New Mini Moke
 

All:

The Chinese have started making the Moke again. Sadly it doesn’t appear to be US legal (no surprises, but disappointing).

https://mokeamerica.com

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Was going to get the wife a Mini Cooper S (maybe even a JCW) ragtop for when we retire to the USVI in ~3 years,but I think this would be better. Any ideas on sourcing a gas powered new Moke with an automatic transmission? There’s a dealer in Miami, another in NY. But they only sell the electric one. Several dealers in the Caribbean that carry the gas model, although none in the USVI. Their answer to “Can it be registered in the USVI” is too vague for my taste.

Any ideas? The original Mokes are now either silly money or rotten, and I’m not convinced buying an electric one & dropping in a gas engine & transmission would be ‘legal’ enough.

Cheers,

Paul.

Used to rent Mokes when visiting St. Barth's. Loads of fun to park under the runway approach at Baie St. Jean. So much fun. Look for a dealer there. St. Barth's is just a boat ride from USVI. They might deliver there.
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When was that? New Moke or the old ones? Automatic or maual? LHD or RHD? How were they on the steep hills? STT has some really steep stuff, which is my main concern. I like the ‘hose it off’ interior. Believe it or not, the early Range Rovers had that!

Rented one in Barbados many years ago.

The web page says gas ones are $24K

Paul, Been a few years since we rented old style manual transmission Mokes at St. Barths. They were fine on the hills around Gustavia and Governeur's Beach. Never had any issue on St. Barth's hills. Work and travels carried me all over the small islands of the eastern Caribbean. Rented Mokes and Suzuki Samurai and had a ball driving both. Lots of interesting adventures playing hit-and-run with cocaine cowboys on The Mahogany Road on St. Croix. Russian Ladas on Grenada not so much fun. Terrain on St. Thomas is very similar to St. Barths.

Most fun driving in the Carib is the 9 miles of road on the tiny island of Saba. Very steep with lots of switchbacks on the climbing roads. They actually have an annual driving competition on Saba. Course is from postage-stamp size "Juancho Yrasquin International Airport" up the hill to Hell's Gate. Mulholland Drive folks would turn green with envy. Wanted to build a Twin-Engine Mini or Twin-Engine VW Rabbit just for the event. Sigh...

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Correct, but both dealers say electric only. Bah!

Must be a emissions thing for new vehicle imports?

The owner of the web site should be able to explain it.

They tried to import gasoline powered Mokes but apparently the regulations have changed regarding kit cars. I emailed the CEO so hopefully I’ll get more information soon.

Reminds me of the scenes in Rain Man with the Lamborghinis.

Business opportunity for some enterprising soul.

Yeah, I wouldn't ride in one of those things.

Update: Moke America is on the verge of bankruptcy, no petrol Mokes have been allowed in, although some have shown up registered as golf carts. Guy in the Caribbean (not the USVI) trying to sell me one but became evasive when I asked about a title. Original Mokes are silly money ($35k) and fitting a newer engine/transmission would add to that. Wife wants a JCW MCS convertible. Oh well, it seemed like a good idea.

I recall vw powered vehicles much like these that were used as taxis in mazatlan when I visited some years ago.


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So we test drove one...
 

Test drove one in La Jolla, CA on Monday. Very cool little rig. Surprisingly well built, handled WAY better than I expected (corners & bumpy roads). BUT. Not nearly enough power for the VI. We went up a couple of hills, and it really slowed down. They will sell me a gas powered one, but not in the USA (I need to figure out if I can register a gas one in the VI).

Basically 2 options- buy an electric one for ~$17k & send it to EV West for a significant upgrade ($12k in labor & $13k in parts). Or buy an electric one & (if Oregon allows a power type swap) put either a Mini Cooper S engine & transmission in, or more likely a Hinda VTEC engine & transmission.

Old ones are rubbish & restored ones are silly money.

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Thoughts?

Cheers,

Paul.

maybe these guys can help???

https://www.miniguy.com/vehicles/category/consign-1/

Way cool pictures. My father was born in Saba. It’s on my bucket list!

I'm wondering if the range of the electric model might work out well on a small island.
You could cover your house with solar panels and never have to worry about charging from the grid. Also be well set for power outages too.

I've been using an electric cart at the park where I was volunteering lately.
Fun driving with instant torque.

Cheers Richard

Well, there's a '59 Normal 356 engine for sale over on rennlist :D

No room for an engine in the back, but thanks!SmileWavy

I wonder what engines will fit in the new bay?

In the UK it used to be quite popular to fit bike engines to old Minis .There was a firm in Scarborough called Allansons I think.

Bike engines have been used in Minis for years.There was a firm in Scarborough UK that did the swaps.Think Allansons was the name.

Hiked to the top of that hill many times. Cool place.
Great trail around the west side through the rain forest, not sure what the last hurricane did to the island.

Maybe I am getting old. Buddy has one of the original Mokes that I have ridden in. It's "go-carty" for sure, but all I could think about was some distratcted SUV driver decapitating me when they blew through a stoplight.

The maximum speed on STT is 35mph, which helps. The new Moke is a lot sturdier than the original, and the roll cage is pretty stout. Plus it’s nimble enough to get out of the way. No airbags but I’m okay with that.

I mentioned this earlier, but with a
35 mph speed limit, wow! How many miles of road are there on the island?

This could be a perfect setup for an electric vehicle.

Put the $s you were thinking of using for the conversion to petrol power.
Into a solar system and batteries in your home there for when the power is out.

Is there a particular reason you don't want an E V. ? Even if it fits your situation nicely?

A friend on Kauai got himself a Chevy Volt and put in a solar system at home. Almost never uses the gas engine in the car, and saves on his electric bill at home besides charging the car. Kauai is a much larger island with higher speed limits, EV works there.

Cheers Richard

All:

Based on advice above, and the potentially astronomical cost & legal/DMV/insurance technicalities I’ve decided that hot rodding the electronics is the best way forward. I have a feeling that the $25k ‘quote’ from EV West was a bit of a ‘go away’ quote, so based on the video below, I plan to 1) talk to them and 2) see if anyone closer can do thwe work with the same parts. When done, it should go like this one, maybe a tad slower because the new Moke is heavier;

https://youtu.be/j0g3ypjBL9Q

I will keep you updated.

Thanks,

Paul.

Update:

We test drove a ‘Moke’ copy the other day. Wider & longer than the original. Huge fun, but not the ride for us. So I plan to buy an old Moke, possibly with a new shell (~$10k from the UK) and put a fuel injected, turbo-charged 1300 engine in it with an auto trans. Should be able to do that for about $25k, which is the asking on this one...

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We also test drove a Nissan Figaro. LOVED it, but still not the car for us, mainly due to the poor rear seat access & no way to carry paddleboards.

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If you know of an old Moke for sale that’s RHD, please let me know.

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Cheers,

Paul.

All:

I just bought this from Pelican board member beautifulsurf. Let the restoration begin!

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Cheers,

Paul.

Update: Restored it, shipped it to St. Thomas, had an absolute blast driving it, transmission exploded. She’s heading to AZ for repairs & will then be sold. My Defender is done & I’d rather have a boat than a Moke.

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Not surprised. Those seats look hideously uncomfortable.

Call it the Mini Woke and it will sell like hotcakes with the Genz