Moke cars for sale

Overview

The Moke is a doorless, roofless, deliberately minimal beach car derived from the original Mini — and it has a genuine Australian claim, because most of them were built here. It has become an icon of coastal Australia and holiday islands worldwide.

History

Alec Issigonis and John Sheppard designed it as a lightweight military vehicle codenamed "The Buckboard", sharing Mini mechanicals under a more rugged body. The army was unconvinced — ground clearance was hopeless — and BMC began civilian production at Cowley in January 1964. British Customs classified it as a passenger car rather than a commercial vehicle, which killed its appeal to farmers, and UK production ended in 1968.

Australia is where it found its market. Leyland Australia built roughly 26,000 between 1966 and 1981, adding 13-inch wheels and tubular seating, and creating the Californian with a 1,275cc engine. Portuguese production followed to 1993, and the brand was revived from 2013 with an electric version developed by Chery for MOKE International.

Buying a used Moke

Rust is the whole inspection. The body is a stressed structure, so corrosion in the floor, sills and subframe mounts is structural rather than cosmetic. Check carefully around the front and rear subframe pickup points.

Australian-built Mokes, particularly Californians, carry a premium over imported examples. Confirm what the car actually is — the ADR compliance plate and body number are the place to start — because rebodied and reshelled cars are common.