The last time a ’69 GTO The Judge appeared on this pages was in 2013, after Jim Cavanaugh almost passed up shooting it since he assumed it was more than likely a clone. It turned out to be not only the real thing, but very original and quite a story as to its history, having met its owner. This time we have these shots of a pristine one, posted by nifticus.
The question of course is: Is it genuine or is it a fake? You be the Judge.
I suppose it should actually be Pigmeat Markham, whose “Here Comes The Judge” had been part of his routine for years before it was recorded in 1968 and performed by Sammy Davis Jr. on Laugh In. In the second season, Markham joined the show himself. This song is often credited as being the first rap song.
The Judge was a $332 special option package available on the GTO starting in 1969. The original intent was to create a Road Runner competitor, meaning a stripped-down, low bucks GTO. But apparently that just wasn’t quite going to fly with John DeLorean. It generated a lot of hype, but only 6,833 were sold, less than 10% of total GTO production that year.
I was 16 at the time, and as much as I loved the ’68 GTO’s new body, I thought The Judge was a bit too blatantly copying the Road Runner’s image and style without being the real thing. But I can see the point, inasmuch as gobs of GTOs were being sold to all kinds of buyers that were not the typical muscle car crowd. With a vinyl top and an automatic, it was losing its edge, and The Judge’s job was to get that back. Whether it did that is…for you to decide.
The Jusge package included the spoiler, the Ram Air 400 engine, Rally II wheels without trim rings, Hurst shifter (with a unique T-shaped handle), wider tires, and of course the graphics.
That was perhaps the most important part of all.
As to whether this one is authentic or fake, does it really make any difference?
Makes no difference to me, and I suspect as the boomers get older it’ll matter less and less.
Still, very cool car and nice to see it outdoors!
The Judge sold fine for what it was. It was a spring trim package, in just one color. It wasn’t a cheap option, and GTOs weren’t a cheap car to start. It sold an average of about two per Pontiac dealer; why would a typical Pontiac dealer order more than two Carousel Red GTOs for inventory?
https://nihilistnotes.blogspot.com/search?q=Fake+%26+Faux
It can make quite a difference to the price realized. Tempero’s Ferrari 250 GTO replica is said to have been built to a higher standard than any of the originals yet was advertised at US$1.3m against the US$50-70 the real ones command. Fifty-odd years on, it’s possible to create something which looks like one of the cars from the muscle car era yet is dynamically superior is so many ways but collectors and traders will pay a premium for an unmolested (or restored) original.
Quite the “looker”.
Why don’t we ask PHS?
How many look-at-me-fuzz orange cars were sold in the US this year? Or in the last 30 combined? When did you last hear “fuzz” refer to the police?
I don’t remember that big a gap behind the front bumper on my friend’s GTO convertible in the 80s, but then, it was black.
Not counting state highway department vehicles, probably 80% of the orange cars I’ve seen in the wild in recent years are Subaru Crosstreks. Most of the rest are Mustang/Camaro/Challenger.
As 60’s cars age, some younger car fans assume all 2 door, RWD, v8 cars before 1980 are/were “muscle cars”. Also, some think all Pontiac sold back then were GTO’s and Firebirds. “a full line of performance cars!”
Someone [maybe here at CC?] posted a pic of a ’69 LeMans Custom S, with caption “this is some kind of weird GTO”. 😉
Remember the “Custom S” well!
Having been reared with Pontiacs in the parent’s garage, I was at age 15 to 16 in 1967, very aware of GTOs. I long ago heard of “The Judge” originally being a more low key “Goat” It was to be a direct response to the Road Runner of 68. Even down to Lemans grade bench seat interior and Chrome loop bumper with expose headlights. Yes, More geegaws were added Resulting in a full boat GTO at the top of the line instead of entry level. Only thing remaining form original idea were the trim wing delete wheels. Did I want one when introduced. I was aged 17. And truthfully, No. A freind did have a 69 Convertible, in a metallic sage green with a tan interior. That was the one we got up to 128 MPH on a stretch of Hwy 40 in the suburbs of St. Louis. (Kids being stupid) aside form my Bro in laws. 66 GTO, That was the extent of personal experience with GTOs. Loved them. have never owned one. More’s the pity. I was happy enough with my 64 Cutlass, anyway.
For me it doesn’t matter if it’s a The Judge or just a regular GTO with the same equipment. The Roadrunner had a really subtle level of dress up for 68 and 69 (a couple deletable hood stripes and a 3” bird decal on the door), but it was a truly unique package with its special version of the 383 and low spec standard equipment, The Judge was just a 400/4-speed GTO, with stripes and a wing and less available colors.
I think the way this package turned out was a misstep in Delorean’s career, the original concept had legs and could have broadened the GTOs market, instead they created a package that cost more than a regular GTO so the aging buyers could look like one of the hip kids. Warren Oates in Two Lane Blacktop in other words.
Warren Oates portrayal of “GTO” (yeah, that’s the movie credit) in Two-Lane Blacktop seems almost like an inside joke.
And it fits, particularly regarding The Judge package. $332 wasn’t exactly chump-change in 1969. For not much more over the price of an el cheapo Road Runner coupe ($463, to be exact), one could get the A12 440-6v package which ‘really’ meant business with its lift-off fiberglass hood and black steel wheels and chrome lugnuts. Many consider it the most pure street machine to ever come out of Detroit. Subtle, it wasn’t.
In fact, The Judge package could be seen as the beginning of the end for the GTO (and musclecars, in general). The GTO had always been about image and marketing (because that’s what sells best), and less about true performance. Once the competition started coming out with faster cars, suddenly, the GTO was no longer the #1 musclecar. It’s worth noting that, for 1969, the GTO dropped all the way down to #3, behind the Road Runner and Chevelle SS396, and for good reason: the street crowd was (finally) figuring out there were cheaper and faster musclecars than the GTO.
In 1970 the GT-37 Tempest fulfilled the original concept and it went nowhere. GTO’s had by then a reputation of being a more refined musclecar and people just naturally looked elsewhere for the bargain musclecar, be it Plymouth or maybe AMC. But quickly the insurance man put a turd in the punchbowl and the whole genre disappeared for awhile.
“…but it was a truly unique package with its special version of the 383 and low spec standard equipment, The Judge was just a 400/4-speed GTO, with stripes and a wing and less available colors”
Huh?? I mean really. Methinks you’re applying some asymmetric insight here, of the “My diamond is truly unique, but your diamond is just a rock” sort. And just how is a plain Satellite with a 383 ( with 440 heads and camshaft ) 4-speed and low-spec standard equipment any more truly unique than a GTO with a 400 Ram Air 3 ( with the 068 cam and free flowing cast iron “headers” and 31 more HP than the RR’s 383 )?
I don’t own a Roadrunner, never have owned a Roadrunner, never owned a Chrysler product either for that matter, so me thinks I’m not the one who needs to check my biases.
Could you get a regular GTO with a 400 Ram Air III?
Yes.
Was the Judge more or less expensive than a regular GTO with the same equipment?
More.
That’s the difference. People were indeed able to option low spec cars with performance engines if you were a savvy performance oriented buyer back then, sure, but there was never a muscle car packaged like that as standard until the Roadrunner. GTO et al was high trim, The Judge didn’t skimp on it other than the deletion of trim rings on the rally II wheels, it was a well optioned GTO with stripes and a spoiler in addition, and for a price that reflected it.
I’m not debating which car is cooler, both are. But that had The Judge been what it had originally been conceived to do(compete with the Roadrunner) it may well have brought more sales to the showroom, which for the GTO were in decline.
I think the wheels look better without the trim rings
I feel the exact opposite! 🙂