Mini Moke

An early British Moke

1965 Austin Mini Moke BMC UK for North American market

When BMC gave up on the idea of selling the Moke to the military, in 1963 they marketed it as a civilian vehicle, targeting farmers and light commercial applications. Several prototypes were built in 1963, one of which is still known to exist in Pinner just outside London, England. The Moke was launched onto the British market in 1964. The British Customs and Excise department decided that the Moke should be classified as a passenger car rather than as a commercial vehicle, which meant that it attracted purchase tax, reducing sales in its intended commercial market.[17]

The Moke attracted attention as a "cult" vehicle as a result of the unprecedented success of the Mini and through media exposure in the popular television series The Prisoner, as well as in the Traffic song "Berkshire Poppies".[18] Despite this, only about a tenth of the 14,500 British produced Mokes were sold in the United Kingdom.[11] Mokes continued to be made in Britain until 1968.

Mini Moke taxi from The Prisoner

1967 Austin Mini Moke

British-made Mokes were fitted with a low-end 848 cc transverse inline-four engine, detuned to use low-octane fuel. They used the same suspension, gearbox and 10 inch wheels as the standard Mini.[19] Originally, passenger seats, grab handles, heater, windscreen washer and a removable canvas top were optional equipment, installed by the owner.[9] The base price was GB£ 405.[20] The "Mk I" Mokes had a single windscreen wiper and a floor-mounted headlight dip switch, and the only colour available was "Spruce Green". In 1967, the "Mk II" Moke added a passenger-side wiper. Horn and headlight controls were moved onto the indicator stalk. These later British Mokes were also available in white.[21]

The John Player & Sons cigarette company ran a team of Mokes in autocross competitions on grass tracks through 1968.[13] These vehicles were equipped with rollover protection and used the Mini Cooper S 1275 cc engine.

Despite the lack of success in selling the Mini Moke to the British Armed Forces, an unknown number (unlikely to have been more than a handful) of examples were apparently used by Land Forces Falkland Islands during the Falklands War and its immediate aftermath; the source of these vehicles is unclear. At least one commandeered civilian Mini Moke was also used by the Argentinian Forces during their occupation of the islands.

Leyland Moke pick-up with after-market wheels

The Moke was built in Australia from 1966 to 1981 where it was originally marketed as the Morris Mini Moke and from 1973 as the Leyland Moke.[22] Initially Australian Mokes had the same 10-inch wheels as British Mokes and Mini saloons but in 1968 these were replaced by 13-inch wheels with longer rear trailing arms, which made them more practical for gentle off-road or beach use than the British version. There was also a widening piece welded to the wheel arches, front and rear to allow for wider tyres and rims. The solid metal seats of the British Mokes were replaced with tubular-framed "deck-chair" seats.[21] This variant started with a 998 cc engine, which was switched mid-production to 1,098 cc. In 1976, with the advent of new anti-pollution requirements (Australian Design Rule 27A), the locally manufactured 1,098 cc motor was replaced by an imported version of the 998 cc motor with an air pump and exhaust gas recirculation, which had been developed to meet UK (US?) anti-pollution requirements.

For a brief period around 1971, Leyland Australia produced a variant referred to in Leyland literature as "Moke, special export", but commonly called a "Californian", which had a 1,275 cc engine and was fitted with side marker lamps and different rear lights to conform to US FMVSS standards. The fuel tank from the Austin Sprite or MG Midget was fitted beneath the rear load area, replacing the standard tank mounted in the left sidebox. The export Californian was readily recognisable by its roof and seats, trimmed in "Op-pop verve" black and white tiger-striped vinyl or "Orange Bali" vinyl, which looked rather like a fruit salad,[23] and was briefly marketed to the "flower power" culture in the United States.

The name "Californian" and the 1275 cc motor were resurrected in 1977 for Australian market Mokes with denim seat covers, more comfortable seats (which concealed the same basic frame within), spoked wheels[10] and complex tubular bumpers (known as "roo bars").[21]

Australian Mokes were exported to many countries, and pioneered large-scale exports of Australian-made vehicles. Leyland Australia made much of these exports in its advertising. The use of Australian-made Mokes by the Israeli Army (complete with a machine-gun tripod mounted in the rear) attracted controversy and media attention.[11][9]

From 1975, a pickup version of the Moke was produced, with a 1.45 x 1.50 metre (55 x 59 in) drop-sided bed which protruded behind the back of the vehicle, and a cloth top over the cab area.[10] At least two four-wheel drive Moke prototypes were manufactured by Leyland Australia in the late 1970s, but unlike the British version, these used just one engine. Leyland were planning to market this version, but Moke production in Australia ended in 1981 and all that remains of the project is one of the prototypes which is now owned by an enthusiast in Western Australia[9][10] and a modified differential crownwheel with gearteeth cut in the side to drive the rear tailshaft, in the personal collection of a Melbourne Mini specialist.

In 1977 a 1275 cc Cooper S-engined Moke (sponsored by Coca-Cola) was entered into the Singapore Airlines London-Sydney Marathon. The car was driven over 30,000 km (19,000 miles) over 30 days and finished in 35th place.[12]

As Australian Moke production wound down, manufacturing was transferred to British Leyland's subsidiary in Portugal, which made 8,500 of the "Californian" Mokes in the Setúbal IMA plant between 1980 and 1984. In 1984 production was transferred to the Vendas Novas plant. Initially these Mokes were identical to late-model Australian Mokes; very soon, however, they were altered to use then-current British production Mini saloon components, including the standard-length Mini rear trailing arms and the 12–in wheels with modern low-profile tyres, which the saloon had acquired during the Moke's absence from Europe.

In 1990, British Leyland (by then called Rover Group) sold the "Moke" name to Cagiva, a motorcycle manufacturer in Bologna, Italy. Production continued in Portugal until 1993, when Cagiva transferred the tooling to their factory in Italy with the intention of restarting production in 1995 — which they never did. The Cagiva-built Moke have a new top with C-shaped openings, as well as plastic curve handles at the rear longitudinal elements of the rollover bar. Since Cagiva did not own the "Mini" name, the 1500 cars they built were sold simply as "Mokes".[11][9] This brought the total production run of Mokes and Moke derivatives to about 50,000.

• 
  1984 British Leyland Moke, still using the Australian design with 13-inch wheels
• 
  1989 Austin Rover Moke 25, a limited edition of 250 cars celebrating the Mini Moke's 25th year anniversary
• 
  1990-1993 Cagiva Moke

In 2012 MOKE International[24] teamed up with designer Michael Young, Chery Automotive, and Sicar Engineering to design a new version of the Moke, styled MOKE, with the intention of releasing the car in Thailand, Australia, the Caribbean, the Seychelles and Mauritius, and Egypt by 2016. In 2018 MOKE International released a continuation model re-engineered by Michael Young,[25] with a classic look that traced it heritage back to the original BMC Buckboard prototype. The 2020 MOKE has a 1083 cc four-cylinder fuel injected petrol engine with either manual or automatic transmission and is made in France.[25] The Moke International car is also used as the basis for the Electric Moke built in the United States by Cruise Car Inc.

The true Mini Moke was never available as a kit car, but because the basic Mini parts are easily available, many companies have made copies of the vehicle: the Andersen Mini-Cub, the Del Tech Nomad, the Gecko, the Hobo, the Hustler, the Jimini, the Mini-Scout, the Mule, the Navajo, the Ranger, the Mini Scamp, the Stimson, the Warrior and the Yak.[21] There were also two more registered as Comet and MPV (a 6 wheeler)