Mad about Classics
Masterton’s Gaye and Francis Pointon are passionate about cars – classics, vintage and fast.
Their shared interest has led to a collection of around 30 rare and iconic cars that have all been restored by Francis.
They are proudly shown off to the public at their private museum on the outskirts of Masterton. The museum also boasts a wide variety of mechanical memorabilia and period clothing.
Francis has been repairing, rebuilding and tuning cars since the early 1970s, with Gaye alongside him taking a keen interest in progress. Together, in their earlier years they were involved in motorsports before turning their interest to classics, vintage and high performance cars. The pair are keen participants in Wairarapa vintage and classic rallies.
“I started out as an adult apprentice at Fagan’s Ford in Masterton back in 1970 and got into car clubs and then motorsports. So I became known as someone who could do high performance tuning.”
Gaye says, “In 1974 we bought half an acre of land in Te Ore Ore from Francis’s father and built a house and a Skyline garage for him to work out of in his spare time.”
Francis explains, “There was no European agency in town and all the rich farmers, lawyers and accountants started coming to me to do the work on their high performance cars. I think my first client was a friend of my boss at Fagan’s who asked me to do some work on his Lagonda, at weekends.”
THE EARLY DAYS
Francis raced in the hill sprints and other motor sports with his twin cam Escort up until the late '70s when he sold it to buy a Morgan. He also bought a 1935 Vauxhall with the intent of restoring it for sale. “I thought working on it would fill in the gaps between other jobs.” It was the start of a lifelong passion for buying and restoring cars, none of which were ever sold on.
“So now we have the museum.”
Francis’ interest in vintage cars was sparked when he was 17 and working a farm cadet on Waikaraka Station at Riversdale.
“They had a huge workshop, with all the gear driven by a diesel generator and there was a massive collection of broken-down cars in the paddock, probably every car that had ever been used on the station. I remember an Armstrong Sidley and Hudsons, some from the 1920s and even earlier.” He heard years later that a fire had ripped through the area and a vintage car club took away what was salvageable.
THE COLLECTION
Gaye and Francis’s collection is made up almost exclusively of vintage and classic cars that once ran on the roads of Wairarapa.
The most valuable is probably the 1934 V8 Ford coupe, while one of the oldest is a 1914 Willys Overland, which started its life on a farm in Gisborne.
“There’s something about the Willys, it has an aura about it. I bought it from a friend’s estate to keep it in the district,” says Francis.
The cars are housed in a couple of buildings on the Pointon’s property. The main museum is housed in a 3,000-square-foot wooden building that was once a barracks at the Featherson WWI military camp. All the cars are mechanically complete and can be fired up and driven when needed. All are also able to be fully road registered and make regular apperances at local rallies and car displays.
Gaye says the museum visitors’ fees cover the costs of insurance and registrations.
But Francis, now near 70, still works four days a week, servicing local classic and vintage cars and motorbikes. “I’ve always been choosy about what I do. I don’t do tractors and trucks.”
During Radiator’s visit, he was busy working on the brakes of a customer’s Mark II Jaguar, while his current personal project is a 1929 Buick powered Chevrolet Special.