1934 Norton Model 40 “International”

Norton 1934 Model 40 “International” 348cc OHC in racing trim frame # 51699 engine # CJ2600

The Norton OHC story starts as far back as 1927, when Walter Moore (formerly the Douglas chief designer) creates the first Norton overhead camshaft engine with bore and stroke dimensions of 79×100 mm, giving 490 cc capacity. Straight from the drawing board it provides Alec Bennett with a TT victory in 1927. Known as the CS 1 (Camshaft Senior one) it’s listed as a production machine for the 1928 season. The smaller 348 cc version (71×88 mm) is christened CJ (Camshaft Junior). By 1930 Moore has left to work for NSU in Germany and for the TT that year Arthur Carroll, his successor at Bracebridge Street, redesigns the camshaft engine and from 1932 on racing versions of the CS 1 and CJ are brought out as Model 30 and 40 ‘International”. The CS 1 and CJ stay in production till 1940, The International is produced up to 1957.

The Norton racers are very successful in the early thirties; some of the 1933 successes for the 490 cc machine: 1st up to 4th in the Senior TT, 1st up to 5th in the Manx Grand Prix for amateur riders, and wins in practically all European TT races. The 348 cc machines scored first thee places in the Junior TT and also won practically all European 350 cc TT races.

The Inter we present here spent part of her life in Switzerland, as can be seen from the accompanying “Fahrzeugpass” issued by the Technical Commission of the “Schweitzer Motor Veteranen Club” on November 5, 1968. She comes with steering damper, Smiths rev counter, Lucas racing magneto, Amal TT carb and racing fly screen. Front tyre is 3 x 21, rear tyre measures 3.5 x 20.