1953 Norton 500cc Model 7 Dominator
Registration no. FJD 609
Frame no. J12 53686
Engine no. 53686 J12

Norton jumped aboard the vertical-twin bandwagon in 1948 when it introduced the Model 7. Designed by the legendary Bert Hopwood, the new 500cc engine went into the existing ES2 plunger-frame/tele-fork cycle parts, a marriage that necessitated a redesign of Norton's well-proven four-speed gearbox. In November 1951 Norton's 500cc twin found a new home in the racing singles' 'Featherbed' duplex frame. Initially for export only, the newcomer - titled 'Dominator 88' - was the first production Norton roadster to feature the lightweight, race-proven chassis. The Model 7 continued as a cheaper alternative to the '88', its first major revision arriving in 1953 in the form of a new swinging-arm frame. The model was dropped at the end of 1955 but the same basic cycle parts were used for a 600cc successor, the Model 77, which continued in production until the autumn of 1958. A 1954 model first registered in October 1953, this example of a relatively rare post-war Norton model is an older restoration that still presents well. The machine was acquired for the collection circa July 1991 and last taxed for the road in 1997. Accompanying paperwork consists of the 1997 tax disc and a V5C registration document. A total of 27,234 miles is displayed on the odometer.