At first I thought this was some kind of Mutt. Upon further research, I discovered these were Austin vehicles modeled after the lightweight Jeep design, but were too low to the ground to be of any use offroad. These might be best thought of as British version of the dune buggy, given all the kit cars based on the Austin design.
Here’s a link to several that are for sale in the US
According to Wikipedia, “The initial design was a prototype for a light military vehicle in the style of the American Jeep, but its small wheels and low ground clearance made it impractical as an off-road vehicle. It was subsequently offered in a civilian version as a low-cost, easily maintained utility vehicle. The Moke finally achieved success as a beach buggy—becoming a popular ‘cult’ vehicle in the Seychelles, Australia, the United States and many tropical resorts in the Caribbean. The original Moke used identical engine, transmission and suspension parts to the basic Mini.”
Below are some examples of the Austin, with the final one being a fire engine.
- View Mini Mokes for sale in the US
- Here’s a great deal of information from Wikipedia
- The Mini Moke Fire Engine
Ugly or cute
Looks like a cross between Jeep, Austin, golf cart and my Wife throw in a Duck. Reminded me of the first time a saw a Jeep Liberty, when it was at the body in white stage in Toledo when I was working to install the alignment equipment. I thought it was a pregnant mail truck. Later that year I turned onto my street and found a group of test engineers standing around a Liberty in a 12 inch ditch that could not have driven itself out. It performed like a mail truck. I wanted to take a picture but it would have cost jobs the vehicle had not been released.