The real thing
As soon as I saw there was a genuine Francis Beart Norton coming up for auction, I was in touch with Bonhams asking ‘Can I come and have a look at it?’ followed by ‘Can I have a go on it?’
Sadly for me the second request was not granted (and I’m really not sure when it was last run; some time ago, I think, quite possibly 1984) but, despite it being part of a private collection, we were able to go and have a look at the apple-green Norton before it was to come under the auctioneer’s hammer.
Why was I so keen to go and see the Manx? Well, ever since I was a boy, I’ve had a bit of an obsession with Beart-prepared machinery, particularly Manx Nortons. I don’t really know why I was so fascinated (I think it was to do with the green; it’s Ford Ludlow Green by the way), but I can vividly remember looking through Jeff Clew’s book on Francis Beart (called ‘A single purpose’) and even now every picture in the 1978 published book is familiar.
Such was my enthusiasm, my dad built me a model of a Beart Manx, constructed from a modified Protar kit – which
