Old Red

The Model 99 was added to the Norton range in 1956 for those buyers looking for more power and speed than the Model 88 could muster.

Pretty much identical to the 88, it ran the same parallel twin engine – the capacity hike from 500 to 600cc achieved by increasing bore and the stroke; the same Wideline Featherbed frame and Roadholder forks; and it shared many of the same ancillaries – including the full width alloy hubs, which had been introduced to the 88 a year earlier, partly in preparation for the capacity increase.

Reserved riders got Norton’s signature ‘polychromatic grey’ livery, the extroverts could stand out with a rather nice ‘Atlantic blue’ or an even more eye-catching red.

The story goes that Red