|
|
Below is a short history of Andover
Norton,
the sole source of Genuine Norton Factory Parts for all pre-2002
Nortons.
We need no license by a third
party to
make Norton spares, or to derive our claim from some
self-invented, self-registered trademarks
that Norton Motors saw no need for when they were building
Dominators and Commandos.
We are entitled to Norton parts manufacture by history, lineage, and
ownership of the Norton factory drawings and tooling.
Not to mention a few contracts with Norton Motors Ltd/Shenstone.
We took over when NVT closed down and Dennis Poore bought the spares
operation of Norton Motors back from the liquidator.
In 1977 he set it up in Andover as "Andover Norton
International Ltd".
What we can do for you, you will find in "Services" or by
clicking on "What we Do".
|
|
Andover Norton Ltd
was
founded in the summer of 1977 to house all Norton, Triumph and BSA Spare Parts that came
from the stores of Norton Villiers for Norton Commando and Dominator
Models, and from BSA/Triumph for all models built by those two
manufacturers, in an industrial unit in Andover, Hants.
As the name indicates, the company was first and foremost the source for all
Norton spares and, as original stock was sold off, Andover Norton started
to re-manufacture new Norton parts.
This it was well
qualified to do, as the company has all the works drawings and tooling to
manufacture parts to original, and often improved, specification.
Andover Norton took over when
the Wolverhampton Norton factory was closed down.
Everything necessary to run the spares operation was acquired by the
new company, and Andover Norton carried on when Norton stopped
Norton spares production in Wolverhampton.
In 1979, the decision was made to add the distribution of
general motorcycle parts and accessories- brake pads, spark plugs
and tyres- to the parts operation.
picture (right) shows 1978
prospectus
Links to 1978 prospectus: Front
& Rear
|
|
 |
This was continued until 1982, when Mike Jackson, with
the help of Dennis Poore, bought the company and continued
the general parts and accessories distribution.
The Norton Spare Parts
operation went back to
Norton Motors (1978) Ltd in Shenstone.
It was managed for most of its time there by Richard
Negus, later the (now retired) Managing Director of our sister company Norton Motors
Ltd.
|
|
Our first (now
retired) Managing Director,
Nick Hopkins, can just be seen in a picture in the 1978
prospectus, studying a parts list- yes, he had been with the company
for a while!
He
was probably looking for the parts required by a German customer,
who called frequently, coming up from Southampton University, where
he studied at the time, on his John Player Norton Replica or his 1956
Norton ES2. Mr.J.Seifert was buying Norton parts for himself
and friends in Hamburg- today, he is the owner of Andover Norton.
Note: In Andover we have now re-introduced a counter for cash
sales to the general public. |
|
|
picture above shows 1985 prospectus
|
|
Norton Motors Ltd, under
its MD Dennis Austin, started a "Brand Awareness"
programme in 1985, using the now famous "Norton Genuine
Factory Parts" logo, thereby distinguishing the genuine parts
made to original or improved specification from the pirate parts of
poor quality that were flooding the market from places far afield,
mostly the Far East.
|
First Label, 1985
|
about 1989
|
Andover Norton,
1992
|
Andover Norton,
1996
|
|
|
|
When Norton got into financial difficulties through the machinations of
its management team led by Philippe Le Roux, the Norton Commando spares
stock was sold back to Andover Norton, then owned by Mike Jackson and
William Colquhoun, in 1991.
The stock was once more
moved down to Andover and, when Andover Norton was aquired by the Regal
Group in 1994, the spares moved
to Southampton.
|
Nothing, however, is more constant than change, so in 2007 Norton Motors
Ltd, recreated by said Richard Negus and Joe Seifert, re-aquired Andover
Norton and set it up in Hungerford near Andover, managed by Nick
Hopkins, who
had done so since 1991, and Phil Albutt, who came to Andover
Norton by way of BSA in Blockley. Chief Buyer is Peter Morris, who followed Bob Reynolds, who in turn had been in
that function for various Norton Companies since the 1970s. All this supported by
Richard Negus and Joe Seifert, who had been involved with the Norton
Commando models and their spare parts since production times.
In January 2013 Andover Norton returned to its ancestral home, not far
from where it was established on 1st June, 1977.
Today, Andover Norton is
the world's biggest cache of spare parts for Norton motorcycles.
Andover Norton sells more
Genuine Norton Factory Spare Parts than anybody else in the World-
not only because we manufacture them all
and we sell them all, but also by absolute turnover.
We sell more parts for Nortons
than anybody else in the world, and all our parts are to factory
drawings- beware of imitations and false claims!
Our Genuine Norton Factory Parts are covered by product
liability insurance, something the pirate parts manufacturers and
distributors normally don't bother with,
bar a few manufacturers of Norton accessories, say Mick Hemmings
M/Cs.
|
