1969 Pontiac GTO "JUDGE"

1969 Pontiac GTO Base Description

This is not a factory Judge. But it is the earliest known Ram Air GTO built for 1969. The Ram Air option on the 400 cid engine was not available at the beginning of the model year.By December they began to trickle out. This car was built 12D, or December 1968. An earlier car has not yet been found, according to the Ram Air GTO & JUDGE Registry. The PHS document for the car reveals it was ordered in code 10 Starlight Black with a black buckets and console interior, 8-track (which has been re-installed), custom deluxe faux wood steering wheel, hood tach, gauge package, rally II wheels, Ram Air 400 and that's about it. No power options - and 4 wheel drum brakes.
This is an extremely dry, solid car which spent most of its life in the southwest USA upon being originally sold at Shaw Pontiac in Athens, Alabama. The unforgiving sun of Alabama and then Nevada destroyed the interior and the paint. The interior I replaced. On the exterior, I wanted to retain the patina, because it needed extremely little metalwork. I then decided I wanted the car to look like a factory '69 Judge that had been pulled from storage since the 70s. I procured a real Judge glovebox door with its original emblem and a real Judge decklid with its 1969 wing attached. I then installed Judge stripes and had them "aged" to match the paint. Next I added vintage original Motor Wheel Spyders in 15 X 8 size wrapped in 70s "pre-metric" B.F. Goodrich Radial T/As on G60 (rear) and F60 (front) sizes. The car also comes with a set of original G70-14 Polyglas GT tires on its original Rally II wheels.
The drivetrain has been refurbished using a SR (Service Replacement) Ram Air III 4-bolt block, vintage 1972 (within GM's warranty period), a very healthy ROLLER valvetrain for ease of maintenance, balanced bottom end with new stock Ram Air internals. A service replacement Ram Air Q-Jet (7029270) was restored and tuned, along with the 1111970 distributor. Ram Air restorations supplied the fresh Ram Air III manifolds which are not near as prone to cracking as the originals. Car is tight, runs like a bear and sounds amazing, as the video attests. The car's original, numbers-matching Muncie M20 was restored and rebuilt with a shifter rebuilt by Pete Serio, the go-to guy for factory restoration of GTO Hurst shifters. It's a beautiful thing. Randy Watson is another GTO craftsman who did the hood tach on this car so it lights up and runs up the rev range as it did in December '68 - actually it's probably better than GM built it.
The brakes are new, front to back. The clutch is new, shocks are new, all Ram Air equipment is in place and operational, wheel bearings are new and serviced. NOS AC Delco suspension bushings are included in boxes, but not installed because it drove tight enough for me.
This is a historic GTO that you can take to shows and it will gather a bigger crowd than any of the trailer queens sitting around it. Because it's very, very cool.
Clear New Hampshire title.