[trishieldchief]

Originally Posted by Judge273

WOW! That sure looks like original paint, and very complete. It looks like it could have been driven home?

Nice find and the details must be very interesting, as it looks like it was found early last year?

Great picture of a very rare, and desirable car. Thanks for the share, and hope to hear lots more...

Wow is right Mike.
Change all the fluids give it a tune up and head to the street.
Rough and ready Musclecars that look as if they were pulled out of 1979 are awesome!

[The Boss]

DAMN!

...and so close!

[71GP76TA]

Judging by the old Kelly Super Chargers, I'd say that is probably a very low mile car. Those Kellys are probably the 2nd set of tires that car has ever had. Neat car!

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Hellooooo Lucille, how-do-you-do ! (borrowed from Fats Domino)

Outrageous Find. Congrats and best wishes to new owner.
Full credit to previous owners on preservation.

[Steve Hoog]

Who said there was a new owner?

[Judge273]

That's true! It may have been the car on a trailer thats gives one the impression of a trophy deer on a bumper. Someone showing their proud catch.

I hope the owner will show us some more! This one could be interesting as it is in a such complete state.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Yeh i jumped to conclusion seeing it on a trailer.

I figured someone like Henley accidently tripped over another 4 leaf clover and a 71 JVert landed on the trailer.

Sometimes a guy who has owned a Killer Car for a long time will load it up on a trailer just to move it to another location/better location. I moved one Friday night myself !

[Steve Hoog]

Right on; now I see that the hydro has not clouded the judgement as much as it could have!

[muscle_collector]

it is still the original owner. he was taking it to be restored. should be done in a few months.
i think it has to be one of the coolest all round gto's ever made. explanation:
unlimited performance possibilities with the engine and trans,
12 bolt rear end
as good as it gets for driving and handling on a gto
nothing anymore flashy than the judge decals, stripes and spoiler
and drop top to top it off.

gramps you are the king around here in my books.

[RAIV70TA]

I see this car on a regular basis(Friday as a matter of fact). It's coming along great. My long time friend is doing the restoration. I've known about the car for over 20 years. It's original owner(as stated), 100% original powertrain,etc. Original paint, never wrecked. That's all I can share for now, I want to respect how much info the owner wants out!

[gtojon]

I can imagine if you are the original owner of this car, after 38 years it would be nice to see it restored. But... that car looks like it would clean up and be one nice survivor, something that it is more appealing to many, including me.

[RAIV70TA]

unfortunately, I'm not the owner, just a friend. It had been sitting for 25+ years. It was decided to restore it.

[Judge273]

ANOTHER BIG WOW! Original owner, well kept secret for years, plus it has complete original dayone drivetrain, and a fresh resto on its dayone sheetmetal...Doesn't get any better than that!!!

Besides nobody likes rust on their babies!!! Just hope the owner wants to share some more information. That car needs some magazine coverage!

[fvgramps]

Hi, Gentlemen,

Couldn't hide any longer! Thank you all for your comments. We were just trying to release the debutante closer to her restore completion in full dressage.

Yes, we are the original owner. We special ordered it in Sept '70 (after selling our '69 Cardinal Red Judge, Conv, Blk Top, 4 spd, 400 ci/365hp ... don't we wish we had kept that one, too !) didn't take delivery 'til Jan '71 due to the GM strike. Car has been at our restorer since Nov '04,(as shown her leaving in the pic) and is just taking shape now. Getting nervous with anticpation.

Unfortunately, any pics of the car when new have "disappeared", but I did find most all of my original ME registrations, though, '71 original, '72,'73, '74, sat idle for'75/76 then reg'd again in '77 and '78.
We didn't find out about the rarity of our car until late '79. We had a stock car then and entered it at a local "World of Wheels" car show. There was a white '71 conv Judge clone on display. After discussions, we advised the owner of our "real" car, and he offered to trade me his brand new TA, sight unseen. Only after that did we discover our "diamond in the rough". He kept calling us every 3 months for 3 yrs, asking if we would change our mind. Kept low key all these years because of situations like that.
Now we're in a position to bring the diamond to a full polish.

Will try to send pics later as the rolling chassis is completed. Waiting on tires to arrive, will visit engine re-builder this week (no major parts needed) to schedule reassembly and dyno, transmission is completed, rear end and drive shaft are completed, hope to have the rolling chassis fully assembled by mid-Feb.
Body parts (~90%) have been completely restored to date and are in primer. May have the body painted by late Feb./early March. Then it's all internal reassembly. We're shooting for it's premier release to the public at the "Show" in Dayton in July.

We will certainly try to keep you all supplied with progress reports and pictures.

[keith k]

Neat story, and what an awesome car. On the short list of all time most desireable Pontiacs!

Thanks for posting.

[Judge273]

Thanks for the share fvgramps! You made the Judge forum better for it!!

[JLHarper]

FVGRAMPS;

Thanks for sharing that, what a neat story! A one of a kind for sure: original owner and rarity of the car.

Its stayed in what looks to be very good shape, and must been kept up very nice having gone through those hard Maine winters.

Im curious, and if you dont mind me asking: when it was special ordered, did the dealer (or Pontiac) ever try and swap out delivery with another model already done, or one closer to being done, or a car not taken by person who ordered?
Just wondering, as I heard they would do that when supply problems were around.

Good luck with the resto. Hope to see you and the car at GTOAA.
Jeff

[CDN2PLS2]

Great Story,Is the interior Blue? What's it have for Options?

[The Boss]

Was the white Judge at World of Wheels in Boston? Was it the one with the custom speakers in the head rests and the gold trim?

I think I have pictures of that from the early 80's.

Great car Gramps, keep us posted, can't wait to see it done!

[fvgramps]

Hi, Guys,

The car was delivered just as we had ordered it. Came directly from the "P"ontiac plant as such. The interior is blue not white as many clones to date have had.

We had just gotten married in July '70 so the options list was minimal. No hood tach, (can remember that "discussion" at the time) ... :-( ... just "Judge" pkg, Safe-T-Track, P/B Radio, PS, PB, Mats frt/rear, Console, Turbo Hydromatic, Rally wheels, no honeycomb, another "discussion" item. MSRP $4865.05.

The "World of Wheels" show was in Central Maine at that time, not Boston, and we didn't get pictures, either, did get a trophy though for the race car.

Thanks, Guys,
Have a great evening.