See a Need, Fill a Need: Mini Moke

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As warmer weather draws many of us to the coast, you are more than likely to see a cute little electric vehicle without a top or doors cruising around; that would be the Mini Moke. This symbol of fun in the sun is the perfect means to tootle around the coast with a cruising speed of 25-35 mph. The Mini Moke can be plugged into any 110-outlet and can travel 40 miles on a full charge.

The Mini Moke was first manufactured as a lightweight military vehicle in 1959 by British Motor Corporation and marked under the Austin, Morris, Leyland, and Moke brands. Believe it or not, the original gas run prototypes were shown to the British Army as a parachute-droppable vehicle; however, by not meeting the basic requirements, it was not developed beyond the prototype. In 1963 BMC began marketing the Mini Moke as a civilian vehicle, but it did not gain popularity until marketed as a beach buggy available for rental on tropical islands such as Mauritius and Barbados. In 2017 Moke America brought an updated version of the Mini Moke back into popularity, making it bigger, wider, stronger, and electric.

While we never see a Mini Moke here in our Fort Mill factory, you can bet we all know the patterns for the floor mats. Our original Cocomats look amazing on the floor of these beach cruising cars and offer the perfect material in our tight woven coir to soak up all that sand and still look clean.

At around $42,000, the Mini Moke has come a long way from its original purpose; however, it was just a matter of time before it found its place in society. All it took was someone with “Moke-vision” to make life on holiday a lot more fun. I think of Rodney Copperbottom in the movie Robots, “See a need, fill a need,” and that’s exactly what the Mini Moke does for the beach crowd. It is also what Cocomats does for the Mini Moke.

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