Mini thread

I have had three owned minis in my life, as well as enjoyed some others.

The first was a white sedan, in England in 1974.

The second was a British racing green panel van bought when I started working in Mafeking in 1977.

The third is the moke, which I bought in 1988.

At the time, my office in Gaborone, Botswana was somewhat busy, and I had been thinking of getting a motor bike for our messenger, who was using the urban kombi-taxis to get around. The a firm we knew well had their motor bike messenger killed in an accident. At that time, SA Car magazine carried smalls ads including cars for sale, and I noticed a mini moke on offer.

The sellers were All Power, an electrical hardware firm in Pretoria, and I contacted them and arranged to come in and have a look. It had at earlier stages belonged to the air force. They repainted and got it running, but then decided it might not work for their messenger, hence the sale. I decided to buy (R2800), and they helpfully welded lugs on the front bumper and made a tow bar to allow me to carry it home to Gaborone. It towed perfectly, and I duly registered it. Mr Mabaka, the messenger, is of a slightly nervous disposition, and was proceeding slowly with the driving school. In the end, he failed the test a couple of times, and I eventually decided to keep him on the taxis. So here was an extra vehicle. I had fitted roll bars, a canvas top and seat belts, and had also had the windscreen lifted, as the air force screen had the top bar at exact eye level, which was not good.

In 2016, I spent a day watching while the moke became a prop in a music video. I never saw the finished product, but the moke seemed to enjoy the attention.

I had taken on an architect from Ireland, and thought he would be able to use it as an initial vehicle for town, but the first run from the office didn't quite make it to the end of the road. So the first search for somebody to attend to the moke. At the time, I had a Golf and a Land Rover 110. Eventually, I decided that a niece in Johannesburg might make better use of the moke, so it was towed there, and spent some years with that niece and then her younger sister. Eventually, there were no more nieces, so I brought it back to Gaborone, and since then it has been my extra town runabout. It does the mini cornering (but first check for animals, pedestrians and other vehicles) where one does not have to slow down.

The coldest trip I ever had was in the southern winter one July morning a little after 7am when I set off 30km to assist with conducting exams at the draughting brigade in Ramotswa. Other cold events were offset by warm clothes.

When I looked up on the internet, it appeared the moke was made in 1974, so was 14 years old when bought by me.

Driving around town, I had to train myself not to swear at other drivers, as the moke is a bit public, and to enjoy most of the comments from others, the commonest being 'How much?' and 'I like your car' and 'Two hundred!' (petrol attendants when noting the mini cooper speedometer which was the only one in the shop at Mini Sports in UK on my only shopping visit there). I did get a nice one from a pedestrian in Pretoria the morning after the recent Cars in the Park: 'Madala, dis so mooi, so mooi'.

Dealing with sun and rain: Gaborone has considerable heat from the sun 9 months of the year, and occasional rain, which can be very heavy. I attached a plastic canvas-like roof to deal with the sun and some rain, but the heat led to the rain coming through the roof. So I replaced that with an aluminium roof, which has been good on durability and sun. For rain, I carry my motor bike waterproofs in the boot, but will be doing something in 2019 with hinges and polycarbonate sheet.

In early 2014, I was able to arrange for Wilco panelbeaters to de-rust and respray the moke, just in time as the battery compartment was severely corroded and rusted.

In late 2014, I had the motor redone, hoping that it would perform better and run for another 40 years. It has improved, and further maintenance has it running well as my town car.

On the 1^st of August, late afternoon, I read a newspaper article about the 2019 'Cars in the Park' in Pretoria and thought I would show it for the first time. Duly did this, and amongst other things was asked to do this article.

Mokes at the Mini 60 celebration at Cullinan, South Africa, on 25th August 2019

Home again

David Young

Gaborone,

Started 11^th August 2019; Last edit 9se19

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