Maybe that weird looking GTO & the G8 GXP but they had already shamelessly killed PMD before it was pronounced dead...but ! they got their camaros & vettes ...Pffff.
Meh; Too trashy looking...Reminds me of driving through a East Kentucky trailer park, with one of these rusting in every driveway...Feels like an old Burt Reynolds's movie...
.. This video is reeeeeeally making me miss our 70 GTO Judge. It was a 400 too, with the same exterior color but with a black interior. I can honestly say it was the car I had the most fun in during my Lifetime. We owned it for 14 plus years. .. Long live The Judge!
Please Google : 1970 TRANS AM 455 WT5 This is the only Firebird to be DOCUMENTED GTO CODE 382. THIS car is a California Van Nuy built and La cresenta California delivered just a short distance to Gianera Pontiac .
Me and my good friend went to a dealer and talked the salesman into letting us test drive an orange Judge. We spent the day doing hole shots and running it through the quarter mile to see who get the best time. When we took it back, the sales rep asked what we thought. I told it wasn't fast enough, and then left. His mouth dropped.
Love your show! The 70 Judge was my first car! In 1976 I was 19 in the Marines and I bought one for $1,200. It was a real love hate relationship. Lots of power, but the car had no connection with the road and there was a serious pucker factor when I went curves on the North Carolina highways. Unfortunately I could never get the hood tach to work. As fast as we think it is now, in 1970 there were a lot of faster production cars. Unfortunately for me one of my friends had a 1970 Challenger RT with the dealer six pack, and another had a Mustang Mach 1 so I saw my share of tail lights. .
This has to be my favorite RUclips channel! I love how it's all about the car and Jay's passion for all the car that he owns and the ones that come in. Reminds me of being a kid and having that enthusiast feeling that seems to get lost when you grow up.
after a restore there's always bugs to work out...nice car for its day and time...use to see them all over way back when...nice to see one put back on the road the right way.
Brings back memories. I bought a new 69 red with a black vinyl roof and interior GTO right out of high school. Loved it and had so much fun driving Woodward and Gratiot in Detroit.
My brother had a 1974 GTO, looked like a Nova with stripes and a shaker hood. Had a 350, 4 speed. Nothing compared to the older models, but still a lot of fun. He ended up selling it real cheap for various reasons. That's been about 20 years ago, but I still think of it.
Great car with a friendly owner. I can really appreciate a stock musclecar. As Jay mentioned, alot of times musclecars are so over-worked, it's no longer the same car.
70 GTO Judge is my favorite year of the Judge cars I like the yellow instead of the red I see that car has the basic interior package but it's still a nice car and with the ram air 3 option you gotta love it
79tazman. A kid had a white one in high school, definitely better in yellow or red. This one had the same exhaust notes of flimsy manifold gaskets, people thought "Headers"!
79tazman. A kid had a white one in high school, definitely better in yellow or red. This one had the same exhaust notes of flimsy manifold gaskets, people thought "Headers"!
Reminds me a lot of the GTO that a friend of mine had in New Orleans during the early '80's, except his was the ultra rare Judge convertible. Same color(red/red) and low, low original miles. He didn't drive it a lot but mostly kept it as a collector would and would drive around a regular mid '60's GTO or Grand Prix(he, like me, was a Pontiac fiend) as a everyday car or a "beater". Great memories of those days.
The early 70's were the end of the line for great performance cars. I had a 1967 Bonneville convertible as my first car in the mid 70's, it had its stock 400cid and a 4bbl carb and no emission controls, got pretty good gas mileage for a big car and had more power than a seventeen year old should have had. Then I had a '74 Trans Am with another 400, emissions were taking hold power went way down and the safety Nazis got the government to force the manufacturers to install a device that prevented cars from starting if you didn't fasten your seat belt, of coarse these things would fail and you would have to open your hood and press the bypass button in the engine compartment to get your car started, incredible piece of government stupidity only lasted one year. Then I had a '79 Trans Am which had what Pontiac called a 6.6 Liter, it was actually an Oldsmobile 403cid if you had the automatic, it had less horsepower than a '65 Mustang with a base 289 2bbl and weighed a lot more. By 1980 performance was dead in American cars.
ringvaldse and began again in late 80s early 90s .Now it's insane what you can buy ...200mph cars . .stock.under 100k .These are the good old days people will speak of in the future
I totally agree. And like back then, I don't think people realize how good it is RIGHT NOW. You can restore anything from the past and enjoy it with more and more restoration parts becoming available...not to mention the windfall that 3D printing will bring to us. Plus, you can get new muscle cars today there are just as fast and faster than the old stuff, but now they handle! You have to have grown up in the muscle car period, muddled through the horrors of 1975 into the 80s, seen some hope with the 1982 Mustang GT and Z/28s, and get to today to really appreciate what we have right now. If you didn't, you don't have an appreciation for how great it is right now. Just a few years back would you have believed you could buy a new Challenger that can lift its front wheels?!?! You can buy a decent, middle of the pack newer Challenger R/T---it's just a used car RIGHT NOW--for peanuts. It will not be that way in the future.
Really performance was dead in America by 1975...when catalytic converters became mandatory on every new car. Really the only fast car you could still buy in the late 70s was either a 77-79 W72 400-4 speed Trans Am or a 77 Can Am with the W72 400. Never liked that Olds 403. I think the 403 was mandatory in the Trans Am if you chose an automatic transmission and/or if you lived in California. I believe the 77 Can Am got the 403 too in California only but got the W72 400 in the other 49 states. If I lived in California I would've went to the closest bordering state to order my Pontiac so I could get the 400 instead of the 403. Once those 301 Turbo Trans Am's came out in 1980 performance was completely dead... even at Pontiac
ringvaldse thanks, in Oct 76, I ordered a 1977 TRANS am/Hurst Hatch/ SPEC ED/6.6 loaded: was an upgrade from 1970 Dodge Coronet 500/383.... albeit the vast improvements in braking/ Handling/#stability were great.....actually wish I had ordered a 4 SPD/TA Engine: .WITHOUT Hurst Hatch ( they leaked), and used BODY Spats.... AS NORTHERN INDIANA road SALT & tires chews & rots body.etc. Though, memorable we got about 15 years of hard Family use out of it( did go KONI SHOCKS,lots of IMPROVEMENTS BUNCHES).......
I had a friend when I lived in New Orleans' West Bank(Marrero) in the '80's who had a red base line GTO(not a "Judge") convertible that was red/red and in very good condition(not pristine) which he always garaged and drove it only in fair weather. He was so proud of that car! I always like the lines of the '70. They were pleasing cars to the eye, with the Endura front bumper. It was just a cool car all around to see on the street, or....anywhere!
The 70 judge in orange was my favorite American muscle car when I was a kid, one of the ones that caught my attention in elementary school and got me into cars in general
srercrcr. We called them quadrajunks,but you could buy kits and a few tricks to make them work pretty well,used to be a guy in Indiana that would modify them for a price,but if you knew carbs fairly well you could make them awesome. 😆
Vic Polaris wtf are you talking about,the carb was called a quadrajet,a fancy term to impress a buyer,we referred to them as quadrajunks,get that right.!!!
bill began yes but quadrajunks are unfortunately known by shops for the 70 and early 80 cars. I luv them but most of the times when they failed you had to replace them because no one could rebuild them right which is why we called them quadrajunks. that's all i meant. holly rebuild sometime worked but never the same of original
Back in the day, a classmate, named Don, had a Judge and a mutual friend, named Dan, had a Plymouth GTX 440 with a manual 4spd. The Judge would beat the GTX in a 1/4 mile drag race by about a car length. They raced several times with the same outcome. This really pissed off the "dyed in the wool" Mopar lover. The guy that owned the Judge was in the Navy and came home on leave a couple of weekends a month. After being beaten, Mr. Mopar went out and bought an Isky cam kit for his 440 and quickly installed at a gas station we both worked at. When Don came home on leave they went out an raced again and the Judge beat the GTX by 2 car lengths much to Dan's rather annoyed amazement. Don went back to the Navy base in SoCal and before Dan could challenge him again the Judge was stolen and never recovered. Maybe it went to Hawaii, who knows? The next time Don came home he was driving a Hemicuda, but that's another story.
that doesn't suprise me. the GTX was heavy. very heavy. It was a up scaled hot rod. If you were young and had money you went with the GTX (it had more options standard) if not you went with the RoadRunner. The 383 RR was what you had to watch out for. That thing had some serious torque. By the time me and my old man got done with his it would just toss you into the back seat if you stepped on it.
Yes I also had a friend around that time who had a 1969 RoadRunner 383 automatic and it was quick. but i think The Judge was a little faster. My friend with The Judge said that he ordered an optional cam that was available if you ordered the car from the factory. I never did try and find out if that was true or just petrolhead BS.
The 440 SixPack was quicker than the Hemi... We did a 50 mph side by side 4th gear punch out of my '65 GTO 389" TriPower 3:55 rear vs a '68 440" Magnum GTX 4.10 rear end, and my GTO walked away from it... never understood that, I expected the GTX to walk me easily with more cubes and big rear gear... He may have had the factory 'granny specs. tune' going on...
11:48 - you can tell these two guys have goosebumps riding in a car that takes them back to a time that doesn't really seem that long ago. I was only 5-6 then but it doesn't seem like it was almost 48 years ago to me. Even though it's an old car, I think GM was putting out some good products at the time.
It isn’t that long ago, these were in high school parking lots all across the country when I was in high school, now, I’m looking at the light at the end of the tunnel and I hurt every day.
All through the 80s, someone used to park a mint judge on Route 117 in Mount Kisco New York. I would drive on that part of the road just to see the car. Right near the movie theater
The nose is urethane and not molded in color. The natural color is a dark gray. It is painted the body color with the addition of a flex agent so the paint does not crack. I cringed when he closed the hood. Pontiac guys know that you have to give the hood a push to the rear before you pull down or you will buckle the hood. The bracing running under the hood will fatigue and break.
lol you see him wag that hood. My 72 GTO was Endura, I think it was light pink, idk been a while. But regardless PMD painted the Endura with a flexible additive, they had issues with the paint cracking on it's own. And yes, when I redid my GTO, I took a crowbar to it just for fun lol.
Pontiac did call it Endura but it was not a solid color. The original paint was pretty durable at least for the first few years, repainted it was never as good back then. Source I was a tech at a GM dealer back .
The funniest part is that the video showed pictures of the car pre-restoration with the paint stripped off of the nose and you could clearly see it was gray rubber.
Got a 1968 4-4-2. Switch pitch torque converter in a manual valve body THM400, so I plug around all day in 3rd and get 15mpg, or switch from 1,900 RPM stall speed to 3,600 and punch thru the gears. 0-60 mph in five and a half seconds. Only problem is, it has 243,000 miles so I'm always fixing something :)
Man do I love time simplicity of old cars. My father owns a 1966 Pontiac GTO. It's been in the family since me or any of my other siblings were born - I'll be 31 this year; bought near or in 1979. It's my fathers treasure.
I owned and restored a highly optioned 1970 Judge RAIII, bought it of the original owners estate. Had 89K miles, came with 24 options total. Some of the options included 4spd., A/C, PW, PS, driver power seat, rear defrost, etc. As far as the Coker tires I bought back in 2008 were complete junk, aftre 50 MPH the would shake themselves to pieces. I really hope they make a better product today. This red Judge picture here is a fine example of a complete restoration but yet with some original parts such as the interior. It does have some minor missing things to make it 100%, rare items such as the white plastic check valve that is attached to the actuator hose leading up to the Ram Air unit under the hood. With correct documentation this example is worth a tidy sum. Really enjoyed this video minus Jay's criticism of a 47 yr old muscle car. Not a Ferrari Jay!
The Judge was just that, at that time on the street, it would be foolish to even think anything in its class could beat the Judge, Beautiful Car, the first time i drove a Pontiac Firebird with the 400-4 Speed, i was just amazed how different it Performed from everything else. Thanks, Beautiful Car!!!
I had a Buick Gran Sport 455. My neighbor had the Judge just like this one. I had 4spd cars thinking they all were RACE cars until the Buick with the Automatic transmission with His and Her shifter. I got beaten once by a Chevrolet Chevelle "Heavy Chevy!"
I remember my very first legitimate job as a 16 year old kid. I was pumping gas at the local Sunoco station, and all the guys would come in with their muscle cars and fill up with 260, which was the highest octane you could get. That job started my interest and appreciation of all things automotive. Watching this brought back some fine memories.
You can see it by looking at it, And i only learned that by watching Pawn Stars and then transferring that information to this gto logo the artist style is very apparent.
Good episode. When I was 8, The Judge was my favorite car. But I had liked Pontiacs since I saw the Monkeemobile on TV when I was five, and got a Firebird slot car (Aurora Thunderjet) for Christmas when I was six. I still dream about owning a classic Pontiac performance car, but it has morphed into an SCCA-spec Firebird TransAm with a Ram Air V 303.
One of the "Big Four GM Muscle Machines" that rumbled in the late 60s/early 70s... The others with this body type were the Hurst Olds 442, the Buick GSX, and the iconic Chevelle SS... Even though I was too young to drive back then, my father had friends whom each owned at least one of them (One of them had 2 - this one and the Hurst Olds, while my father had a 68 Corvette), and I had ridden in every one of them! Those were the days...
Break it in rich and then dyno tune it. Curve the distributor and rejet the carb. Maybe a new power valve. Oh but that thing is running ragged during this segment.
Jay I'm glad you always ask horsepower numbers and rear end ratios as a Gearhead rear end ratio can make or break the way a car performs you don't want 2:73s in a car you're going to drag race LOL and as Car Guys that gives us an idea how the car runs when we know the horsepower and rear end ratio it's something we can relate to so it's always nice to know and interesting love your videos Man
Yeah, Jay dissed the classic handle on the Hurst 4 gear, gotta say geeeezzz, when gazillionaires gotta take cheap shots at cars they only dreamed of, before becoming ultra rich 😩
this is one damn good car I am obsessed with the G.T.O judge! I have always loved this car and thank you for showing such a beautiful masterpiece of muscle cars
My buddy had a black, drop-top '70 Judge with a white top/interior and 400 engine/auto trans. He would be cruising town the same Friday/Saturday nights...I was in my '70 Roadrunner, 440/4-spd. He liked mine for it's raw/raunchy power and I liked his for it's powerful thrust and luxury......we'd trade about halfway thru the night and enjoy each other's rig. Wonderful days....hell. we never worried about the other guy bending up our car.....man, you're only young once! Thanks for the memories, Jay! Wonder if they're still doin' that on Friday nights in Mason City, IA? I had Polyglass H's on the back with G's on the front.....those tires may have looked mean but didn't hook up like today's tires.....strange thing was with the Polyglass you had to pump them up to get traction on the strip....not like today's tires.
In the city I live in we have a car garage that has many old restored vehicles. The original gto judge is in there and I remember looking at it as a kid.
@ 5:19 you can see the exhaust manifold is not seated against the head and you can see the gasket flapping in the wind...I knew before they drove the car that it was gonna be leaking....
Also take a look at the head bolts. The ground cabel should be on a stud not under the bolt head. Not sure how they were able to properly torque that one. Also, same deal with the hot air shroud. Should be on studs not under the bolt head. Those Ram Air exhaust manifolds have fewer bolt holes than the standard manifolds. They need each bolt to be installed properly. This certainly was no Butler build!
Sounds good to me! They could compete with Dodge as a sot of "hooligan brand", taking ordinary Chevy rides and giving them more aggressive design language, more horsepower, manual transmission options, and sport suspension and brakes. I think its rebirth would be received well.
GroveDog1995 .. Little GTO, you're really lookin' fine Three deuces and a four-speed and a 389 Listen to her tachin' up now, listen to her why-ee-eye-ine C'mon and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO..
Jay at his best, drives for 1/4 mile with left turn signal on and stays in same lane then switches lanes with no signal, veers out into the middle median while looking at the gauges lol.
Funny , I noticed that . My 65 Pontiac has had an issue with the indicator getting stuck and I got a new switch now I need the cable from the column. I signal for everything especially driving that ship ! I use hand signals , seems everyone thinks I’m waving or drying my hand 😂
Had a 67 GTO with a 6 pack but fell for Mopar with a 69 Road Runner and then a 68 GTX. The rubber baby bumpers on the Pontiacs lost me. Love your show! Try to catch all of them. Thanks for bringing back the memories .
You can still get white wall tires, but they really dont work (looks wise) on modern cars. My 1990 Lincoln had them. I think it was the last production car to fit WW tires.
Whats nice on this show is the honest down to earth guests, enthusiasts who know the cars and have no intention of selling for a quick buck. Its good and its honest. Great to watch.
My next door neighbor (in the mid ‘70’s) who was only a couple years older than me with several paper routes was able to afford a used 1972 LeMans. My family had some Pontiacs, but his car inspired my Pontiac obsession. He had Cragar wheels, but stock beyond that. That series of body really cemented my love for the marque. 1969 Firebird is still my favorite, by just a little.
R.I.P Pontiac ( 1926-2010)
ehh not really, they became garbage as the years went on
Maybe that weird looking GTO & the G8 GXP but they had already shamelessly killed PMD before it was pronounced dead...but ! they got their camaros & vettes ...Pffff.
I heard (once) when Obama “saved” GM, GM said they had big plans for PMD. The administration said, no. Lose it. Did any one else hear that?
well they are back
@@davewhitehead5116 Says on Wikipedia that Pontiac was dropped to appease Congress.
I was in Vietnam when those first hit the streets, didn't see my first one until early 1972.
A LOT of want to be motorheads died in the jungles of Nam. Otherwise, the car companies would have sold WAY more musclecars.
Sorry you had to serve. Respect you, not your politicians
He was a friend of mine
Thank you for your service.. specially Nam
@gilbert martinez and Liberals.. in combat there's no preference.!!!
Absolutely beautiful car, love everything about it. You can’t beat the simplicity under the hood either.
Meh; Too trashy looking...Reminds me of driving through a East Kentucky trailer park, with one of these rusting in every driveway...Feels like an old Burt Reynolds's movie...
My friend had one of these back in the day. He was giving me a ride and blew the engine, what a drag that was
.. This video is reeeeeeally making me miss our 70 GTO Judge. It was a 400 too, with the same exterior color but with a black interior. I can honestly say it was the car I had the most fun in during my Lifetime. We owned it for 14 plus years.
.. Long live The Judge!
Wow that car is beautiful in motion.. thank you again Jay for sharing all these treasures with us !!
teehee
Agreed!
It certainly is, but I agree with Jay, the car looks better without that rear spoiler.
They made 3,000 of these in 1970 and now there's only 5,000 left on eBay.
discostoo hmmm....
they made 3607 and are 10000 clones today but only 600 real ones left
Lol
kidding?!
Please Google :
1970 TRANS AM 455 WT5
This is the only Firebird to be DOCUMENTED GTO CODE 382.
THIS car is a California Van Nuy built and La cresenta California delivered just a short distance to Gianera Pontiac .
Wade is a great guy! His Judge is awesome.
This is one of THE RAREST muscle cars that ANYONE could want,and could still have,back in the day,or right now.Pure performance without question!!!
Roadrunner is more rare No?
They have class and represent an era, but they are trash compared to what’s available today, it hurt to type that but it’s the truth.
No
Me and my good friend went to a dealer and talked the salesman into letting us test drive an orange Judge. We spent the day doing hole shots and running it through the quarter mile to see who get the best time. When we took it back, the sales rep asked what we thought. I told it wasn't fast enough, and then left. His mouth dropped.
I had a 71 GTO 455HO convertible with a Muncie rock crusher. Was a beast. Faster than a Judge.
Love your show! The 70 Judge was my first car! In 1976 I was 19 in the Marines and I bought one for $1,200. It was a real love hate relationship. Lots of power, but the car had no connection with the road and there was a serious pucker factor when I went curves on the North Carolina highways. Unfortunately I could never get the hood tach to work. As fast as we think it is now, in 1970 there were a lot of faster production cars. Unfortunately for me one of my friends had a 1970 Challenger RT with the dealer six pack, and another had a Mustang Mach 1 so I saw my share of tail lights. .
Your car had the most character my friend !
You should have gotten a good tune on that GTO... and the tach fixed...
ruclips.net/video/SJIRitKQYrM/видео.html
This has to be my favorite RUclips channel! I love how it's all about the car and Jay's passion for all the car that he owns and the ones that come in. Reminds me of being a kid and having that enthusiast feeling that seems to get lost when you grow up.
DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT I NEVER LOST IT .. CAN'T WAIT TO GET MY 69 CHEVELLE SS BACK ON THE ROAD
❣😏🚘😁 yes even 5 years later! Jay is the best.
That’s a beautiful restoration, such a nice job 👍
Remember this Sweet emotion from the days of confused made me an instant fan!
My uncle had one of these. This video brings back many fond memories! My father had several GTO's...one was a 1965.
This is the stuff dreams are made of for us older guys. I love this video.
after a restore there's always bugs to work out...nice car for its day and time...use to see them all over way back when...nice to see one put back on the road the right way.
I remember "Laugh In" and "Here come the judge" with Sammy Davis Jr. What a great era and the cars were so cool.
Wow, what a cool car. Another car with tach in the hood. Saw your 68 firebird the other day with the tach in the hood. Love cars from this era.
Brings back memories. I bought a new 69 red with a black vinyl roof and interior GTO right out of high school. Loved it and had so much fun driving Woodward and Gratiot in Detroit.
My brother had a 1974 GTO, looked like a Nova with stripes and a shaker hood. Had a 350, 4 speed. Nothing compared to the older models, but still a lot of fun. He ended up selling it real cheap for various reasons. That's been about 20 years ago, but I still think of it.
Great car with a friendly owner. I can really appreciate a stock musclecar. As Jay mentioned, alot of times musclecars are so over-worked, it's no longer the same car.
70 GTO Judge is my favorite year of the Judge cars I like the yellow instead of the red I see that car has the basic interior package but it's still a nice car and with the ram air 3 option you gotta love it
79tazman. A kid had a white one in high school, definitely better in yellow or red.
This one had the same exhaust notes of flimsy manifold gaskets, people thought "Headers"!
79tazman. A kid had a white one in high school, definitely better in yellow or red.
This one had the same exhaust notes of flimsy manifold gaskets, people thought "Headers"!
79tazman 69 judge is better imo had the better grill better paint job in carisol red
I agree'69 was the last,and best styled of that "Aero" design
Love my GTO Judge!! Thanks for the watch !!!
Reminds me a lot of the GTO that a friend of mine had in New Orleans during the early '80's, except his was the ultra rare Judge convertible. Same color(red/red) and low, low original miles. He didn't drive it a lot but mostly kept it as a collector would and would drive around a regular mid '60's GTO or Grand Prix(he, like me, was a Pontiac fiend) as a everyday car or a "beater". Great memories of those days.
I love when the 4 barrel kicks in on these cars. It was like an afterburner!
I whimpered all the way through this. My first car was a '70 Lemans sport and I dreamed of owning one of these.
The early 70's were the end of the line for great performance cars. I had a 1967 Bonneville convertible as my first car in the mid 70's, it had its stock 400cid and a 4bbl carb and no emission controls, got pretty good gas mileage for a big car and had more power than a seventeen year old should have had. Then I had a '74 Trans Am with another 400, emissions were taking hold power went way down and the safety Nazis got the government to force the manufacturers to install a device that prevented cars from starting if you didn't fasten your seat belt, of coarse these things would fail and you would have to open your hood and press the bypass button in the engine compartment to get your car started, incredible piece of government stupidity only lasted one year. Then I had a '79 Trans Am which had what Pontiac called a 6.6 Liter, it was actually an Oldsmobile 403cid if you had the automatic, it had less horsepower than a '65 Mustang with a base 289 2bbl and weighed a lot more. By 1980 performance was dead in American cars.
ringvaldse and began again in late 80s early 90s .Now it's insane what you can buy ...200mph cars .
.stock.under 100k .These are the good old days people will speak of in the future
I totally agree. And like back then, I don't think people realize how good it is RIGHT NOW. You can restore anything from the past and enjoy it with more and more restoration parts becoming available...not to mention the windfall that 3D printing will bring to us. Plus, you can get new muscle cars today there are just as fast and faster than the old stuff, but now they handle! You have to have grown up in the muscle car period, muddled through the horrors of 1975 into the 80s, seen some hope with the 1982 Mustang GT and Z/28s, and get to today to really appreciate what we have right now. If you didn't, you don't have an appreciation for how great it is right now. Just a few years back would you have believed you could buy a new Challenger that can lift its front wheels?!?! You can buy a decent, middle of the pack newer Challenger R/T---it's just a used car RIGHT NOW--for peanuts. It will not be that way in the future.
Had to have 4sp behind a v8 during smog era, the 4sp woke everything up while slushboxes just smothered those 150hp v8s.
Really performance was dead in America by 1975...when catalytic converters became mandatory on every new car. Really the only fast car you could still buy in the late 70s was either a 77-79 W72 400-4 speed Trans Am or a 77 Can Am with the W72 400. Never liked that Olds 403. I think the 403 was mandatory in the Trans Am if you chose an automatic transmission and/or if you lived in California. I believe the 77 Can Am got the 403 too in California only but got the W72 400 in the other 49 states. If I lived in California I would've went to the closest bordering state to order my Pontiac so I could get the 400 instead of the 403. Once those 301 Turbo Trans Am's came out in 1980 performance was completely dead... even at Pontiac
ringvaldse thanks, in Oct 76, I ordered a 1977 TRANS am/Hurst Hatch/ SPEC ED/6.6 loaded: was an upgrade from 1970 Dodge Coronet 500/383.... albeit the vast improvements in braking/ Handling/#stability were great.....actually wish I had ordered a 4 SPD/TA Engine: .WITHOUT Hurst Hatch ( they leaked), and used BODY Spats.... AS NORTHERN INDIANA road SALT & tires chews & rots body.etc. Though, memorable we got about 15 years of hard Family use out of it( did go KONI SHOCKS,lots of IMPROVEMENTS BUNCHES).......
Love the GTO's. I wish the GT-37's got as much love.
My absolute teenage dream car. Color and everything.
I think it's a great car. The GTO from the 2000's was underestimated because it wasn't really a Pontiac, it was based on an australian Holden Monaro
Not to mention that the motors were from different divisions sometimes, too. Like Oldsmobile, Plymouth, etc.
The Holden Goat was a very nice car. I liked it far better than the 2002 Trans Am that a relative had at the time.
Wowwwwwwww really?
The GTO from the 2000s looked horrible and shouldn’t of even had the GTO name with it
I had a friend when I lived in New Orleans' West Bank(Marrero) in the '80's who had a red base line GTO(not a "Judge") convertible that was red/red and in very good condition(not pristine) which he always garaged and drove it only in fair weather. He was so proud of that car! I always like the lines of the '70. They were pleasing cars to the eye, with the Endura front bumper. It was just a cool car all around to see on the street, or....anywhere!
All I could think about watching this was Dazed and Confused.
There is also one in Two Lane Blacktop
Watch the interior man ...lol
Orbit Orange 👍🏼
Hahaha yes! Sweet emotion also plays in my head while I think of it 😂
Led Zeppelin
The 70 judge in orange was my favorite American muscle car when I was a kid, one of the ones that caught my attention in elementary school and got me into cars in general
The movie "Two lane blacktop" featured a '55 Chevy gasser and this car. Great movie with a lot of road action.
I could feel that big four-barrel pulling air. The good 'ol days!!!
srercrcr. We called them quadrajunks,but you could buy kits and a few tricks to make them work pretty well,used to be a guy in Indiana that would modify them for a price,but if you knew carbs fairly well you could make them awesome. 😆
bill began no quarajunks were quadrants get that right
Vic Polaris wtf are you talking about,the carb was called a quadrajet,a fancy term to impress a buyer,we referred to them as quadrajunks,get that right.!!!
bill began yes but quadrajunks are unfortunately known by shops for the 70 and early 80 cars. I luv them but most of the times when they failed you had to replace them because no one could rebuild them right which is why we called them quadrajunks. that's all i meant. holly rebuild sometime worked but never the same of original
bill began and I think spell check messed me up
Back in the day, a classmate, named Don, had a Judge and a mutual friend, named Dan, had a Plymouth GTX 440 with a manual 4spd. The Judge would beat the GTX in a 1/4 mile drag race by about a car length. They raced several times with the same outcome. This really pissed off the "dyed in the wool" Mopar lover. The guy that owned the Judge was in the Navy and came home on leave a couple of weekends a month. After being beaten, Mr. Mopar went out and bought an Isky cam kit for his 440 and quickly installed at a gas station we both worked at. When Don came home on leave they went out an raced again and the Judge beat the GTX by 2 car lengths much to Dan's rather annoyed amazement. Don went back to the Navy base in SoCal and before Dan could challenge him again the Judge was stolen and never recovered. Maybe it went to Hawaii, who knows? The next time Don came home he was driving a Hemicuda, but that's another story.
that doesn't suprise me. the GTX was heavy. very heavy. It was a up scaled hot rod. If you were young and had money you went with the GTX (it had more options standard) if not you went with the RoadRunner. The 383 RR was what you had to watch out for. That thing had some serious torque. By the time me and my old man got done with his it would just toss you into the back seat if you stepped on it.
Yes I also had a friend around that time who had a 1969 RoadRunner 383 automatic and it was quick. but i think The Judge was a little faster. My friend with The Judge said that he ordered an optional cam that was available if you ordered the car from the factory. I never did try and find out if that was true or just petrolhead BS.
Steve Radanovich
Hello brother Serb. I hope you guys had nothing to do with the car getting stolen
no, but I'm not so sure about the owner
The 440 SixPack was quicker than the Hemi... We did a 50 mph side by side 4th gear punch out of my '65 GTO 389" TriPower 3:55 rear vs a '68 440" Magnum GTX 4.10 rear end, and my GTO walked away from it... never understood that, I expected the GTX to walk me easily with more cubes and big rear gear... He may have had the factory 'granny specs. tune' going on...
11:48 - you can tell these two guys have goosebumps riding in a car that takes them back to a time that doesn't really seem that long ago. I was only 5-6 then but it doesn't seem like it was almost 48 years ago to me. Even though it's an old car, I think GM was putting out some good products at the time.
It isn’t that long ago, these were in high school parking lots all across the country when I was in high school, now, I’m looking at the light at the end of the tunnel and I hurt every day.
All through the 80s, someone used to park a mint judge on Route 117 in Mount Kisco New York. I would drive on that part of the road just to see the car. Right near the movie theater
Very Beautiful GTO Judge. Thank You Mr. Kawasaki for Sharing this Beautiful Iconic "Muscle Car" & Special Thanks for taking us along for the ride !!
i love this car. i always wanted one
Thank you Jay and special thanks to MR Kawasaki for sharing his GTO, Car of my youth!
an i wanna thank mr.kawasaki for making those crappy motorcycles...
The nose is urethane and not molded in color. The natural color is a dark gray. It is painted the body color with the addition of a flex agent so the paint does not crack.
I cringed when he closed the hood. Pontiac guys know that you have to give the hood a push to the rear before you pull down or you will buckle the hood. The bracing running under the hood will fatigue and break.
About the nose... I also remember the material as being a flexible poly, not this Endura stuff.
the owner doesn't seem to know much about it either i think 373 gears were chev not pontiac 390 was the closet to that i had a 70 455
lol you see him wag that hood.
My 72 GTO was Endura, I think it was light pink, idk been a while.
But regardless PMD painted the Endura with a flexible additive, they had issues with the paint cracking on it's own.
And yes, when I redid my GTO, I took a crowbar to it just for fun lol.
Pontiac did call it Endura but it was not a solid color. The original paint was pretty durable at least for the first few years, repainted it was never as good back then. Source I was a tech at a GM dealer back .
The funniest part is that the video showed pictures of the car pre-restoration with the paint stripped off of the nose and you could clearly see it was gray rubber.
I'm 47 and gona own one soon 😉my favorite muscle car
the Judge.. the demon of the 60's
No, the demon of the 60's was the crooked looser LBJ.
Whenever I see those GM A-bodies. Makes me miss my 69 Oldsmobile Cutlass. I hope to her back soon..
My first car was a '70 GTO with 38,000 miles . It was never bottle brown metallic with a tan vinyl roof. I paid $600 for it. Gosh I miss her.
Got a 1968 4-4-2. Switch pitch torque converter in a manual valve body THM400, so I plug around all day in 3rd and get 15mpg, or switch from 1,900 RPM stall speed to 3,600 and punch thru the gears. 0-60 mph in five and a half seconds. Only problem is, it has 243,000 miles so I'm always fixing something :)
those are beautiful too
I love how when he gets into the throttle the closed caption says music
Thanks Jay. I love the honesty of this particular car. Not over restored. I wouldn't mind seeing a few more driver cars vs. newly restored.
I saw one of these in Denver today. Original paint. Super sharp. Fun to see a good discussion about this spectacular bit of Americana.
Man do I love time simplicity of old cars. My father owns a 1966 Pontiac GTO. It's been in the family since me or any of my other siblings were born - I'll be 31 this year; bought near or in 1979. It's my fathers treasure.
I owned and restored a highly optioned 1970 Judge RAIII, bought it of the original owners estate. Had 89K miles, came with 24 options total. Some of the options included 4spd., A/C, PW, PS, driver power seat, rear defrost, etc. As far as the Coker tires I bought back in 2008 were complete junk, aftre 50 MPH the would shake themselves to pieces. I really hope they make a better product today. This red Judge picture here is a fine example of a complete restoration but yet with some original parts such as the interior. It does have some minor missing things to make it 100%, rare items such as the white plastic check valve that is attached to the actuator hose leading up to the Ram Air unit under the hood. With correct documentation this example is worth a tidy sum. Really enjoyed this video minus Jay's criticism of a 47 yr old muscle car. Not a Ferrari Jay!
Best car ever to grace your show, Jay!
The Judge was just that, at that time on the street, it would be foolish to even think anything in its class could beat the Judge, Beautiful Car, the first time i drove a Pontiac Firebird with the 400-4 Speed, i was just amazed how different it Performed from everything else.
Thanks, Beautiful Car!!!
I had a Buick Gran Sport 455. My neighbor had the Judge just like this one. I had 4spd cars thinking they all were RACE cars until the Buick with the Automatic transmission with His and Her shifter. I got beaten once by a Chevrolet Chevelle "Heavy Chevy!"
Just bought one of these today 🎉🎉
I remember my very first legitimate job as a 16 year old kid. I was pumping gas at the local Sunoco station, and all the guys would come in with their muscle cars and fill up with 260, which was the highest octane you could get. That job started my interest and appreciation of all things automotive. Watching this brought back some fine memories.
Me too ! 1975 All the fast cars came after that Sunoco 260. I ran a 69 GTO !
Awesome! I had a 69 Judge. Thanks Jay for taking me through memory lane. Keep up the great work!👌👏🙌
A little trivia.. the "The Judge" logo was designed by psychedelic artist Peter Max
Sammy was the judge
I'm a GTO guy and never heard that before. I looked it up and u are correct sir! Thank you for that info.
“Groovy, baby!” LOLOL!! 😂😆🤣
You can see it by looking at it,
And i only learned that by watching Pawn Stars and then transferring that information to this gto logo the artist style is very apparent.
It's a great logo
man, I love this show 😍
Good episode. When I was 8, The Judge was my favorite car. But I had liked Pontiacs since I saw the Monkeemobile on TV when I was five, and got a Firebird slot car (Aurora Thunderjet) for Christmas when I was six. I still dream about owning a classic Pontiac performance car, but it has morphed into an SCCA-spec Firebird TransAm with a Ram Air V 303.
One of the "Big Four GM Muscle Machines" that rumbled in the late 60s/early 70s... The others with this body type were the Hurst Olds 442, the Buick GSX, and the iconic Chevelle SS... Even though I was too young to drive back then, my father had friends whom each owned at least one of them (One of them had 2 - this one and the Hurst Olds, while my father had a 68 Corvette), and I had ridden in every one of them! Those were the days...
I remember I saw a Judge when I was 10 yrs old on the military base, and man that car hooked me into the muscle car life. Thanks Jay.
That's the standard 70 Judge ram air III. Optional was the ram air IV & 455 HO. Beautiful car & thanks for the video!
Guys you have to realize this car was just recently restored and all the kinks weren't dealt with yet
Break it in rich and then dyno tune it. Curve the distributor and rejet the carb. Maybe a new power valve. Oh but that thing is running ragged during this segment.
Jay I'm glad you always ask horsepower numbers and rear end ratios as a Gearhead rear end ratio can make or break the way a car performs you don't want 2:73s in a car you're going to drag race LOL and as Car Guys that gives us an idea how the car runs when we know the horsepower and rear end ratio it's something we can relate to so it's always nice to know and interesting love your videos Man
Of *ALL* of Jay's video's THIS is my absolute favorite! This car is utterly orgasmic.
I've got an original "The Judge" decal stored away. Part of my retirement plan.
srercrcr gotta start somewhere
LOL..That will get ya a cup of coffee...You using this as an excuse?lol
Steve I have a original glove box emblem the Judge I wonder what it is worth?
@Montana Davidson Cool.
Haven't seen a Hurst stick in ages - they were mandatory on muscle cars back in the day.
Yeah, Jay dissed the classic handle on the Hurst 4 gear, gotta say geeeezzz, when gazillionaires gotta take cheap shots at cars they only dreamed of, before becoming ultra rich 😩
Shift as hard as you want, just don't break your arm
this is one damn good car I am obsessed with the G.T.O judge! I have always loved this car and thank you for showing such a beautiful masterpiece of muscle cars
My buddy had a black, drop-top '70 Judge with a white top/interior and 400 engine/auto trans. He would be cruising town the same Friday/Saturday nights...I was in my '70 Roadrunner, 440/4-spd. He liked mine for it's raw/raunchy power and I liked his for it's powerful thrust and luxury......we'd trade about halfway thru the night and enjoy each other's rig. Wonderful days....hell. we never worried about the other guy bending up our car.....man, you're only young once! Thanks for the memories, Jay! Wonder if they're still doin' that on Friday nights in Mason City, IA? I had Polyglass H's on the back with G's on the front.....those tires may have looked mean but didn't hook up like today's tires.....strange thing was with the Polyglass you had to pump them up to get traction on the strip....not like today's tires.
will add one in orbit orange to the garage one day in the future.
Jay, smash the bumper with a crowbar like the old commercial!!!!!! Fun to see owners reaction, seriously that's a nice piece
jim dandy why what's the gag I'm not old enough too remember
Old Pontiac commercial-- Sure you can find one here
now that's a beast!! can't argue with that
Love that engine. I dropped one of those puppies in my 73 Buick Century after the 350 rocket blew.
Awesome
A work of art. Amazing restoration.
In the city I live in we have a car garage that has many old restored vehicles. The original gto judge is in there and I remember looking at it as a kid.
I always love when Jay knows so much more than his guests owners lol..
@ 5:19 you can see the exhaust manifold is not seated against the head and you can see the gasket flapping in the wind...I knew before they drove the car that it was gonna be leaking....
Sure enough. That was some really bad shop work.
That's really obvious and pretty poor...
Also take a look at the head bolts. The ground cabel should be on a stud not under the bolt head. Not sure how they were able to properly torque that one. Also, same deal with the hot air shroud. Should be on studs not under the bolt head.
Those Ram Air exhaust manifolds have fewer bolt holes than the standard manifolds. They need each bolt to be installed properly.
This certainly was no Butler build!
The wiggle pin in the wobble shaft of the canooter valve looked a little loose too.
Bring back Pontiac, GM.
Sounds good to me! They could compete with Dodge as a sot of "hooligan brand", taking ordinary Chevy rides and giving them more aggressive design language, more horsepower, manual transmission options, and sport suspension and brakes. I think its rebirth would be received well.
War N Peace I wonder what a modern Oldsmobile cutlass and 442 would look like but even of they did it would not beat the originals.
Or they could make new models, and call them something like GMC Firebird, GMC GTO etc.
Next year, Buick will release the Buick Firebird. It will still have the Pontiac badge, split grille and all... also the Trans Am
Mike Cronis I agree they should do that
One of those, and a 70 LS6 454 SS Chevelle. Dream muscle.
Great restoration. Loved these cars as a kid. Remember seeing one of these on the showroom of Taber Pontiac on Peachtree Rd in Buckhead
The king of gtos!
GroveDog1995 ..
Little GTO, you're really lookin' fine
Three deuces and a four-speed and a 389
Listen to her tachin' up now, listen to her why-ee-eye-ine
C'mon and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO..
I'm more of a Ford Camaro guy, it has to have the optional hemi engine in it though.
Naaah, 1969 Pontiac Charger is where it's at my man
L- Rod the Buick Mustang with a scat pack is the way to go!
L- Rod The Honda Corvette it is
L- Rod I'm a big fan of the Oldsmobile Barracuda
I like the Fiatt Countach with the 1 cylinder 80hp mounted to the 12 speed push button transmission.
Jay at his best, drives for 1/4 mile with left turn signal on and stays in same lane then switches lanes with no signal, veers out into the middle median while looking at the gauges lol.
They are signals for the camera cars.
I noticed the left turn in several videos. I beleive it is a signal for camera vehicle to pass, but not positive
@@postoffice146
Funny , I noticed that . My 65 Pontiac has had an issue with the indicator getting stuck and I got a new switch now I need the cable from the column. I signal for everything especially driving that ship ! I use hand signals , seems everyone thinks I’m waving or drying my hand 😂
it happens when u drive muscle cars..lOl
Yawn, just enjoy looking at muscle car heaven, don't ruin it for us, idiot.
Had a 67 GTO with a 6 pack but fell for Mopar with a 69 Road Runner and then a 68 GTX. The rubber baby bumpers on the Pontiacs lost me. Love your show! Try to catch all of them. Thanks for bringing back the memories .
Yes - Yes - Yes more classic cars!!!! Love it!!!
Jay is a classic himself
I feel really old remembering when tires came with those blue stripes on the sidewall that turned white.
HunterShows it was tire soap to protect white walls, they still use it on some RWL tires
You can still get white wall tires, but they really dont work (looks wise) on modern cars. My 1990 Lincoln had them. I think it was the last production car to fit WW tires.
HunterShows Don't forget the Bias plied tires,if that's how you spell it!
lol it's not that long ago.
HunterShows I work at a shop and we put those on all the time.
Love every year of the GTO's but I've got the next best car that Pontiac made (1969 Firebird 400 w/the hood mounted tachometer)
you got the better
The “Judge” is a absolute iconic car, back in the day these cars were very sought after, and even now after 50 years. Very nice
Thanks Jay. And Thanks to the Coker Tire Guy for lending the car!
Beautiful car, but that exhaust leak bugged me the whole time you were driving it lol
The exhaust leak makes it sound like my 2000 expedition.
I’ve got a 2001 Expedition Eddie Bauer, great SUVs!
BitHead1000 incorrect intake gasket sounds like this on Pontiacs.
BitHead1000 just curious my 02 expedition has problems starting, could it be the fuel pump???
Makes it sound like a 1980 F150.
my brother had a 71 Buick skylark that looked just like this GTO loved that car
Whats nice on this show is the honest down to earth guests, enthusiasts who know the cars and have no intention of selling for a quick buck. Its good and its honest. Great to watch.
My next door neighbor (in the mid ‘70’s) who was only a couple years older than me with several paper routes was able to afford a used 1972 LeMans. My family had some Pontiacs, but his car inspired my Pontiac obsession. He had Cragar wheels, but stock beyond that. That series of body really cemented my love for the marque. 1969 Firebird is still my favorite, by just a little.
1967 GTO what a car!
I've got Coker red line tires on my 1972 Lemans. This car could benefit from a Gear vender's overdrive unit.
"It Never Rains In SoCal"
'cept when Jay shoots a vid!
hahaha
Omg....love love love that engine sound!!!!
I was in high school when this came out. Drooled for days over the car mags with it...