In 1963, Pontiac put a full-size ’muscle’ in an intermediate-size ‘car’ and saw that it was good, so it called it a muscle car and reaped the benefits in the mid-sixties. The GTO became synonymous with a whole new car concept, indelibly associated with performance, tire smoke, and stoplight brawls. As competition grew stronger, the GTO’s presence began to dilute. Hence, the ‘Judge’ appeared in 1969 in an effort to boost sagging sales.
Faced with intense pounding from the likes of the Dodge Charger (the second generation), Plymouth Road Runner, Ford Torino, or Chevrolet Chevelle (to name but some of the well-known rivals), the GTO’s aura was beginning to fade. The introduction of a convertible body style in 1968 instilled a breeze of freshness. Still, it wasn’t enough to satisfy Pontiac’s bean counters.
In 1969, an optional package for the GTO was released, but it wasn’t born under merciful fortunes. Even before hitting the streets, the Judge started on the wrong foot. The Judge was supposed to be a cheaper variant of the main model, but when it arrived in the showrooms, it towered above the base model by $337, more than 10% of the MSRP.
Having missed the mark in the price field, the Judge failed to impress in the horsepower segment, with the same 366-hp, 445-lb-ft (371 PS, 603 Nm) output found in the regular GTO. True, that was the standard V8 and an optional Ram Air IV could be had for an extra cost. The gain was measly, to say the least: just four hp, for a total of 370 horses (375 PS), with an identical torque rating.
The powertrain was carried over into 1971, and it was only in 1971 that the Judge received a hard-hitting gavel, the 455 cubic-inch (7.5-liter) high-output avalanche that missed the party by a mile. Rated at 335 gross hp and 480 lb-ft (340 PS, 651 Nm), the enormous displacement wasn’t impressing anyone anymore, and only a handful of Judges were ordered that year (374, to be exact).
Production numbers weren’t a forte for the Judge from day one, with 6,833 units assembled for the debut year (1969) and 3,959 built in 1970. The GTO was nosediving in sales, and the Judge followed the trend with mathematical fidelity. Still, that was over half a century ago, and the remaining examples demand high premiums today.
If you have $90,000 burning a hole in your wallet, click the Buy It Now button on the eBay ad for the Judge example presented in the questionable-quality photo gallery. Alternatively, if you’re a patient buyer, you can enter the bidding war for the following six days (the current top offer at the time of writing is $55,100).
The car is equipped with a four-speed manual transmission, power steering, power front disc brakes, a limited-slip ‘Safe-T-Track’ differential, a Cordova top (color-keyed to the body), and all-originality claims. That’s the good news – this Judge is allegedly a low-mile (40,121, as indicated by the milometer in the gallery, or 64,569 km) survivor.
The Ram Air decals on the hood indicate the 366-hp variant of the four-barrel engine (colloquially referred to as ‘Ram Air III,’ but Pontiac never referred to it in numerical sequence, instead jumping from Ram Air II to Ram Air IV and skipping the ‘III’ altogether). Unfortunately, the signature hood-mounted tach is missing, but that didn’t stop the current owner (and seller) from pampering this Judge for the past decade (that’s how long he’s had it).