1970 RAIV GTO/Judge convertibles
 

I know I've touched on this topic in the past, but a friend with a similar car asked me if I had discovered anything new so I thought I'd revisit the topic.

It all started with RAIV Judge ragtops. No concrete numbers exist, although the number 18-20 has been thrown around for years. Even Fred Simmonds' matrix doesn't define hardtop vs. ragtop production except for all GTOs (only the 455 has clear production numbers for GTO vs. Judge, hardtop vs. convertible).

My friend had asked me if I happened to know about RAIV GTO ragtops, as he was thinking going through a process of elimination to determine RAIV Judge ragtop numbers, but I think the "regular" RAIV GTO ragtops have been overshadowed for quite a long time, not to mention I believe they're probably rarer than an equivalent Judge.

So does anyone have any insight on this topic?

I would prefer a RAIV GTO CONV over the same as a Judge. There used to be one in this area for many years. Tried to buy it but to no avail. RAIV GTO CONV 4 speed is 24 not sure how many of those would be judges. You'd think Mattison could've ran all the GTO VIN's by now and given a definitive number.

I think Mattison needs to go through all the invoices for the 1970 model year, which is hundreds of thousands. That's unlikely.

....

Here's what my friend currently knows (verified by VINs):

In 1970, 162 Judge convertibles were produced. According to Pete McCarthy’s “Pontiac Musclecar Performance”, 3 of these 162 Judge convertibles were 455 autos (YA code), there were no 455 4speed Judge convertibles produced for 1970, so the remainder of the 159 1970 Judge convertibles were either RAIII or RAIV 400s.

Also from McCarthy’s book it is known that 37 1970 RAIV GTO+Judge convertibles were produced in total, and of those 24 were 4-speeds (WW code) and 13 were Autos (XP code). Following the overall sales data of GTOs vs. Judges, McCarthy estimated that possibly half of these 37 convertibles would have been GTOs while the other half Judges, which has lead to an approximation that 12 4-speed and 7 Auto RAIV Judge convertibles were produced in 1970, but this breakdown is purely speculative.

The following are the only RAIV GTO+Judge convertibles known to exist:

Qty Model Trans VIN# Ext Color Int Color Top
#1 of 24 Judge 4-speed 242670B113xxx Cardinal Red Sandalwood White
#2 of 24 Judge 4-speed 242670Z126xxx Pepper Green Green White
#3 of 24 Judge 4-speed 242670B129xxx Pepper Green Black White
#4 of 24 Judge 4-speed 242670Z133xxx Cardinal Red Red White
#5 of 24 Judge 4-speed 242670P197xxx Orbit Orange Saddle Dark Gold
#6 of 24 Judge 4-speed 242670P208xxx Palladium Silver Black Black

#1 of 13 Judge Auto 242670Z119xxx Granada Gold Sandalwood Dark Gold
#2 of 13 Judge Auto 242670B129xxx Orbit Orange Black Black
#3 of 13 Judge Auto 242670P177xxx Starlight Black Sandalwood White
#4 of 13 Judge Auto 242670P197xxx Atoll Blue Black White
#5 of 13 Judge Auto 242670P209xxx Palladium Silver Black Black
#6 of 13 Judge Auto 242670P248xxx Atoll Blue Blue White
#7 of 13 Judge Auto 242670P287xxx Polar White Black Black

who is saying they are the only ones known to exist????

This is his own registry. There could be others not on the list, so if you know of one, spill the beans.

Regarding RAIV GTO ragtops, I know there was a red one in the 1980s magazine Guide to Muscle Cars, but we can't know for sure if it was real other than assume so. And I recall one headed to auction several years ago but there was a legal issue with it? Like an owner and a shop owner and a big cluster****?