Australia had a love affair with the Mini Moke, making almost 40,000 examples of the tiny recreational vehicle before production petered out in 1982. Now the cult car is back in all-electric form… and without any involvement from Mini.

Moke, a new-ish and unrelated company, has just unveiled the Moke Mk2, its second stab at electrifying the niche legend. It has a 23.5kWh battery that’s good for a claimed 170km of range. It feeds an e-motor making 33kW and 100Nm which, despite the incredibly low weight of the vehicle, results in a top speed of just 80km/h.

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That’s not a bad thing when you consider that the Mk2 offers all the crash protection of the original car: just about none. The looks of the new Moke appear to be an almost exact replication of its predecessor, with no doors, no roof (unless you count the foldable canvas hood) and wheels and tyres that look like they came off an overgrown Matchbox car.

The switch away from internal combustion has left room for a lockable 86-litre storage compartment at the front – or a frunk, as it’s more hilariously known. The cabin is simplicity personified, featuring a large analog speedo, bare-bones control panel with a rotary selector, rudimentary sound system and USB-C ports. Oh, and cup holders in the back.

Available in a colour palette including Laguna Blue (pictured) and Sonoma Red, the Moke Mk2 is the longest of shots to make it onto Aussie roads, as it would require an act of god for it to pass ANCAP safety tests. In Europe, it will reportedly sell for around $60,000.

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Aussies have been able to buy a street-legal electric Moke before, but that was a conversion by Melbourne outfit Jaunt Motors, which could be road-registered as it was engineered to be compliant with Australian Design Rules.

The original Moke – which is British slang for “donkey” – started life as a light off-road personnel carrier in 1959. Designed by Sir Alec Issigonis, the genius behind the Mini, it was launched to the public in 1964, with Aussie assembly starting in 1966.