The MOKE
Early
Moke
Prototype work started in
1960 with one of the briefs been to produce a vehicle for the Army
using Mini components. By using the standard parts of a Mini the
only real cost to bring it into production would be the body.You
will see from the picture above that the early prototypes had sills
that were triangular in section. This was soon changed to a square
box section, which gave the body more torsional stiffness. The
other benefit was that it allowed the fuel tank to now be housed
inside the box section instead of been behind the rear seat. You
Also the seats are of the bench type, front and rear. It was
thought that the Army would need a small vehicle that could be
dropped in by parachute, that would seat four with some space for
equipment. The Navy were also approached, and they did show some
interest as a means of transport on a aircraft carrier. The main
problem was that the ground clearance was poor for any off-road
activities so the armed forces lost
interest.
You will see from the
military version shown above, compared to the one sold to the
general public that the following changes had been made to try and
impress the military. There are four seats, the front panel has
been modified with the headlamps going into the wings. This gave
more room in the engine bay which would help cooling. The grille is
now a one piece with a fine mesh to keep out debris.
Why did it get the name
Moke, well the dictionary says Donkey, or another definition would
be a workhorse.
In fact in the American brochures it said the following. "Own a
four-passenger donkey! The Austin Mini-Moke is as tough and
versatile as its namesake, but not half so obstinate. The rugged
transverse-mounted BMC engine combined with front wheel drive,
makes it sure-footed on the roughest terrain. Carring a load,
caddying around the golf course, or coursing over back roads and
beaches, the Austin Mini-Moke is the real 'can do' vehicle. A lot
more economical than a donkey, too!"
Moke coming off
the line
Nice side view
but beware of the dog
So would the general public
buy it. The company had hoped that the Customs and Excise would
class the Moke as a commercial vehicle, as this would mean it would
not incur Purchase Tax. But instead it was deemed a car because it
could carry passengers and therefore Tax was payable. So it was
launched in 1964 at a price of £405 in just one colour Spruce
Green. The only standard fitting was a windscreen wiper for the
driver, everything else was a option such as passenger seats, grab
handles, heater, windscreen washer and a removable canvas
top.
Filming 'The
Prisoner'
At first sales were slow
but the Moke did attracted attention as a 'cult' vehicle on the
back of the Mini but its main media exposure was in the popular
television series 'The Prisoner'. In all 14,518 Mokes were produced
at Longbridge with about 90% exported mainly to more sunny
locations in the world.
They tried to get the USA Army interested and one was sent for
evaluation show here on test. But that lack of ground clearance
killed it off.
In 1967 a MkII was
announced which incorporated changes that had been introduced in
the Mini. But you did get a passenger wiper as standard now, along
with a choice of two body colours Spruce Green or Snowberry White.
Another try was made to interest the Navy, but it came to
nothing.
Ready
for Take Off 1968
Date when launched August
1964, production ceased in 1968. Production was then transferred to
Australia and then in 1981 to Portugal.
Total produced in UK 14,518 of these 1,467 were for Home sales and
13,051 for Export.
Total produced world wide about 30,000
Engine
848 cc 34 bhp at 5,500 rpm Max torque 44 lbs/ft at 2,900 rpm
Australia and Portugal builds
1275 cc 58 bhp at 5,250 rpm Max torque 69 lbs/ft at 3,000 rpm
Length 10ft 0ins Width 4ft 3.5ins Height 4ft 8ins
Wheelbase 6ft 8ins Track front 3ft 11.4ins rear 3ft 9.8ins
Price ex Works at launch
was £475
It was in January 1963 that
because of heavy falls of snow that as a way of getting some
publicity for the Moke it was decided to make a 4 wheel drive
version by simple putting an engine in the back, originally the
gear changes were connect together along with the clutch and
throttle pedal. This proved to be a bit of a nightmare as it was
very difficult to synchronise both engines and the gear-changes.
The solution was solved by putting an automatic power unit in the
back, which was not the perfect solution, but as a prototype worked
quite well.
Twin Engine Moke on the CAB
car-park
Early version
with both Manual Gearboxes
Rear Engine
Manual Gearbox
A Twin Engine
(1100cc) Moke was built and sent to America for evaluation by the
US Army, but no orders were placed.
Australia
Build
Moke production started in
Australia in 1966 and continued till 1981. Initially they were
built exactly like the British version with the 1098 cc engine and
10" wheels, but after a few months 13 inch wheels were fitted. This
increased ground clearance making them more practical for gentle
off-road or beach use. Latter on an additional model arrived on the
scene, called the 'Californan' this was powered by the 1275 cc
engine along with improved seats and made the Moke now a more
attractive vehicle. A pick-up version was announced in 1975 as a
drop side type with a cloth top over the cab area. Also a 4 x 4
version was looked at again, but unlike the UK prototypes it had
only a single engine driving the rear wheels via a transfer
box.
Portuguese Moke
'Californian'
When production ceased in
1981 British Leyland transfer production yet again, this time to
their subsidiary in Portugal where the "Californian" version which
had been developed in Australia continued till 1991 having built
8,500 in this 10 year period. At this time British Leyland had seen
many changes and was now called The Rover Group. The rights to the
Moke were sold in 1991 to Cagiva a motorcycle manufacturer in Italy
who decided to continue to make the Moke in Portugal. One of the
changes they made, was to standardise on the then current Mini
parts from the UK, this meant they were fitted with 12 inch wheels
A decision was made in 1993 to transfer production to Italy, in the
end production was never restarted. So in that two year period
1,500 were produced, this made total number of Moke's produced in
Portugal to 10,000 units.
* * * * * * *
*
This was a
standard Moke with body modifications for a film called
Salt and
Pepper.
This left-hand
850cc engine Moke was imported into the UK. It is fitted with a
Barton hard-top
In the 1960s about forty Mokes
were imported into the Catalia Island California which could be
hired to get round the island. By the mid 1990s they had all been
replaced by golf carts
How to
customise your Moke
Army
Conversion
_________________________________________________
And along came
the ANT (ADO19)
Mock-up of a Ant
(1964)
Early Prototype
Ant (1966)
Fully
Engineered Prototype
It was in 1964 that work
started on the Ant, designed by Sir Alec Issigonis for the then
BMC. Sir Alex Issigonis had already applied for various patents in
1962 which mainly covered the transmission aspects of the design.
Conceived for two markets, one being for military use as the Moke
had been rejected by the Army mainly because of its ground
clearance and only two wheel drive. One feature that the Army had
asked for was that the passengers seat would fold-down flat, so
allowing a stretcher to be carried It was also thought that there
could be a market for a small Land Rover type vehicle. So the Ant
which was based on the 1100 platform was only 3ins longer than the
Mini at 10ft 3ins. If this vehicle had reached the market place
would it have been the start of a new vehicle that would have
become a cult like the Mini.
Under
Bonnet
Power was from the 1098 cc
A series engine, but later this was changed to the 1275 cc version.
Althought the larger engine gave only 2 hp more, the torque
increased from 61 lbs at 2,000 rpm to 69 lbs at 3,000 rpm. The
engine is tilled backwards, as can be seen from the above picture.
(Note the rocker filler cap). The whole engine and four speed
gearbox along with a transfer box would have compromised the ground
clearance if it had not been inclined backwards. It had high and
low ratios and the drive to the rear wheels could be disengaged if
only 2 wheel traction was needed as this would save on fuel and
also gave the vehicle a higher speed.
Power
Unit
One interesting point of
the design, was that the steering rack had a centre pinion so could
be used for both right hand and left hand versions. The front
suspension, by torsion bars, with the one end fixed on to a cradle
attached to the transmission housing. So in affect the whole
engine, transmission and front suspension could be removed as one
unit, The rear suspension used a single torsion bar that was held
in the middle and the ends fixed to each wheel unit.
Braking was by means of 8 inch discs at the front and drum at the
rear. Ride was fairly neutral with minimum roll or pitch. which by
all accounts proved fine
It had front disc brakes
with drum on the rear and 12in wheels. So this unique vehicle
became the world's first 4 x 4 trasverse-engined that was light and
compact making it suitable for airborne operations.
Some experimental
prototypes were built, and after evaluating the
test results it was decided to move to the next stage. This was to
build 30 pre-production fully engineered prototypes, whilst this
was happening a decision was made to order the tooling so as to
prepare for production with the bodies to be made by Nuffield Metal
Products in Birmingham.
The 30 pre-production build
was to be done by Methods Proving Department at Adderley Park
Birmingham. Shown below is the cradle that was constructed, the
body was bolted to the cradle which then allowed the body to be
rotated, which made the fitting of components easier.
Finished
Ant
The various prototypes were
then dispatched round the world for evaluation. Early in 1968 three
prototype vehicles were sent by BMC to Australia and New Zealand
for evaluation by the Armed Forces. One stayed in Australia for
reasons unknown, and the other two came to New Zealand. A Soft-top
model went to the Auckland Austin dealer Seabrook Fowlds, and the
other a hard-top model went to P H Vickery, the Austin agents of
Invercargill. The two examples in New Zealand were sold to private
buyers. The white coloured Invercargill vehicle was purchased by a
local farmer Alfred Walmsley and used on Stewart Island. It was
later purchased and now owned by Geoff Sneddon of Dunedin.
Then came the merge between BMC and Leyland who owned Land Rover,
so the Ant was looked at by the new management in 1968 as been to
close a competitor to the Land Rover range so the project was
cancelled before production got underway and most of the vehicles
were broken up.
According to the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon there is only two
in the UK, one in the museum and one private owner whose vehicle I
have photographed, with five others around the world.
As with many concepts from the design studios of BMC at Longbridge
in the 1960s, they were way ahead of their time. It makes me sad
that the management did not have the vision to bring these concepts
into production, the Ant been one such example.
Final
Pre-Production Version
Note the
change to the canvas roof which gave more headroom
Main measurements
Length 10ft 3ins Width 4ft 6ins
Wheel Base 6ft 5.5ins Track 3ft 11.3ins Turning circle 33ft
6ins