The Commander was a Norton motorcycle with a Wankel rotary engine.

The first Norton Wankel motorcycle was the 1987 Classic using an air-cooled engine, built as a special edition of just 100 machines.

The Commander was a liquid-cooled successor to the Interpol 2, liquid cooling being adopted for greater power and reliability.

The Commander's final-drive chain was protected by a full enclosure.

Some cycle parts (such as wheels, forks, switchgear, clocks & brakes) were bought-in Yamaha items from the XJ900.