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. Caring 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 having a
final polish CAB I
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.
Twin Engined Moke
It was in January 1963 that because of heavy falls of snow, as a
way of getting some publicity for the Moke the company decided to
make a 4 wheel drive version by simple putting a second engine
mounted on a front sub-frame 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
Driven by Mr W J Daniels,
'A' Group Design Projects Superintendent
Mr B Mackenzie 'A' Group Designs
Press Statement June 1964
US Army Testing BMC Moke
The United States Army is
carrying out trials with two British Motor Corporation vehicles
derived from the design of the mini-car, the BMC announced
yesterday. One is the Mini-Moke and the other the Twin-Moke a
twin-engined version. Left-hand drive prototypes of each are
undergoing study and evaluation by the United States Army Tank
Automotive Centre.
The single-engined Moke is a general, purpose vehicle, built by BMC
for possible military use. Powered by an 850 cc engine mounted
transversely and driving the front wheels, it is likely to go into
production this year.
Originally fitted with two 850 c.c. Mini engines. the Twin-Moke is
a four wheel drive version, first produced experimentally by Mr.
Alet Issigonis, technical director of BMC and Mr. George Harriman
the corporations chairman during the severe 1962-63 winter.
In January last year, at Longbridge, I drove the first
double-engined Moke, which proved capable of astonishing
performance and road holding in deep snow and mud. In its latest
form the Twin-Moke is powered by two 1,100 cc. BMC engines, fitted
tranversely front and rear and driving each pair of wheels, with
twin, linked gear levers. The open-bodied vehicle can carry four
passengers or a heavy payload. No vehicle of this type have yet
been sold to the United States Army, but BMC say that they are
undergoing field tests"all kinds of extensive field
tests".
One of
the Mokes on test in the US by the Army, the main reasons why an
order did no materialise was because of the lack of ground
clearance.
A Twin Engine (1100cc) Moke
sent to America for evaluation by the US Army
_____________________
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
Early version
with both Manual Gearboxes
Rear Engine
Manual Gearbox
Australia
Build
Moke production started in
Australia in 1966 using CKD panels from the UK. Unlike the UK it
used the 998cc engine and 10" wheels. In 1968 production was
totally sourced locally, and in April that year the 13" wheels were
introduced. This increased ground clearance making them more
practical for gentle off-road or beach use. Between 1969 and 1980
the Australian Military placed an order for more than 250
Mokes.
An additional version called the Californian, using a 1275cc engine
were built between 1971-1973, with around 1000 been produced. This
body was noticeable different to the standard model with rear fuel
tank and side lights for export to the US Virgin Islands.
In 1977 the Californian name was reintroduced along with improved
seats, trim and wheels available. A pick-up version was announced
in 1975 as a drop side type with a cloth top over the cab area.
This was soon followed in 1978 with the 1275cc engine and disc
brakes available on some Californian models.
1978 saw a 4x4 prototype being built using a second pinion driven
off the rear of the crown wheel, unlike the UK prototypes, this had
only one engine.
To improve the durability of the body it was now galvanised along
with a side fill fuel tank taking up the whole of the side-box to
meet certain Australian Design Rules in 1980.
June 1982 saw production ending in Australia.
Australia total production was 34,704
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
Taking delivery Devon County Fire Brigade
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, this was
then loaned to the Kaingaroa Logging Company which was located at
Rotorua, North Island. This evaluation appears to have shown that
there was a weakness with the transmission.
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