn more about the history of the Norton Commando. Contact Customer Service at (800) 880-7567 or contact us by email.