[Pepper Judge]

Originally Posted by 68gtoMN

The story is interesting and there are more details to tell about how the car was ordered and picked up. There is certainly speculation even amongst those who have crawled about the car regarding how that black bumper came to be...but I'll wait for the story on this car to be published and I'll speak with the owner again before providing any of that backstory.

Lastly, let me state that I have first-hand knowledge of the original Pontiac document that proves this car's provenance as THE last Judge. I am unable to say much more about that at this time. Another member who posts here has access to that document but he too is forbidden to share it publicly.

Let's wait for the story to be published and then we can resume this discussion.

Interesting for sure. When is the story expected to be published?

[Judge273]

Me too!

Maybe it will explain why Pontiac thought a black bumper looked good.

Since, the original owner painted the car and bumper. He agreed with it.

Love the mystery and documentation that surrounds these cars!

[68gtoMN]

I don't know that the original owner painted the bumper. The color portion of the car received a re-do but I'm not certain the front bumper did. We'll add more to this story later. BTW - I can't say WHEN the story will be published, but it will be. I'll check with Scott to see if he has any info on that.

[unruhjonny]

the bumper being black seems wholly plausible to me in light of other "special order" paint colour 70-73 Trans Am's.
Since these components were painted seperately, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume the bumper installed was intended to be repainted to match the rest of the car either before the car was delivered, or at a time that the owner decided to do so.

[feb69judge]

Bump

[71JudgeFNG]

Just checking in - we're planning on heading down to the Indian Uprising show in early August with the car, and will even have the original owner (my MIL) along with us. Hope to see some of you guys out there!

[Pepper Judge]

Originally Posted by 71JudgeFNG

Just checking in - we're planning on heading down to the Indian Uprising show in early August with the car, and will even have the original owner (my MIL) along with us. Hope to see some of you guys out there!

Any "secrets" or theories revealed at the Indian Uprising in August?

Any updated on when the rest of the story is to be published?

[71JudgeFNG]

Originally Posted by Pepper Judge

Any "secrets" or theories revealed at the Indian Uprising in August?



Any updated on when the rest of the story is to be published?

It was a great experience at the Uprising, and my MIL had a fantastic time at the show. It really brought back a lot of memories of the car, and she loved how excited everyone was to see it and meet the original owner. Thanks to everyone who stopped by talked about the car.

As far as secrets or revelations, there weren’t any major revelations, but the black Endura front bumper being factory original seems to have been an agreed certainty. My MIL recalls it always being that way, and that they actually liked the way it looked which explains why it was never repainted. A few of the guys I talked to confirmed that is how special paint cars were delivered because of the Endura manufacturing process. It was also pointed out again that the Orbit Orange paint code was included on the Fisher body tag beyond the “- -“ paint code (AF 128 - the DuPont paint code). There are also some small details brought up like the trunk torsion rods being set too loose so the trunk falls (because the Judge spoiler addition is too heavy), and the missing 455 HO air cleaner decal (not to mention a missing correct cleaner wing nut).

We are expecting the write-up to come out within the year, but haven’t heard of an exact date. There was a good story written by a gentleman we spoke to at the Uprising done on The Transmission if you want to catch up in the meantime. Thanks again for all your interest - it has been a blast bringing this car out for you guys to see!


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[muscle_collector]

Originally Posted by 71JudgeFNG

It was a great experience at the Uprising, and my MIL had a fantastic time at the show. It really brought back a lot of memories of the car, and she loved how excited everyone was to see it and meet the original owner. Thanks to everyone who stopped by talked about the car.

As far as secrets or revelations, there weren’t any major revelations, but the black Endura front bumper being factory original seems to have been an agreed certainty. My MIL recalls it always being that way, and that they actually liked the way it looked which explains why it was never repainted. A few of the guys I talked to confirmed that is how special paint cars were delivered because of the Endura manufacturing process. It was also pointed out again that the Orbit Orange paint code was included on the Fisher body tag beyond the “- -“ paint code (AF 128 - the DuPont paint code). There are also some small details brought up like the trunk torsion rods being set too loose so the trunk falls (because the Judge spoiler addition is too heavy), and the missing 455 HO air cleaner decal (not to mention a missing correct cleaner wing nut).

We are expecting the write-up to come out within the year, but haven’t heard of an exact date. There was a good story written by a gentleman we spoke to at the Uprising done on The Transmission if you want to catch up in the meantime. Thanks again for all your interest - it has been a blast bringing this car out for you guys to see!


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are you saying it says AF-128 on the cowl tag? I don't recall anything like that on my 71 OO it has the dashes.

[Pepper Judge]

Originally Posted by 71JudgeFNG

We are expecting the write-up to come out within the year, but haven’t heard of an exact date. There was a good story written by a gentleman we spoke to at the Uprising done on The Transmission if you want to catch up in the meantime. Thanks again for all your interest - it has been a blast bringing this car out for you guys to see!

Bringing this one back to the top and would like to hear more...

Missed the comment there was more on The Transmission site; here is the link and a photo from the article https://www.thetransmission.com/2019...ir-judge-made/

Interesting information on the ownership and how the car came to be, as well as the original paint.

[71JudgeFNG]

And of course, I welcome all your advice and suggestions on the car. It’s really fantastic to have a place where all the experienced owners and professionals can exchange thoughts and ideas. We’re just trying to enjoy the ride and keep the legacy of this Judge going strong for years to come.


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[MikeNoun]

The Endura bumper story was in a recent edition of POCI's 'Smoke Signals'. We spoke to the man that invented Endura, Paul Haines, who also was a guest speaker at the 2019 GTOAA Convention.

[71JudgeFNG]

Yes - it includes both the dashes and on the bottom is AF 128


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[muscle_collector]

wow, I have never noticed it. I pulled a pic off my phone I had taken quite a while back. never knew that was what the AF-128 was. mine also appears to have something else on it like 926 or 928 but the pic is terrible. I will have to take a look at it.

[71JudgeFNG]

Yeah, I was re-reading through the thread before we went to the uprising and saw someone had pointed out that AF 128 was likely the paint code. I don’t recall if this link was provided or if I found it on my own, but this shows the code matches up:
http://paintref.com/cgi-bin/paintdetail.cgi?ppg=2257

Edit - the link doesn’t seem to be posting, so here is a screenshot:
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[Held for Ransom]

Yes, that is the link I posted for John. Gary, yours has the 926 one would expect to accompany the AF128

[muscle_collector]

learn something new all the time. ive been into these cars since the mid 70's (loved cars since I was a little kid but didn't start buying them until the mid 70's) and have never had any idea that was a paint code. excellent documentation on the orbit orange color. thank you for the information.

[Brewster]

Get story and I too look forward in seeing it at the Dells this year.

[R 70 Judge]

Very cool story

[68gtoMN]

Scott and his wife are a delight to know and their story is a fun one!

I recall having received an email from Scott on 5/7/18 to our Land of Lakes Muscle Car Classic website (show ran for 33 years, since disbanded). I responded to Scott's inquiry and we soon connected via phone, then texts and we "got blood pumping". I asked Scott to send me some pictures, promising to keep them private, so I could provide guidance for him to validate his story. With each exchange, we grew more confident that this story was correct. Clearly, Scott/family appreciated the car and wanted to revive it.

As fate would have it, two other members of our GTO club would separately come in contact with Scott after I first connected with him. Paul K. helped Scott with documentation and recommendations for mechanical inspection/repair and John Z. happened to be driving past the road where the garage faced on the very day that Scott/Family and Paul K were there to bring the car from the garage. John's tale is just hilarious as he estimates he's driven past that house/garage more than 1,000 times and had never before seen the garage open. As John was driving past, he caught a glimpse of Orbit Orange out of the corner of his eye and said to his passenger (paraphrase), "I thought I just saw an Orbit Orange GTO!". John decided to turn around to investigate, as he had done so often over the years. It was then when he came upon the house/garage and all of the people pulling the car from it's long slumber and then he comes face-to-face with Paul, a friend of nearly 40 years. That was wild!

I have additional pictures of the car from what Scott shared in early May of 2018 before anyone outside of the family had seen it. If he's OK with me posting some of them, I will do so.

Lastly, I was able to meet Scott / Wife at the MCACN show where we also met DIEGO, who was able to share information proving the car was, as claimed, the LAST Judge produced - story matched perfectly.

Scott, text me when you get this - I can't locate your number! :-o

Neat stuff!! Kurt