New Zealand Classic Car – September 2019

88 New Zealand Classic Car | themotorhood.com

EVERY KIWI DESERVES A RELIABLE GARAGE DOOR.

BEHIND THE GARAGE DOOR

We take a peek at a handful of your ongoing classic car restoration projects

A

t the front of The Pointon Collection

building is a workshop. This where

Francis Pointon, owner of the

collection, works on a range of classic and

vintage cars for various people around the

Wairarapa region. There, we discovered, in

front of an Austin Seven Mini, not one but

two MGs.

The two cars show the radical change in

styling that MG made when replacing one

with the other. The 1956 MG TF looks like

a car of the 1930s, while the 1957 MGA is a

classic example of the definitive style of the

’60s, having an almost timeless elegance that

works as well today as it did then.

While the TF was lower and wider than

its predecessors, it came from a long line

of upright cars with separate guards and

wooden-framed body. The all-steel MGA was

bang up to date — almost.

Although the body, engine, and brakes of

the two cars are completely different, they

have the same suspension and steering. The

TF used the last of the XPAG engines, and

the MGA had the first of the new BMC

corporate B-Series engines, which allowed a

longer and lower bonnet line.

When we visited, both cars were having

a few final repairs carried out after a full

restoration and, amazingly, were the same

red body colour with a beige soft-top. The

cars have been restored to original, although

the MGA was converted to right-hand drive

sometime after it was imported from the US.

CHANGE IN STYLE CREATES CLASSIC

ALMOST A PIGEON PAIR, THIS BRACE OF MGs IMPRESSED US