THE year is 1967, the Sixties are swinging, the mini is mini and a young ad exec in London has a cool idea for selling the new Norton Commando motorcycle.

Michael Wolff, of Wolff Olins, wants to use a solid green circle as the signature on what was to become one of the world’s coolest motorbikes. No name, no logo, just green.

The blob would go on the speedometer and tachometer, on badges, key fobs, T-shirts. Green balloons would float above football stadiums, a green vinyl single would promote the Norton.

“It was a symbol of almost arrogant simplicity. It represented nothing. It was just a thing in itself. Michael Wolff believes that people are as moved by apparently meaningless objects as by logical argument, and that this influence has barely been exploited,” explained a Wolff Olins publication of the period.

Notice the past tense. Norton hated it. And while a modified green blob can still be seen on the clocks of old Nortons, the rest of the campaign was scrapped.

Today, Wolff’s proposal seems uncontroversial in a world where we instantly identify Orange’s square and HSBC’s triangles. But back then, Norton’s management was way behind the times — as was the rest of the British motorcycle industry.

The Commando went like a rocket, sales were huge, but managerial incompetence and a failure to cope with changing trends saw the company sink along with the industry. The Commando didn’t get an electric start until 1975 — and you try kick-starting 500lb of British iron.

How things have changed. Now Britain is obsessed by style leaders and Triumph, with its newly invigorated motorcycle marque, happily collaborates with fashion designers to get its bikes sold.

The company, based in Hinckley, Leicestershire, recently launched a Bonne-ville bike made over by Paul Smith. Tom Cruise rode a Triumph Speed Triple in Mission Impossible II. In America, the company sold 1,070 motorcycles in March, 58% more than in the same period last year.

Harley Davidsons — as any fool knows — are for fat people and accountants. Triumph, the bike of Brando and McQueen, is cool again.

I was thinking of this turn-around last week when it was announced that Norton had gone to the wall yet again.

In 2003, the American enthusiast and bike builder Kenny Dreer managed to wrestle the brand name off a group of hoarders.

In 1999, Cycle World magazine featured on its cover a Norton that Dreer had restored. The story sparked a lot of interest. He built 50 and sold them for $20,000 (€16,500) a piece.

At the same time, he set about acquiring the Norton name and designing a bike that he could mass produce.

This month Cycle World has him on the cover again. “Retro rage, suddenly, old is the new new,” claims the magazine. There is a picture of the Norton, but the main image is of Triumph’s new 900 Scrambler, a model based on the classic Bonneville.

Dreer intended his 961 Commando to compete with the Ducati’s Monster and Triumph’s Speed Triple, and the reviews looked promising.

But the start-up costs of a new manufacturing business have proved too much. The new Norton had cost $8.5m already. The crankshafts for the four prototype 961s are estimated to have cost $60,000 a set. A further $10m was needed to begin large-scale production, according to Cycle World.

As one of the designers told Business Week: “That’s the trouble with a start-up; you run full-speed towards a chasm, trusting the bridge will be there when you arrive.”

What now for Norton? There is speculation that Triumph hopes to secure the name. Is this a return for the British motorcycle industry?

• Dominic Rushe’s blog can be read at timesonline.co.uk/dollarsigns