The family and I were invited to try out the Moke, the newest way of getting around Naples!
But what exactly is a Moke?
The Moke began as a military invention for the British army in the late 1950s. It was created by the British Motor Company and Alec Issigonis, the father of the original Austin Mini, and it was designed to be combat ready, a car that could be parachuted from the skies.
While its life as a military vehicle didn’t last too long, the open-air car became beloved by stars, surfers and Caribbean travelers. Moke became synonymous with easy breezy island chic.
Fast forward to today and the Moke was completely re engineered to be sturdier, taller and fully electric!
Available in multiple colors that scream “beach life” this vehicle goes as fast as 35 MPH and a fully charged battery can last 8 hours or about 40 miles.
We picked it up ours up on Sunday morning and after signing some paperwork and receiving instructions on how to operate (pretty easy as they are automatic) we started to explore Naples in our Moke.
Before we even headed out of the parking lot, we connected my phone via Bluetooth to the Moke’s radio so that we could listen to Kenny Chesney and Bob Marley tunes as we cruised around town. Just before heading out, I put the Moke on reverse, just to see how the back up camera worked. Yes, it has a back up camera!
Off we went, driving around the streets of Naples and getting looks from all places. The fact that the Moke is electric, it is very quiet, so what attracts people, it is not its loud noises but it’s stylish looks!
We started by driving down to Port Royal, until we came across an empty lot with an ocean view. I drove right in the lot and we were able to make our first stop as close to the beach as possible! We got out, the kids collected some shells, we walked on the beach a little and back we went in our Moke for some more fun!
We drove next to the Venetian Bay area, and once again, everything we got into an area with people going or coming out of the beach, we got the looks, the smiles and the thumbs up! I may have beeped a few times as well 🙂
It was around noon time and we were getting hungry, so we made our way back to 3rd Avenue South and went to Ridgeway Bar & Grill for some lunch! I was able to park right across the street from the restaurant, and in front of it, there was another Moke! It was awesome to see our orange Moke across the street from a light blue one.
It was also interesting to see all the looks of those walking by and looking at the Moke. Some would walk right up to it to see inside, some actually touched the body to see what it felt like and many would just point to it and smile at it! We observed all of this from a far in the restaurant.
Once we were finished with lunch, we headed to 5th Avenue, were it was where we turned the most heads! We parked right in front of Gelato and Co. and enjoyed some dessert, while we watched everybody in awe with the Moke.
We rode around a little more and finally it was mid-afternoon and time to return our fun vehicle. The kids did not want to return it, and my daughter asked me to buy one so that we can go in it everyday!
With a local dealer right here in Naples, you are able to purchase one if you would like, and just as we did, you can rent one for a day or period of time.
This was a super fun experience and we would love to do it again! We found that it was quite not the same experience as driving on our convertible, it’s a bit more open and fun, but it’s not like a golf cart either, it is a unique experience.
If you are buying one, Mokes are fully customizable and there are different editions out there!
Be sure to try one out to ride in town in style, or perhaps for that special date night you may have!
Join in the fun and cruise the streets of Naples as if you were in one of the islands in the Caribbean.
Felipe Approved ?? (and the whole Pereira family approves it as well!)
Check out below pictures of our fun day in the Moke!
