1934/46 Norton Model 18 International

Frame no. A3 2753
Engine no. 58006

· A lovely example of a street overhead cam Norton
· Unique: first customized in the 1930s to be brought back to standard in the 1960s
· Most handsome, fully restored Inter ready to ride and show

Previewing at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Please contact [email protected] for scheduling.

Following its successful Senior TT-winning debut in 1927, the overhead-camshaft Norton had enjoyed mixed fortunes in the Isle of Man, and when the engine's designer, Walter Moore, left to join NSU, Arthur Carroll was charged with carrying out an extensive redesign. First seen in the works racers in 1930, the new motor borrowed features from the successful KTT Velocette, contriving to look very different from its predecessor while remaining unmistakably Norton in execution.

The Carroll engine retained the classic 79x100mm bore/stroke dimensions and shaft-and-bevels cam drive of the Moore unit but shifted the magneto drive to the right-hand end of the crankshaft where it was enclosed in a distinctive timing case. The new overhead-cam racer was not an immediate success - 1930 was Rudge's year in the Isle of Man - but came good in 1931 when works rider Tim Hunt kick-started a four-year period of Norton TT domination by winning both the Junior and Senior events. Towards the end of 1930, the Carroll-type engine was introduced on the CS and CJ road models, and in 1932 these were joined by a new top-of-the-range sports roadster - the 'International' - that bore a closer resemblance to the works racers and was equally at home on the racetrack.

A 'racer for the road', the top-of-the-range 'Inter' was based on the works machines but could be ordered with refinements such as lights and a kickstart-equipped gearbox. By the time production halted in 1939 the Inter was being built with four-speed foot-change gearbox and plunger rear suspension, reappearing after the war in similar guise save for the adoption of the hydraulically damped Roadholder front fork which replaced the pre-war girder. The model received Norton's race-developed Featherbed frame for 1953, an alloy cylinder barrel/head and the new 'laid down' gearbox being adopted at the same time. Expensive to make and challenged by cheaper parallel twins of comparable performance, the Inter ceased to be catalogued after 1955 but could still be obtained to special order until 1958, many of the later machines incorporating Manx components.

This Model 30 International was bought by the vendor, a Canadian collector, in June of 1969 from Lucas and Wasling, a dealer in Hull on the English east coast. He was led to believe that it had been owned and modified by a Mr. E. W. Jackson of York, a motorcycle engineer who was a prolific modifier and builder of specials whose work was well featured in period in magazines and books. One of his Norton camshaft drives is illustrated in Norton Singles by Roy Bacon (Osprey, 1983.) On this bike, Jackson had built an ineffective swinging arm conversion which caused the chain to derail! The vendor replaced that modified original frame with a stock frame from a 1946 Norton Model 18, Norton's overhead valve 500 single, 3-speed model. Hence, its 'hybrid' name. At the same time, he restored the machine equipping it with a 1938 Manx front brake with an alloy rim, a stainless-steel rear rim and a side stand. The paint was done by the reputable Tim Bardsley of Dunnville, Ontario. It now has 40,000 miles on its odometer and starts and runs superbly.