In the same vein. joy and myself were so happy to meet up with Jan and Matt at MM East 17 and spend some quality time with them- And yes all the "Robin " stories were rehashed & some colour added where necessary- The question that l always asked Robin in the early days after l first met him and when he drove "Murph" the early 1959 mini with a 1380 cc engine was"why do you not have any floor carpet or at least mats"? I never got an answer, maybe he just liked the looks of the bright red floors-

Ned Flanders, where are you ????

Big AL

+1 to what Ron wrote. Robin was one of those people you HAVE to meet one day. I never got the chance, except here.

Speaking of great storytellers, long ago here there was a member I believe went by the handle of "MiniBill" or something similar. I believe he was a journalist. I think his signature line was "MiniBill abides". His stories were 'meaty', well written an entertaining.

jim ohio..  stella post. thanks for sharing.. bc

Great story Jim! Talk about unique and engaging content... One of the things so rare about this forum is that there are people willing to write a story like that, and people willing to read it too.  It's funny, before you revealed the Moke guy, I thought 'that sounds like our old friend Zippy'!

Nice story, Jim, Thanks for posting.

This is one of those posts that keep me coming back! Thank you for taking the time to write this. I'm in the process of restoring a '67 Moke but alas I just received my parts from across the pond otherwise I may have been tempted with your Hood & Seats. I'll pass this information on to another fellow Moke restorer who is not going the stock route.

Take care,
Ron

I enjoy this board and thank you for allowing me to post.. I hope I do not post too much.. I wanted to share a brief history of my experience with Minis and Mokes.. certainly it is much more limited than others here with a longer background and technical experience. 

I never had a classic car until later in life.. I had some oddball cars over the years, Mercury Bobcat, Land Rover Discovery, Geo Metro Convertible, Nissan Pulsar NX, Nissan cube.. When the modern Mini came out in 2002 I had my eye on that.. ended  up getting a Chili Red 2003 Mini Cooper.... joined Mini Owners Group of NE Ohio.. (now gone, morphed into Burning River Mini eventually).. I would go on some runs and take the Mini to car shows.. in 2002 and 2003 the modern Mini (I will not spell it in all capital letters).. but the modern Mini in 2003 to maybe 2004 or 2005 was still pretty unique, a sight to see, had a big interest in car shows.. The modern Mini now blends in as there are so many and the allure has worn out at least about 10 years ago..

Well anyway.. at a NEO hangout.. someone drove in with a classic Mini.. I had never heard or seen of a classic Mini.. but I knew that I would like to own one of those one day.. I did some reading and some looking around.. found out that there are Minis out there and a lot are not in good shape.. continued my look.. ran across a little toy model of a Mini with the Union Jack.. not just on the top but on the entire car. I thought that was so cool looking.. ended up getting a classic Mini and had it done up that way.. It was really sweet looking.. had some mechanical/engine problems over the years but I enjoyed the car very much.

Continued to read about Minis.. classic ones.. ended up trading in the modern Mini for a Nissan cube.. in its own right very cool vehicle..

Client of mine was going to bring in a couple of classics from England. went along with him.. he dropped out of the deal but I brought in another Mini.. had an idea for that one.. to make it look like the 1967 Monte Carlo Rallye Winner, the tomato red 177 car.  Much more reliable than the "flag" Mini in all regards..

Well one day at a car cruise with one of the Minis.. I saw something catch my eye.. looked like a guy was riding in on a
chassis of  some sort.. I knew it had to be more than a chassis.. was it some sort of buggy, what was it.... This fellow drove in.. had a big smile on his face.. looped the car show and drove out I believe..  I had no idea what that was..

I saw this same driver one or two more times before I was able to talk to him... walked up to him at a cruise.. just started
talking to him and asking him questions.. I did not know what to expect.. some car guys are  not very nice.. But this fellow turned out to be the nicest man.. was very kind.. affable, easy going, gentle.. very patient.. I am sure he had heard what I asked him a million
times but he was answering them like he heard them for the first time.

We moved on but ran across him at other shows.. always walked up to him and admired his vehicle and told him how I would
like to have one one day.. He offered  me suggestions, steered me to some places online., and gave me some tips.. This fellow was Robin Jones, a long time member of this group and other online communities.. He was a wealth of information of not just Mokes, which
I found out what  he was driving but all things Mini also..

I would see and hang out with Robin at other car shows, Shaker Square, Stan Hywet I think and others.. Robin ended up
trouble shooting a problem I was having with the Rallye Mini.. He went into his garage, grabbed some new spark plugs and put
his new plugs in my Mini.. Mini ran great..  That is the kind of guy Robin was.

I started my search for a Moke.. ebay, craigslist, other sites.. like Minis, a lot of Mokes are in poor shape also.. I knew I wanted
an english moke.. almost got one.. showed it to Robin and he pointed out some things he thought were maybe hiding
problems.. did not get that one..   on dailylister,   a site that includes entire country I ran across an english moke.. 1967

I could barely believe how nice it was.. I truly think the Lord led me to this Moke. ended up getting it trucked in from California... Found out this Moke was in one family for 40 years or so, bought new when Mokes were sold here new..

The Moke arrived.. very, very vice.. only two things I did to change it. and these were preference.. I saw James Bond Moke's in Live
and Let Die.. blue and white. with a different back window.. tremendous look I thought.. took the burgandy/dark red top to a furniture guy locally for a pattern, but different rear end treatment..  he made the James Bond top and seats.. came out great..  I also had the steering wheel, etc, to the proper, right hand side.

That brings me to this.. I have that extra top and seats.. all in good shape. attached are some pictures of all the Minis I had, the Moke
how I got it and how the Moke looks now.. I will edit the post once I get the parts for sale for the top and seats in the parts for sale section posted,  if any interest in the dark red top and/or seats let me know.. thank you for site and allowing these message boards,
a place to keep interest in old Minis and Mokes alive

//www.minimania.com/cars4sale/14463/Part__Mini_Austin_Moke_top_and_seats