How to identify a Prisoner Moke?

[Forest Minis]

Hi, does anybody have some information on the Prisoner Mokes? I can't find any good information on the net...

I have just bought a GB Moke, and the former owner told me that this used to be " one of the camera cars" for the shoots of the Prisoner. How can I confirm this, are there lists with registrationnumbers, chassisnumbers etc?

Hope that somebody can help me with this.

Best regards, Oliver

[Steve]

Man to contact would be Mark Peacock, he is the English Moke registrar ...[E-mail address removed to stop SPAM], please Use the contact form on the website.

[Schizoid Moke]

Hi, does anybody have some information on the Prisoner Mokes? I can't find any good information on the net...

I have just bought a GB Moke, and the former owner told me that this used to be " one of the camera cars" for the shoots of the Prisoner. How can I confirm this, are there lists with registrationnumbers, chassisnumbers etc?

Hope that somebody can help me with this.

Best regards, Oliver

Hi Oliver

Your post inspired me to register with the forum, as I might be able to help with some information about the Mokes used in The Prisoner. If it turns out you've found one of the original vehicles from the series, that would be great !

Basically, there were at least four 'Prisoner' Mokes, converted by Wood and Pickett in the summer of 1966 and transported to North Wales in September to be used on location in Portmeirion. Each was subtly different, and parts and fittings were swapped round during the course of filming. Some, if not all of the Mokes later returned to London, for use in studio filming. The registrations for two vehicles are believed to be CFC 916C and HLT 709C (this registration was seen briefly on screen). CFC 916C did survive, and was on display at Portmeirion for some years before being restored and then sold to an American buyer. HLT 709C was featured in publicity material produced by Barton Motors, leading to some confusion that they were responsible for carrying out the original conversions. Each Moke had 'spats' added over the rear wheel arches, and the windscreens repostioned to be upright rather than slanted back. New hoods plus seat and spare wheel covers were also produced in a candy striped fabric. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any surviving studio documentation regarding registration numbers etc.

Hope this helps !

[Tim]

Interesting stuff. How did you work out that there were four of them? Was it from watching the show or from some other information? I made a very cursory study of them from the DVD, and decided that there must have been three, but I didn't go to to much trouble.

I was very disappointed with the recent remake, not a single Moke in it. I thought that they might have included some for old times sake.

Oliver did you mean that your Moke might have been used to film from (i.e. behind the camera)? I don't know if they had other Mokes to film from in The Prisoner, but you can see that some of the scenes were filmed from one of the Mokes (the somewhat unconvincing chase on the beach comes to mind). Mokes have been used as camera cars for other movies and television though. The picture below shoes the lengths that people had to go to to film womens bottoms in the '60s.



A Moke was said to have been used in the filming of The Italian Job and more recently British Telecom had one for filming golf tournaments - they could drive it around on the course to get cameras and equipment into place quickly.

Tim

[Schizoid Moke]

Interesting stuff. How did you work out that there were four of them? Was it from watching the show or from some other information? I made a very cursory study of them from the DVD, and decided that there must have been three, but I didn't go to to much trouble.

I was very disappointed with the recent remake, not a single Moke in it. I thought that they might have included some for old times sake.

There's one episode - Dance of the Dead - where four Mokes are seen in the same shot, but I think that's the only time.

Haven't seen the recent remake yet - but from some clips I've seen, the lack of Mokes was slightly compensated for by the use of other classics. One of the main problems seemed to be that the lead actor lacked the presence of Patrick McGoohan.

[Dean]

There are actually Mokes in The Italian Job, you have to use your freeze frame button to find them, but they are definitely in it (in at least three different scenes, could be the same car even....cue Ken Butterfield!).

The British Telecom Moke is a well known car, it featured in a Mini World article (and here it is) and has been owned by two different club members (I've got a photo somewhere).

It's interesting you used that photo. Some time ago it was pointed out that as well as lookalikes of Peter Sellers and The Queen, at least six of the people in the photo had more than a passing resemblance to certain past and present Club committee members.
Dean

[Tim]

...It's interesting you used that photo. Some time ago it was pointed out that as well as lookalikes of Peter Sellers and The Queen, at least six of the people in the photo had more than a passing resemblance to certain past and present Club committee members.
Dean

Interesting, just out of curiosity do any of the comittee members resemble the young woman?

Tim

[ade]

There a recent photo of HLT709C on flickr under mini moke photos looks likes it needs work but very original. It looks like it is in a show room.

[Forest Minis]

that is great news!

There a recent photo of HLT709C on flickr under mini moke photos looks likes it needs work but very original. It looks like it is in a show room.

Yes, this is THE one I am talking about, it is sitting in my outside glass showroom as a barnfind waiting for restauration!

Basically, there were at least four 'Prisoner' Mokes, converted by Wood and Pickett in the summer of 1966 and transported to North Wales in September to be used on location in Portmeirion. Each was subtly different, and parts and fittings were swapped round during the course of filming. Some, if not all of the Mokes later returned to London, for use in studio filming. The registrations for two vehicles are believed to be CFC 916C and HLT 709C (this registration was seen briefly on screen). CFC 916C did survive, and was on display at Portmeirion for some years before being restored and then sold to an American buyer. HLT
709C was featured in publicity material produced by Barton Motors, leading to some confusion that they were responsible for carrying out the original conversions. Each Moke had 'spats' added over the rear wheel arches, and the windscreens repostioned to be upright rather than slanted back. New hoods plus seat and spare wheel covers were also produced in a candy striped fabric. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any surviving studio documentation regarding registration numbers etc.

How did you know this? As you can see HLT709C has been found and belongs to me. I Will restore her to original spec. This is why I wanted to be sure this is one of THE Prisoner mokes.

Ps; Sam, would it be possible you screenprint the scene with the reg number?

[Schizoid Moke]

Basically, there were at least four 'Prisoner' Mokes, converted by Wood and Pickett in the summer of 1966 and transported to North Wales in September to be used on location in Portmeirion. Each was subtly different, and parts and fittings were swapped round during the course of filming. Some, if not all of the Mokes later returned to London, for use in studio filming. The registrations for two vehicles are believed to be CFC 916C and HLT 709C (this registration was seen briefly on screen). CFC 916C did survive, and was on display at Portmeirion for some years before being restored and then sold to an American buyer. HLT 709C was featured in publicity material produced by Barton Motors, leading to some confusion that they were responsible for carrying out the original conversions. Each Moke had 'spats' added over the rear wheel arches, and the windscreens repostioned to be upright rather than slanted back. New hoods plus seat and spare wheel covers were also produced in a candy striped fabric. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any surviving studio documentation regarding registration numbers etc.

How did you know this? As you can see HLT709C has been found and belongs to me. I Will restore her to original spec. This is why I wanted to be sure this is one of THE Prisoner mokes.

Ps; Sam, would it be possible you screenprint the scene with the reg number?

That's an amazing find ! Just checked out the Flickr shot, and it looks completely genuine. Can you tell us anything about the vehicle's history ?

You asked how I knew the information in my last post - what particularly did you want to know about ?

Will see if I can post a screengrab. Hopefully the new remastered DVD set should provide a clear image. In case I can't, the scene in which the registration appears is right at the end of the episode 'Living in Harmony'. Somebody must have forgotten to put the 'Taxi' plates on before filming.

[Tim]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45085600@N06/5800970604

That would make a nice project. I could see me cruising about in that. And black jackets with white edging are back in fashion!

Tim

[Forest Minis]

That's an amazing find ! Just checked out the Flickr shot, and it looks completely genuine. Can you tell us anything about the vehicle's history ?

Unfortunately I do not know the history. I bought it from a dutch guy, who had it stored in his barn for some 5 years, and the UK owner had owned it for about 20 years. he lived in the Netherlands allready for a few years, and had taken the Moke with him. story goes he had something to do with the Prisoner series, or the build of the Prisoner Mokes. unfortunately they would not want to tell me his name.

You asked how I knew the information in my last post - what particularly did you want to know about ?

I am allways curious about how somebody knows information on my cars, and maybe they can help me in the future on other information.

Will see if I can post a screengrab. Hopefully the new remastered DVD set should provide a clear image. In case I can't, the scene in which the registration appears is right at the end of the episode 'Living in Harmony'. Somebody must have forgotten to put the 'Taxi' plates on before filming.

Found it, but can't really read the reg number. might be my screen, or is it so hard to see?

Does anybody know if dthere were made any changes to engines? HLT has a early Cooper 998 engine on the original Moke gearbox

[Forest Minis]

Here are the pictures taken when collecting, and how HLT is sitting now. As you can see the holes are there from when the window was sitting more standing up. Also, the front window frame has been welded up so it looks, at the bottom side. was this cut away to let the window stand up more?

Strange thing is that I miss 2 of the 3 boxy profiles on the LH side, is this normal?

Prisoner Moke pics here

[Schizoid Moke]

Hi Oliver

Haven't managed to try a screengrab yet, but I did find this picture of the actress Hayley Mills in HLT from the Stage and Cinema magazine, January 1967, which would have been published as production was underway on the series.

]

I've also been in touch with a friend of mine who runs a Prisoner website called 'The Unmutual', who would be very keen to feature a story about your discovery plus pictures, if that would be possible.

[Ezeltje]

Nice find Oliver,

This pic shows the same mudflaps.

Try to find some more.

BTW did not Crayford made the conversions?



André