1966 Moke

The Author and His 1966 Moke

Available any colour you liked, provided it was "Empire Green", (with a black vinyl roof)!

It was December 1968, I'd just emigrated to Oz, (yep, a genuine "ten pound pom"). I was checking out the offerings at Brents Sports Car World, with my meagre savings it was a choice between a 1947(?) MG TC or a 1966 Mini Moke.
The MG TC had been "upgraded" with a Torana motor, although I was assured the owner still had the original motor, should I want it...
The Moke had been used by a "Cockie" on a sheep farm, and had some interesting humps in the floor...
(and, of course, my grasp of the Australian langauge didn't stretch to "Cockie" at this point)!
But the Moke had done considerably less mileage than the much loved Mini 850 I'd sold before leaving Englands shores, and it had a bigger motor (998cc)!
...and it was more comfortable buying something with a motor that I already knew a lot about, and that sounded in much better nick than the lumpy Torana motor in the TC. ...but then again I'd never seen an MG TC with original metal panels and chassis back in England where the winter snow salting had quickly destroyed any original parts!

But the Moke won out, both vehicles were $850, which I was to find out later was considerably more than the farmer would have paid for the Moke in 1966!
Luckily it had the optional side screens and nothing was missing apart from the chrome hubcaps! Yep, whether they were standard or it was just the normal thing for the dealers to fit them I don't know, but in 1968 most 10inch wheel mokes had chrome hubcaps!

It wasn't long before an upgrade to a Lukey Big Bore Exhaust was performed. So now I could not only see off those peski new Monaro's at the lights (well up to 35mph anyway), but roar like them too!
If the motor was in tune it helped to pull out the choke halfway to increase the gas flow and volume...
It was most amusing to sit at the lights, a Monaro or hotted up Falcon pull up alongside and expertly rev their engines to produce the perfect roar, only to be upstaged by a 998cc Mini Moke!
Twasn't so good on cool nights if you were even slightly headachey but!

1968 Moomba Procession
Lots of little wheelers being led by a couple of the new big wheelers...