1967 Morris Mini Moke

The Mini Moke was designed by Sir Alec Issigonis at the same time as the Mini saloon and used an identical engine, transmission and suspension parts. Although the pre-production prototype came out in 1959, full-scale production did not start until 1964. It may seem strange to design and build a vehicle with no clear idea what you are going to do with it, but this was BMC in the sixties. It was initially mooted as a parachute-dropped utility vehicle for the British Army, but this notion failed at the first hurdle when they rejected it due to its low ground clearance. It was then decided that it would make an excellent tool for farmers and as a light commercial vehicle. This was partially scuppered yet again when it was rated as a passenger car and therefore subject to Purchase Tax. It did, however, gain a strong following and became a cult classic after featuring in the TV series 'The Prisoner' and found its true role as a fun beach car at which it excelled. As a testament to its fundamental toughness and reliability, in 1977 a 1,275cc Cooper S-engined Moke came 35th in the London to Sydney rally, covering a grueling 18,600 miles in 30 days.

Some 14,500 Mokes were produced at BMC's Longbridge plant between 1964 and 1968 before production moved to Australia where a further 26,000 were made between 1966 and 1981. Another 10,000 were made in Portugal before production finally ceased in 1993.

JOM 129E came off the production line on the 17th of March 1967 and was despatched on the 24th of March 1967 to the official BMC Publicity Department where it was to join a number of others as part of the BMC Parade Team. It was used for the first three years in a variety of promotional events, including the Formula 1 driver's parade at the 1967 British Grand Prix, transporting Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen in the 1967 Lord Mayor's Parade, moving officials and contestants around at a later Miss World competition although pictures of this particular event could not be found.

Later in its life, in the late 1980s, it was used to tow water browsers during the construction of the M42 along with a number of other Mokes, which is fairly appropriate as the name Moke is rural slang for an older Donkey that is past its best. Sadly this particular Moke ended up in a hedge in a garden somewhere in Bromsgrove, and one can only imagine that some of the lads from the motorway site fancied giving themselves a lift home and had a few 'pit-stops' on the way.

However, 'all's well that ends well' and after extracting it from the undergrowth our vendor spent the following two years restoring this charismatic little car and the quality of this restoration has to be seen to be believed.

All the structural panels required were located and were original NOS and not pattern parts. Any components that weren't available did have to be fabricated from scratch but were copied painstakingly from the factory specifications and drawings. Thousands of man hours and, I would guess, a few sleepless nights were part of returning this little Moke back to life. We understand that the quality of finish and detail is undoubtedly superior to the day it left the factory.The finishing touches were the graphics that were added and are a direct copy of the ones applied by the Publicity Department prior to its first outing on Easter weekend in 1967. JOM has attended many shows since its completion and been admired by thousands of people, however, and our vendor has now decided to let a new owner have some fun with this iconic piece of British motoring history.