An email from Australia: "My dad and I aquired what we believe to be a 1937 Model 18 Norton; this is it's story.
My dad and I were visiting one of his friends to look at buying a classic car and when we arrived there were cars all over the place! Dad's mate said 'take a walk and see if you like anything', so while dad and I were looking at cars in several sheds we saw the front wheel of the Norton sticking out from under a cover. We pulled it back and found we had discovered gold! We didn't know what model it was but we knew it was good. Right behind it was a 50's BSA sidecar outfit. We asked dad's mate if he would sell them and he said that he had had the BSA since he was a teenager and he wasn't really keen to let the Norton go either - bummer.
So we left empty handed (no car either) but everytime dad saw his mate after that he always asked 'are you ready to sell the Norton yet?' Dad's mate kept saying No until one day he needed cash to buy another car so he and dad worked a deal and the Norton was ours!
We have had it about a year now and established that it was probably what we call a 'paddock basher' as everything is worn out and loose, and it is missing all its road lighting. It doesnt start but it kicks over and is missing the Amal carb in the photos as dad took it off to try and clean it to get it started. Dad and I plan on doing a full rebuild of the gearbox and engine as a project we can share. The engine number is 70610, it would be great to know the history of this machine. I better tell you that the bike was found in Queensland, Australia.
sincerely, Dylan
ps this last photo is of dad (Trevor) in full race trim!"
