My first tractor mower had a manual choke as does my current one ![]()
Do you hang your handbag on it? ![]()
Seems a tad overpriced to me, even with the Cooper S engine - which as the rivet counters would say makes it not really a genuine moke - but Iām not going there! Last time I looked, which admittedly was 5 years ago, I saw a couple of them in Belgium for around 14k - but I baulked at that price. That said UK ones are getting pretty rare these days - I think there are still quite a few Australian ones in warmer European climes - donāt know anything about the Portuguese ones though.
Yes, the price is a bit fruity, I guess thatās why itās not moving.
Sometimes pricing is mad on these and similar cars. There is a Mini S for sale at £120k currently. 120 on the basis that it once belonged to John Cooper and was the car that Corgi used to make their iconic toy. Jim Clarks Elan was for sale last year at £450k despite the ONLY thing original was the registration at DVLA. But I believe it sold!
This Moke is a one off. Totting up all the work on it, 29k is not a bad price. the weakness of a Moke is the chassis. Without the advantage of a monocoque cage, the structure relied on the box chassis. Metal in the day was not well treated and quickly rusted. This Moke appears to have the main sections replaced. The choice of motor is weird and if as well built as claimed shoves maybe 8k unecessarily onto the price.
Whoever buys it will have to have a friendly insurer. The 970 if well balanced - will rev beyond 8000RPM, so with a conservative differential coupled with the low weight, 120Mph will be a doddleā¦in a Mokeā¦? ![]()
Which isnāt bad for 65hp ![]()
Sadly havenāt got any photos of my own first car, which was a 1971 Renault 12TL bought as an insurance write-off after being squeezed. I worked in a garage at the time which was where it ended up after recovery. Needed a new bumper at each end, some panel bashing to reduce (not remove that would have cost money!) some dents, a new grille and radiator, boot lid and lock, and a police inspection to allow it on the road. When I say ānewā, only the radiator was new, and that only because I couldnāt find any in local scrapyards. We did repaint the bright yellow bootlid to sort of match the grey car. Never did replace the boot lock, a screwdriver through the hole worked fine. Cost Ā£90 to buy from the insurer and about the same to get it on the road.
But it was a great car, and not just to learn to keep it going. Most of my mates had stuff like Escorts, Vivas and Minis at the time, and the R12 was just in a different league for comfort, space and driveability. It had air assisted rear suspension, 2 speed wipers, reversing lights, adjustable headlights and ran on 2 star. Better than anything they had. Went round corners better too on Michelin ZX tyres.
I bought it before Iād passed my test, in fact I used it on the test. But I learned in Dadās (pictured) car, as the L plate testifies. 2.0 engine, no power steering, wasnāt exactly a racing car, but I still felt like the Sweeney driving it!
Donāt blame you either ![]()
I love this story!
What an adventure ![]()
My first 2 cars, both Mk.1 Vanguards, cost me a fiver each. I wonder what their miniatures would fetch now. ![]()
My dad made a lot of money buying and selling old bangers. He would buy them for a fiver, tinker with them till they ran reasonably well and then sold them for a hundred, so when I started there was always one available for me to drive. I canāt remember which was the first, but my brother had a 1936 Morris 8 convertible for a few years, which he looked after like a baby. It got us from London to Weymouth alright, top speed 45 mph. Just saw one in a old film on YouTube.
Probably got them out of the auctions, which is what i did. Got some real bargains too. One that stands out was a WW2 Morris Commercial 4x4 recovery truck, still had the lid in the cab roof for the machine gunner.
Cost me ā¬65. I bought it to save having to have a mate with me because I couldnāt drive 2 cars home from the auctions. Got plenty of service out of it and then sold it on at a modest profit to the son of the Polish bloke who escaped on foot from Siberia after the war who had a garage business and lacked a reccer.
Some at auctions, yes. Others from people part exchanging, some from people needing cash or who couldnāt afford the necessary repairs.
Having mentioned that Morris, the transfer box which allowed it to be 4 wheel drive, did not work and, although no mechanic myself I took it apart, cleaned it, and put it back successfully. The only way I could do this was to buy an ex WD maintenance manual for it from a specialist dealer in London. It cost more than I paid for the reccer and, because it was meant for ignorant squaddies who didnāt know one end of a spanner between them, and I fell into that category, every single action including which way to turn a screw, was listed in it.
The bloke I sold it to was a mechanic and saw no need to buy an item which was so far beneath him and, as a result, I still have it with me to day, some 50 odd years later. ![]()
My first car was a Morris Minor 1000 - grey with pop up indicators. I paid Ā£60 pounds for it in 1965. My late father spray painted it for me and put on flashing indicators. I even remember the number plate - 575 WMM. In fact Iām so sad that I remember the number plates of all the cars Iāve ever owned!
My husbandās first car was a 1948 split screen Riley which he was given as a renovation project. He was an engineer so he knew what he was doing - and he made a wonderful job of the restoration.
I still had my car when we were married in 1970 and remember when we lived in London, during the middle of the night we were woken up by the noise of the car being driven off having been stolen. The gearbox used to make a clunking noise if you used first gear so we never did. The thieves obviously didnāt know this and the noise of it driving away woke us up. We bought a Sunbeam Tiger as a replacement and three weeks later we had a visit from the police to say the stolen car had been recovered in a car park at Hayling Island. We went down to collect it - it had not been trashed - but somehow it was never the same car so we sold it.
Bit of an upgrade performance wise ![]()
My husband who was a member of IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) said I could only drive that car if I took special advanced type driving lessons. I didnāt go that far so we bought a mini just for me to drive whilst he drove the Tiger.
Sunbeam Tiger. One of the more elegant sports cars of the day imo. I always wanted one!
Did you know it was originally meant to have been a colaboration with Ferrari but talks broke down? Then it was rumoured they asked Lotus, but Lotus were afraid the result would compete with the +2 Elan they were about to launch, and in desperation they called in the Americans whose performance know-how was to drop in a muscle V8 ![]()
An Alpine breathed on by Enzo would be something to behold ![]()
