DINKY 106 THE PRISONER’S MINI MOKE (1967-1970):
The Dinky 106 The Prisoner’s Mini Moke was produced in 1967 and derived from the existing 342 green Mini Moke. After model production ended some of the 106 car bodies were resprayed green to sell as 342 Mokes leaving the tell tale aerial hole remaining.
The car had an opening bonnet, a removable roof and spare wheel cover. There were ‘taxi’ number plates, an aerial and the famous penny farthing logo on the bonnet. It was all a bit flimsy so pristine models with all the attachments unbroken are rare.
TV SERIES:
The Prisoner was a 17-episode British television series first broadcast in the UK from 29 September 1967 to 1 February 1968. Starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan, it combined spy fiction with elements of science fiction, allegory, and psychological drama.
The series followed a British former secret agent who is held prisoner in a mysterious coastal village resort where his captors try to find out why he abruptly resigned from his job.
PROP V ACTUAL:
The model is a pretty accurate rendition of the car but the main difference was the canopy and spare wheel cover which was yellow and white in the TV series and red and white on the model.
The Prisoner Mini Moke was available whilst the TV series aired. It was a slightly strange choice of model as the hero of the piece played by Patrick MacGoohan drove a wonderful Lotus 7 car in the opening sequence and also in 3 episodes. The Mini Mokes in the TV series are used as Taxis to ferry around the ‘prisoners’ in the village where Patrick MacGoohan’s character is incarcerated.
VARIATIONS:
Some cars have brown detailing on the sides which were usually poorly painted on, so the versions without are better lookers.
There were silver or black windscreen versions and the model could come with cast or spun wheels.
BOX:
CATALOGUES:
First appearance of the 106 Moke was in the 1968 catalogue.
Dinky Toys: TV Shows, Space and Specials 
I recently came across a Prisoner Mini Moke that has both ‘taxi’ number plate transfers in upper case letters ie. ‘TAXI’ .
Could this simply be a poor restoration attempt or is there any possibility the factory originally produced a few of these?
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Hi Derek, an interesting question. I’ve not seen a 106 with a capital letter TAXI plate. If you can send me a picture that would be most helpful as I could try to trace the possible origins of the labels. [email: dcmtvspace@virginmedia.com] . The font and style of the plate on the 106 replicated that of the original prop so it was an integral part of the design so I think Dinky would have omitted the number plates rather than changed them. As other TAXI labels are available from spares providers, these were fitted to the 254 taxi (1956-59), its possible that these have been fitted by owners to replace the missing ones on their Mokes. Whilst the 106 Moke was in production Dinky were producing a taxi, No. 282, but the text was red on a white background. Thanks for contributing – it helps deepen our knowledge of this genre! Cheers Kevin
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Thank you for your reply Kevin, I will email a few photos for you to examine. I must say though, having now looked at a few images of the 254 Taxi on the internet, those ‘TAXI’ stickers do appear to be a lot like the ones used on this Moke. Maybe these were the only ones available at the time, as it seems to be very easy to obtain the correct replicas now?
Many thanks again, email follows, all the best Derek
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