CarBrandLogos archive · Mini · 1964

MiniMini Moke

A failed military runabout that found its calling on beaches instead.

Photo: User SteveBaker on en.wikipedia · Public domain

The story

A defining chapter in Mini history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Mini Moke, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The Moke started as a military proposal and failed at it. BMC pitched a stripped Mini-based buggy to the British Army in the late 1950s as a light, air-portable and theoretically stackable field vehicle. Ground clearance measured in inches and ten-inch wheels ended that idea quickly.

Austin Mini Moke 1967 · User ChiemseeMan on de.wikipedia · Public domain

Design and engineering

Sold to civilians from 1964 instead, it found an unexpected life. With no doors, barely a roof, a flat steel platform body and the Mini's front-drive running gear underneath, it worked as beach and resort transport in places where the sun was reliable and the roads were not demanding. In Britain it was initially taxed as a commercial vehicle, which made it briefly very cheap, until the authorities reclassified it.

Austin Moke interior · TTTNIS · Public domain

In production

Production wandered as widely as the vehicle's reputation: Longbridge until 1968, then Australia, then Portugal, and finally Cagiva in Italy until 1993. Along the way it became shorthand for a certain kind of holiday, helped by a starring role in the television series The Prisoner. Electric revivals still trade on exactly that image.

'67 Austin Mini Moke · Bull-Doser · Public domain

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1964–1993

Engine

848&nbsp

Designer

Sir Alec Issigonis

Body

4-seat convertible

Technical specification

The Mini Moke, in detail.

Production: 1964–1993
Class: Utility vehicle
Body style: 4-seat convertible (car); convertible ; 2-seat Pickup truck; pickup
Layout: FF layout
Engine: 848 cc BMC A-Series engine; A-series Straight-four engine; I4 ; 998 cc A-series I4 ; 1098 cc A-series I4 ; 1275 cc A-series I4
Transmission: 4-speed manual
Designer: Sir Alec Issigonis; John Sheppard
Assembly: United Kingdom: Longbridge, Birmingham (Longbridge plant) ; Portugal: Vendas Novas ; Portugal: Setúbal ; Australia: Zetland, New South Wales ; Malaysia: Alor Setar ; Rhodesia: Umtali ; South Africa: Cape Town
Manufacturer: British Motor Corporation; BMC (1964–1968) ; British Motor Corporation (Australia); Leyland Australia (1966–1981) ; British Leyland Motor Corporation; British Leyland Portugal (1980–1989) ; Cagiva (1990–1993)