Norton Model 50: MOT pass rate by registration year

Which Model 50 years pass first time, and which fall short of the model's 92.6% average, from 501 DVSA tests.

1959

highest-passing year · 95.7%

1960

lowest-passing year · 92.2%

3.5pp

spread across 4 years

Pass rate by registration year

first-time pass rate · cohorts with 50 or more tests · registration year from first use date

Highest pass rate: 1959 (95.7% of 69 tests). Lowest: 1960 (92.2% of 179).

Registered	Tests	First-time pass	vs model (92.6%)
1957	53	94.3%	+1.7 pp
1959	69	95.7%	+3.1 pp
1960	179	92.2%	-0.4 pp
1961	69	94.2%	+1.6 pp

Older cohorts are survivors: the worst examples have already left the road, which tends to lift the earliest years. A first-time MOT pass is a roadworthiness check, not a full mechanical inspection.

Pass rate over time

first-time pass rate by test year · 2006–2012

Questions

Which Model 50 years have the lowest MOT pass rate?: none: no registration year of the Norton Model 50 falls more than two points under the model's 92.6% overall pass rate.
Which Model 50 year has the highest MOT pass rate?: 1959, at 95.7% of 69 first tests (2005–2025).
How much does the Model 50 pass rate vary by year?: 3.5 percentage points between the highest (1959, 95.7%) and lowest (1960, 92.2%) cohorts with at least 50 tests. Older cohorts are survivors: the worst examples have already left the road, which tends to lift the earliest years.

Full report: Norton Model 50 reliability, failures and mileage · ranked #367 of 5428 models· other Norton models: Commando, Dominator, ES2, Commander, Triton, Atlas