[da judge]

About three years ago, a rural restaurant about 10 miles south of my small south-central Wisconsin city started up a Thursday night car cruise. It was also going to feature live music. I almost thought they were joking as the place was out in the middle of nowhere. Goes to show what I know as the thing just took off. Most nights have been packed with 60 to 70 cars with highs of over 100.

One Thursday in early July this past summer I was at the cruise as usual with my 1970 Judge. GTOs haven't been all that common there with only a 1969 Vedoro Green example as the only other regular attendee. After hanging out with my friends, I decided to take a walk around to the side of the building and check out the overflow section.

There I was surprised to find a Granada Gold 1970 GTO. Wow. I eventually found the owner and talked with him. He was from the Milwaukee area but was staying somewhat close by for the upcoming the GTOAA Nationals in Wisconsin Dells. He had somehow heard about the cruise and decided to drive on over. It sure was nice to talk to him as 1970 GTOs are few and far between around here.

Then, moving on further down the row of cars, I was really surprised at what I found next, a genuine 1970 GTO Judge. Holy cow! It's always great to find something you've never seen before. A quick walk around revealed Atoll Blue in color, a white vinyl roof, black interior with a four-speed trans. It was an attractive combination that I don't think I've ever seen before.

The owner was gone but he soon came back over. I told him I owned the red 1970 Judge out front. He was another nice guy to talk to and appeared to be in his late 40s. He explained that he had just bought the car this spring from a car dealer in Iowa. He seemed to me to have bought the car more because it was a nice car rather than him being a number-obsessed GTO expert. He had graduated high school in the area and currently lives about a half an hour or more directly south of the cruise location.

After that I kind of took a closer look at his car. All of the block letters, part numbers and casting codes appeared to be spot on. But I didn't get to look at the quadrajet carb numbers. It had a reproduction window sticker which said it had been sold new at Arrow Pontiac Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. So the car hasn't traveled too far over it's lifetime.

Overall, I thought it was a great car. Not ready for concurs judging, but a really nice car you could actually enjoy. Kind of like the Judge I own. The only real big complaints may be the alternator bracket, trim rings, underhood body color paint and how far out the splitters are situated (as a 1970 owner, I pay special attention to that).

I told the owner about the upcoming GTOAA National Convention in Wisconsin Dells, but I never saw him or his car there.