Pookie (vehicle)

The Pookie MRAP vehicle was created to deal with the constant mining of roadways during the Rhodesian Bush War.

The Pookie was a small one-person vehicle named after the bush baby, and fitted with large Formula One tires bought second hand after the South African Grand Prix.

[1] The vehicle was made with readily available parts from the Volkswagen Kombi and resembled a small go-cart with an elevated cab to protect the driver.

According to Trevor Davies Engineering, manufacturer of the Pookie, "...of the 76 vehicles built between 1976 and 1980 none ever detonated a mine, though 12 were lost and two drivers were killed.

In 1999, an unknown number of new Pookies were manufactured by MineTech, a British company specialising in mine countermeasures.