The notion of building a pukka race machine using the humble Norton Model 88 as the donor harked back to 1956, when celebrated designer Doug Hele took up a post at Norton. Among many other duties, he was charged with producing a machine that could comply with the new rules for AMA racing (principally the Daytona 200) after the banning of overhead camshaft engines, which made obsolete the previously all-conquering Norton singles. Work began on the 497cc Dominator engine and for the next four years various production 88s were fitted with tweaked bits and extensively road tested.
Alongside this, top-secret work continued on the chassis and other components of the “prototype racing twin”, and this was sent to Daytona (with a standard Slimline frame) in March 1961, but failed to finish the race. Doug Hele stated that the engine produced “about 50 horsepower” but no other details were given, nor was there any mention of further race appearances. It was just one week before the 1961 TT when Norton announced a single factory entry, and also revealed this entry may be a possible replacement for the venerable Manx. The news was
