1 of 200? 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge Ram Air III

By 1969, sales of the Pontiac GTO were shrinking due to saturation of the mid-size, muscle car market. So, they kicked up performance a bit and unveiled the Judge edition. The machine got its name from the famous Sammy Davis Jr. bit on TV’s Laugh-In. The car was in production for three years, with output never exceeding about 10% of total GTO builds. This ’70 Judge is a three-owner car wearing an older restoration and a relatively rare color, Palladium Silver. It’s available in Castle Rock, Colorado, and here on eBay, where the seller’s reserve is unmet at $48,101. Kudos to “Curvette” for the cool tip!

GTO sales continued to decline after the launch of the Judge, but that doesn’t mean the edition wasn’t a success. Demand for muscle cars in general was falling due to rising insurance premiums, and emissions-driven detuning of engines led to a further decline in interest as the 1970s wore on. That led to the car’s eventual retirement in 1974, a decade after it came to be. About six percent of all of the GTOs assembled in 1970 came finished in Palladium Silver paint. So, if you apply that math against the 3,629 Judge hardtops produced in 1970, this Judge might be 1 of 200+ made.

This Pontiac was restored around 2005, and the paint has been redone twice. Since it’s not wearing the more common Carousel Red paint, the car’s blue interior looks right at home. Power is supplied by the car’s original 400 cubic inch V8 with Ram Air III induction and a 4-speed manual transmission. The former has about 8,000 on it since it was rebuilt (as part of the 2005 restoration?). The Poncho was first sold in Wyoming and has only lived there and in Colorado.

We find that this Pontiac comes with PHS documentation, and build sheet and window sticker reproductions. The sheet metal is the same that came with the car when new, and it’s been in no major mishaps. Because of age, the paint is rated at 7.5 out of 10, and the interior is slightly better, so this is not a true show car, but a great weekend cruiser. Everything important is said to work as it should. The seller is thinning the herd in advance of a growing family, so could this Judge soon be sitting in your driveway?