Norton Motorcycles

Norton Motorcycle has filed trademark applications for several names from its history that may portend the company’s future under the ownership of TVS Motor.

The beleaguered Norton Motorcycles has been bought out by India’s TVS Motor Company. Norton, which was put into administration in January, was purchased by TVS through a subsidiary in an all-cash deal worth 16 million British pounds (US$20 million).

After nearly four decades in the advertising business, I’ve been around enough co-branding campaigns to fill a Louis Vuitton + Supreme duffel bag with Doritos by Taco Bell chips. Strategic partnerships between brands are not without potential pratfalls (The Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars/Sex Pistols collaboration leaps to mind.) But when there is a real fit across audiences and consumers, they work, particularly in today’s challenging and fractured media environment.

Say, wasn’t I just saying the other day that you may need a nice Norton Manx  without even being aware of your condition? Lo and behold, here’s one for sale in the LA area. $42k may be a bit steep, but Craigslist is all about haggling like the Tijuana Debutante Ball. How low of an offer can I make before you will feign being insulted? Will you throw in the drip pan? Would you be willing to consider a Motorola dial-up modem or lightly used iron lung in trade?

Norton revealed two sketches showing a new scrambler that will debut in November. The 2019 Norton Atlas will be powered by a new 650cc Twin powerplant with a target price of about £10,000 (US$13,200).

Norton 16H military motorcycles are among many objects that have been resting in the hold of SS Thistlegorm since she was sunk by a German bomber in the Red Sea in 1941. Now Thistlegorm has become a popular dive site, and one of those divers snapped a photo that beat out 5000 others for Underwater Photograph of the Year. Yes it’s a thing, since 1965.

Norton Motorcycles announced a new 1200cc carbon-clad sportbike, claiming a maximum output of more than 200 hp and a dry weight of 395 pounds. The V4 RR is priced at £28,000 (US$34,777) while a special edition V4 SS version is valued at an even more posh £44,000 (US$54,651).