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. It was followed by the air-cooled Interpol 2 model. 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. Two types of Commander were built. The P52 was a single-seat model equipped for police use. The second was the dual-seat P53 civilian tourer. Both the P52 and P53 had panniers integral with their fibreglass bodywork. The P53 bodywork was later revised to have detachable Krauser GmbH K2 panniers.