Quote:
Originally Posted by CarlBraun
Thanks for the warm welcome
the Northwoods means south of the Canadian border and north of Chicago. That's all I'll say for now.
I've purchased this car after having my 69 Judge stolen so, as you can imagine, I'm a little reserved on info with where I live.
1970 Ram Air IV Judge, Polar White, currently with black wing and hood scoops. Formula wheel, AM radio, Auto, PS, PB, Rally gauges, 3.90 axle, Ride/Handling, tinted glass ALL and white letter tires. sold in south Texas and is in great shape. front nose needs a bit of attention but otherwise very nice.
I have original paperwork from dealer where the original owner ordered the car and worked since he was 17 years old. He has since passed away. Working with his son to try and get some photos of the car when it was new...to see if it truly was a WT7 car. The son said his father blew the motor in 72 or 73 so there is a very healthy 70 WT motor in it now. That motor will be replaced with a 1971 SR Ram Air IV block, 614 heads and aluminum intake with crossover...original RA IV manifolds too.
I'm still waiting to verify whether the engine has the original alternator, distributor and carb with it.
Pics to follow soon
I'm looking for a set of nice JT rims for it as it has fatter Rally II wheels on it now.
Carl
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I have some updates on my Judge that I recently purchased.
If you have been following this thread, and another (WT7 thread) I've been commenting on, you've read that I spoke with the original owners son that purchased the Judge I now own. I reached out to all of those relatives of Armando Sr. in Texas that I could find offering compensation for any info on their father or his 1970 GTO Judge. I was contacted by a person claiming to be his son. "Aldo" told me some basic history on the car and then hung up on me...I thought that was a bit strange until today...when I spoke with the ORIGINAL OWNER of my Judge.
It seems the person I spoke with is related to the family but may have been looking for money in exchange for any history he could provide on the car and it now appears possible he was calling me from the penitentiary where he spending his days for fraudulent behavior...thus the quick hang-up.
My original posting stated that the original owner of my car worked at Yoder Pontiac in McAllen TX but its now been revealed that the SON of the original owner was the one that purchased the car from Yoder. Still with me???
Armando Sr. started at Yoder as a detail man and go-fer for the dealership when he was 17 and worked there until he retired at 70. According to his son;
Armando Jr., his dad was a hard working guy with poor English but a great work ethic. In 1970,
Armando Jr was ready to purchase a new Ram Air IV Trans Am from the dealer where his dad worked. Armando Jr said that he'd read all about the new for 1970 F body Trans Am and the news about its available Ram Air IV motor. When he went to order the car, his father intervened and, with the help of old man Yoder, convinced his son to stay away from the Trans Am and go with a GTO instead. Yoder said Pontiac was giving him fits with ordering the F body cars and basically said they couldn't supply one with a Ram Air IV. Yoder wanted Armando Jr to order up a 1970 Judge instead that could sit in his showroom to entice others into considering a Judge too. Yoder also pushed Jr into buying the car with an automatic trans and the 390 rear axle claiming it was the best street combination coming out of Pontiac at the time. That said, Jr ordered up the 1970 Ram Air IV Judge with automatic and 390 rear end along with the Formula steering wheel he'd read about and a hood tach. He checked off a few other boxes including gauges, PS, PDB and the upgraded suspension package too.
Armando said when the car finally arrived at the dealer in June of 1970 he was at work and his dad called him to tell him the car had arrived. Jr jumped into his 69 Grand Prix and hustled over to the dealer to see the car sitting on the transport semi rig. The driver started up the car to drive it off of the transport rig and Armando said that he'd never heard a Pontiac sound the way that car did when they fired it up. He said it seemed like forever to get the car off of the transport rig and when they finally did, Yoder told him that they had to "dealer-prep" the car and he couldn't take delivery for a full week...part of the deal Yoder worked out with his father (Armando Sr.) as a way to keep the car on the showroom for others to ogle over. Armando said he was scared the dealer was going to sell the car out from under him. But after the week was up he went and waited all day until the close of business when he was given the OK to take the car. (He had more patience than I would have had!!!)
Armando was 21 in 1970 when he took delivery of his Ram Air IV Judge.
Armando said the car was a magnet for the local cops with its lumpy cam and skinny Wide Oval tires that would screech and bark at every traffic light. He lost his license twice but said it was worth the hassle.
Armando drove the car until the late 80s when he said he had engine problems and took the engine out of the car along with the removal of the hood, fenders and front end. The car sat next to his house in San Diego TX waiting for him to gather the money to have the engine rebuilt. He claims a rod was thrown that may have damaged the block but he never knew because a "Pontiac racer" from nearby Rio Grande City TX came by and offered him a substantial amount of money for the 614 heads. Armando said he was broke and needed the money so he sold the heads. Shortly after that, another guy came by that wanted to buy the whole car. Armando said he was reluctant but the guy kept coming by on a monthly basis and, finally, his persistence paid off and Armando sold him the car. Armando said the guy was stationed at the nearby naval base in Kingsville TX and had plans to race the car. Armando said he cried the day the guy came to take the car away. This was 1987.
All of this information was provided to me today when I received a call from Armando after tracking him down through a member of the band that he plays keyboards in. I found him on LinkedIn of all places. He said he was apprehensive about calling me and thought maybe I was a scammer looking to cause some trouble. We talked for over an hour and we had to stop a couple of times as he broke down crying while reminiscing over his car. He was completely shocked that it was still around. He claims to have some original paperwork and possible some pictures of the car when he brought it home. I have my fingers crossed!
Armando is a great guy and he has a great memory having asked me about specifics of the car. I sent him some photos and he was quick to point out the incorrect Green/Yellow Judge stripes now installed on the car. Then I asked him the magic question...'did the car have a black spoiler on it when you purchased it'...he said NO. It had a white wing with BLUE and Yellow stripes indicating it wasn't a WT7 car as I had hoped. However, after hearing his story, I wouldn't trade the history of the car for anything and I plan to bring the car back to its original state with the white wing, blue judge stripes and decals and the white hood tach.
I plan on flying down to Corpus Christi this spring to meet Armando and share some Judge memories...ones that he remembers and ones that I will be making in the mean time.
It was a good day today!