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-   70-72 GTO Tempest & LeMans TECH (https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=436)
-   -   Is Orbit Orange a Judge color only in 70? (https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=406679)

PonchoV8 03-29-2004 05:44 PM

or was it put on other A bodies in 70. I would guess that it could be special ordered if not commonly put on non Judges? I understand it's about the least common 70 color, but most common on 70 Judge.

PonchoV8 03-29-2004 05:44 PM

or was it put on other A bodies in 70. I would guess that it could be special ordered if not commonly put on non Judges? I understand it's about the least common 70 color, but most common on 70 Judge.

thg99002 03-30-2004 12:49 PM

I have Orbit Orange and it's not a Judge...

PonchoV8 03-30-2004 01:00 PM

What is your paint code though? Is it a special code or ?

thg99002 03-30-2004 01:21 PM

It says TT on the PHS-documentation. Special code, what's that? Could it be Solid Specl SPS? or what stands that for? I don't really know.

R 70 Judge 03-30-2004 02:29 PM

It's not a Judge only color, but it is very uncommon to see it on a regular GTO. I've only found 1 in the last 10 years or so.
('70 GTO 455 4spd)

It's kind of like the Carousel Red color for '69 Judges. It was mostly a Judge color and very rare to see it on a regular GTO.

The last couple of years I started to count the different colors of documented Judges that I've come across. I counted your car too. http://forums.performanceyears.com/g.../icon_wink.gif

PonchoV8 03-30-2004 06:44 PM

Thanks guys. TT would be factory ordered color. I forgot that we talked about your car having the backwards paint code (like mine) until now, but I thought your car was a Judge. Some cars had a special code when it was not one of the standard colors to choose from--but one that could be special ordered. Usually found on the data plate or ?

So Orbit is the least common color for GTO in 70, but the most common for Judge.
Thanks,

R 70 Judge 03-30-2004 07:38 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
So Orbit is the least common color for GTO in 70, but the most common for Judge.
Thanks, <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Actually, It seems that Polar White is the most common color. I was told that the '70 Judge color was originally Polar White (like '69 was Carousel Red), but it didn't sell well at all. So they came up with Orbit Orange and sales improved significantly.

You may have noticed that just about all of the sales brochures and advertising from GM for '70 Judges featured Polar White cars. It was supposed to be "the" color for 1970.

SpartanMSU 03-30-2004 11:36 PM

I believe OO was a Judge-only color. Anything else would have to be special ordered.

I also don't believe that white was the signature color for the Judge in 1970. Just because it was used in ads and promo pics doesn't prove that. After all, white was not significant color in 1970, but there was an option of having black trim on white cars, and maybe this color was used to showcase this. But white is the most sanitary of colors, and I can't imagine how this would be good to build a wild image of a car.

gtoric 04-11-2004 08:38 AM

There were 618 GTOs painted Orbit Orange (color code T) in 1970. Orbit Orange was supposed to be a color exclusive to The Judge, but as your car proves, it was available as a stock color on any GTO. Special Paint Options (SPO) was not an option available for the GTO because of the special manufacturing and inventory considerations regarding the Endura front bumper. The fact that exact paint production figures for the entire '70 GTO run of 40,149 are published bears this out. Has anyone out there ever seen anything but a two-letter code on a 1970 GTO's Fisher Body tag? The best person to confirm this paint code question is Jim Mattison at PHS. He has seen more paperwork on these cars than anyone else. OO was not a paint color code for 1970. Atoll Blue was the most popular GTO color in '70; Polar White was 8th out of 16.

'ol Pinion head 04-11-2004 05:33 PM

Thought we all went over this before.

To date, have run across two '70 GTO's & one '71 GTO that were factory Orbit Orange & all were non Judges.

SpartanMSU 04-14-2004 08:16 PM

To add, "OO" means Orbit Orange, not a color code.

Also, I know of a Goldenrod Yellow Judge that was built. It's not in the production list. Have you ever added up all the colors and see how it compared to GTO production?

Despite Polar White being 8th on the list, it's close to #1 for Judges. I think red white blue are the most popular colors as well as "OO."

gtoric 04-23-2004 04:56 PM

Sorry SpartanMSU, misunderstood your reference to "OO." I'm back on track now.

Here are the 1970 GTO color production numbers:
Atoll Blue - 4,980
Granada Gold - 4,664
Cardinal Red - 3,777
Pepper Green - 3,661
Verdoro Green - 3,299
Sierra Yellow - 2,889
Palisade Green - 2,487
Polar White - 2,460
Palladium Silver - 2,394
Baja Gold - 2,067
Bermuda Blue - 1,861
Starlight Black - 1,515
Palomino Copper - 1,457
Burgandy - 1,246
Mint Turquoise - 774
Orbit Orange - 618
Total - 40,149

No Goldenrod Yellow GTOs. Is there any PMD documentation for this special order color?

SpartanMSU 04-24-2004 09:11 AM

There's a guy in PA who has one. It's a RAIV car too. He hangs out in the Yenko site on occasion.

PonchoV8 04-24-2004 09:23 AM

Orbit is the least common color for GTO. There were about 3700 Judges built for '70, but obviously less than 618 Judges were Orbit because it wasn't a Judge only color. So, the other colors make up the other 80 percent or so of Judge production.

SpartanMSU 04-24-2004 08:44 PM

OO indeed was a Judge-only color.

gtoric 04-25-2004 07:17 AM

That Goldenrod Yellow GTO is certainly a mystery. Unless there is some sort of PMD sourced documentation for the special order paint color, I'd be very suspicious of its color's origin. The car could have been repainted by the original dealer before the first buyer even took possession of the car.

The manufacture of the Endura bumper was the bug in the batter as far as a factory ordered special paint for the '68-'72 GTOs. There were some mid-years colors that became available in the Pontiac line-up during that time period. For '68 Pink Mist, Windward Blue, Carnival Red, and Marigold Yellow were made available on March 29. The only way you could get this color on a GTO was by ordering the Endura delete option as well. An Endura delete, Pink Mist GTO would be an interesting sight! Orbit Orange was also a mid-year offering; part of the reason that it was the lowest in production. In this case, the color was specific to the GTO/Judge, so the vendor that maunfactured the bumper for PMD was able to supply this color. Asking any vendor to produce other special-order-color bumpers on a one-by-one basis would have been cost prohibitive and a paperwork nightmare that PMD didn't want to deal with.

I have talked to an original owner of a '72 455HO sedan. He ordered the car in Starlight Black, and it arrived at the dealership with a primered front bumper.

thg99002 04-25-2004 10:01 AM

"Orbit Orange was also a mid-year offering; part of the reason that it was the lowest in production"


My car was shipped 12-10-69. The color is Orbit Orange and it's no Judge. All PHS-documented.

SpartanMSU 04-25-2004 09:34 PM

To add to Tommy's, the reason why OO is so rare is that it was only available as an RPO on Judges. But, when the 3500 or so Judges are factored in, the color doesn't seem so rare. I see plenty of Judges, and it's completely believable to me that 1/6 of Judges are OO.

thg99002 04-25-2004 11:10 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by SpartanMSU:
OO indeed was a Judge-only color. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My car has Orbit Orange and as I had said before it's not a Judge.


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