After the presentation of an initial run of just 300 examples at the 1979 London Motor Show, it was put into production in 1980 as a revision of the previous NCR. The red, white and green livery was taken from the colours of Castrol, sponsor of Mike Hailwood, the driver who rode it to victory at the Tourist Trophy the same year. The mechanical side featured a 863.9 cc SOHC V-twin with bevel gear-driven desmodromic valvetrain, putting out 72 hp.