Moke Is A Great Beach Buggy
A low-speed electric car with high style.If the Moke looks familiar, it has a long history. It was first developed as a variant of the original Austin Mini, rebodied for use by the military (it was designed to be small and light enough to be dropped out of planes). Its sedanlike ground clearance and lack of off-road ability cut short its military career. However, it found a second calling as a sunny-weather runabout for the yachting set, beachgoers, and swells everywhere living la dolce vita. That’s the kind of appeal that endures, and the original Moke’s life span extended from 1964 into the 1990s, with the vehicle being produced in half a dozen different countries.
At least in the United States, the Moke has been reborn as a battery-powered low-speed vehicle (LSV). (Moke America sells it in overseas markets with a 1.0-liter inline-four.) That LSV classification means it’s subject to different rules in different states, but New York