[Judd McPherson]

There have been a few mentions in previous threads about the Judge Convertible that I recently bought, so I thought that I would share the information about it.

Thirty-nine years. That’s how long I waited for my friend Kevin to sell me his unrestored, numbers-matching 1969 GTO Judge Convertible. I have asked to buy it repeatedly over the past four decades. With only 108 1969 GTO Judge Convertibles ever built, the odds of me ever owning one were not in my favor. But it finally happened! I am now the caretaker of this legendary muscle car.
I remember when Kevin bought it. It was the summer that I graduated from high school. He brought home The Judge on July 4th weekend. He took us for a few laps of “Cruisin’ Main Street”. For those that don’t remember, that is what we did before cell phones. Everyone met up on Main Street and made a constant loop from 28th Street to 15th Street. The popular meeting spots were Sonic Drive-In, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Hardee’s and the Car Wash. We would lean against cars and talk and laugh for hours. And if we were lucky, Kevin would take us for rides in his GTO Judge Convertible or his HO 455 Trans-Am. The loop was always the same- Kevin would take the car out South Main to the turn around by the Harley-Davidson dealership, and then we could feel the power as Kevin floored it, headed back towards town. Those are some of my most vivid memories from the 1980s.

The providence of this GTO Judge is very unique! Here is the history, with last names left out for privacy. The Judge was original sold at Barton Pontiac in St. Louis, Missouri, as one of three 1969 GTO Judge Convertibles that were ordered at the same time, resulting in sequential order numbers on the PHS invoices:

#91471 Verodo Green Automatic
#91472 Mayfair Maize 4-speed (my car)
#91473 Matador Red Automatic

Triplets! What are the odds that 3 of the 108 1969 GTO Judge Convertibles ever built would be ordered like this? All three are now listed in the 1969 GTO Judge Registry. This Mayfair Maize Judge Convertible (91472) was the first of the three to get shipped on 4/23/69. The other two GTO Judge Convertibles from the group order were shipped on 5/8/69. All three were nearly identically optioned, the exceptions being color, mine was the only 4-speed, and one of the automatic convertibles was ordered with air-conditioning. All were ordered with hidden headlights, but none of the three were ordered with the hood tachometer. It is believed that the batch order was placed by three employees from the St. Louis Corvette Plant since it was right up the road from the dealership, but I am stilling trying to get solid confirmation. I have spoken to one of the salesmen from Barton Pontiac during that time period, who confirmed that Barton Pontiac was the dealership where many of the Corvette Plant workers ordered their GTOs, Trans Ams and Firebirds. Unfortunately, his coworker Mickey McHugh that he believes would have been the salesman on the three cars, passed away in 2020. When asked if many of their performance cars were ordered without the hood tachometer, he said that most of the real “gearheads” felt that the factory hood tachometer was inaccurate and unreliable. They would install an aftermarket Stewart-Warner or Sun tachometer on the steering column instead.

This Judge was bought by a gentleman named Donnie from Blue Eye, Arkansas. Donnie has since passed away, so we cannot confirm any specifics of his purchase of the car. We know that during Donnie’s ownership, he put a set of mismatched chrome wheels on the car that remained on the car when he sold it to Mike from Berryville, Arkansas in 1973. Wanting the original factory look, Mike purchased a set of HN coded Rally II wheels and trim rings from a dealer to return the wheels to the factory original Rally II setup. The wheels were from a 1973 Pontiac Ventura II, so they had the optional trim rings. The HN code Rally II wheels remained on the car until recently, when I replaced them with correct JA code Rally II wheels.

When Mike took a traveling sales job, he sold the Judge to his friend Galen on June 19, 1976 to buy a more practical hardtop. He sold it to Galen for $1,200.00 with the agreement that Mike had the right of first refusal to purchase it back if Galen ever sold it. Galen’s original loan paperwork remains with the other paperwork that has been accumulated on the car. The loan documents show that Galen had 18 payments of $73.00 each to purchase the car. Galen decided to sell the car in 1977, so Mike exercised his option to purchase the Judge back from him.

Mike had the Judge repainted in 1985 with correct single-stage lacquer paint. The original factory paint was failing, as most of the muscle cars from that era did. He changed the side mirror to a remote sport mirror from the 1970 version GTO when it was repainted. Mike purchased the factory “Judge” stripe and logo package at the Berryville, Arkansas Pontiac dealership. Although Pontiac released instructions on March 31, 1969 for Mayfair Maize colored Judges to receive olive-colored stripes, Mike’s April built car came from the factory with the blue stripe package. The decal color chart obviously had not made it to the assembly line yet when this judge received its stripe package. Mike went to his local Pontiac dealership in Berryville and ordered the same-colored stripes that came on the car from the factory, making this a very unique stripe package Mayfair Maize GTO Judge with blue stripes instead of olive. Mike also installed a new convertible top during this time frame. Mike and his wife had their Anniversary picture taken with the Judge and their beloved dog shortly after the car was repainted, but before the new stripes were installed. That picture is posted here.

Mike also confirmed that the car came from Donnie with a “GTO – Motor Trend Magazine Car of the Year” sticker on the dash trim. Dealer-installed window and dash stickers were common in 1969, as promotion for the GTO winning car of the year in 1968. Donnie, Mike and Kevin all left the sticker on the dash. Although partially deteriorated, the sticker remains on the Judge today.

Mike retained ownership of the Judge until 1987 when he found out that he and his wife were expecting their first child. Anticipating the cost of having children and needing more storage space since it was an extra car, Mike sold the Judge to my friend Kevin on July 1st, 1987. Kevin replaced the carpet in August of 1987, and discovered an extremely well-preserved build sheet for the Judge under the carpet. He also replaced the exhaust system and changed the incorrect sport-styled side mirror back to the original chrome mirror.

Since buying the Judge from Kevin, I have continued the tradition of preservation instead of restoration. This Judge is a time capsule. It has the original to the car interior with the exception of the OEM front bucket seats that I was able to acquire from another survivor car. The original front seat upholstery had cracked and separated, so they have been removed and placed in storage tubs. The rest of the aging, such a small crack in the dash pad or the small cracks around the edge of the console lid, will not be repaired because they are part of the history of this Judge. Some of the wear tells a story, like the silver trim around the AM radio that tells which radio stations were chosen most often by the wear pattern.

I do not intend to do even a partial restoration, but I have replaced some of the incorrect parts that have been installed over the years during maintenance. I have replaced items like the voltage regulator and master cylinder with factory correct OEM parts. I then turned the car over to my trusted friend and mechanic, Tim Blackford for all new fluids, hoses and whatever else Tim felt that it needed to be a worry-free driver. He replaced the soft hoses on the original brake system, installed new brake pads/shoes, changed the spark plugs and points, installed new shocks, etc. I am leaving one of the aftermarket parts on it that was installed in the past- a set of vintage Whitaker Supronic spark plug wires that Mike bought and installed on 5/19/79. The receipt from Continental Auto Supply in Berryville, Arkansas was still in the glovebox. They are really neat looking and part of the history of the Judge.

As luck would have it, Tim finished up with enough of the maintenance items that I got to take my wife, daughter and two of my grandkids for a ride in it today for my birthday. I plan on driving the car regularly, just as every owner before me has done. The beauty of a 41-year-old paint job is that you aren’t afraid of a new little rock chip here and there. And the same dealer-installed undercoating that has protected the undercarriage for the past 57 years is still intact and doing its job spectacularly. Another factor in the preservation of this GTO Judge Convertible is the fact that it has been stored in Kevin’s temperature and humidity-controlled storage facility for most of the past 39 years. I have also decided to leave the all of the dirt and grime in the engine compartment since we know that it hasn’t been washed in at least four decades. The valve covers weep a little, but I just can’t bring myself to detail under the hood since it took decades for that dirt to build up on it. Once that “patina” is gone, it can never be replicated. As they say, they are only original once!

The GTO enthusiast community has been absolutely awesome in helping me find the parts to return the Judge to factory correct status. It is things like brake components, etc. that are not very easy to find. I want to thank in particular Tim Schroder, Todd Teeter, Matt Mariacher, Dan Gregory, Joe Furlong, Kevin Landis, Alex Sehely, Phil Fern, Barry Martin, Mike Noun and Steve Phillips. All of them have been extremely gracious with their time and knowledge. The GTO enthusiast community is second-to-none!

When I first tracked down Mike (the guy that bought the judge from his friend in 1973), he was elated to know that the Judge was still around and doing well. We have plans for him to come drive it as soon as weather permits. Mike has invited me to bring the Judge to the Mt. Vernon Rotary Club Annual Car Show in April, which I plan on doing if the weather permits. How cool will it be to sit with the man that bought the car from his friend 53 years ago? It will be a reunion between Mike and his old Judge that has been almost 40 years in the making.

* Update: The Verodo Green GTO Judge Convertible from “the triplets” has been located in a private collection/car museum in Dripping Springs, Texas. It has been rotisserie restored. The Matador Red GTO Judge Convertible from the order of three has been located in a private collection in Dallas, Texas and is currently being restored for the second time. When the restoration of the Matador Red Judge is complete, we plan on getting all three cars together for a reunion.

[Judd McPherson]

A few more pictures.

[johnta1]

WOW!!!!


Thanks for the info!

[bluejudge]

Congratulations, great car and story!!!

[GTOnly70]

Amazing car and great story!

[will slow gto]

Beautiful car, great story, thanks for sharing and being generous with the photos. My 69 GTO that I’ve owned for 30+ years is also Mayfair maize so love hearing about one that you’ve waiting a long time for.

[RAIIIJudge]

Really gorgeous car, 4spd and hideaways no less ; )
I've had this midnight green 4spd Judge since I was a senior in HS, 1982.
Lotta memories and a lotta stories within.
it's a trip tooling around town w/ my 17yo ha.
I snagged engine bay pic!

[vertigto]

Those were the days...a hot rod in HS.

[north]

Neat story and great looking car!

[north]

Can't be many judge ragtops in such original condition anymore. Such a unique car.

BTW, I have the invoice for the green one mentioned above but not the red one, two out of three ain't bad!

[b-man]

Great story, your ‘69 Judge convertible is no doubt one of the nicest ones in existence.

Congrats !

[trishieldchief]

Great story Judd, thanks for sharing, really like the Mayfair Maize.

[Pepper Judge]

Congratulations and thank your for sharing the history with photos of your Judge.

Beautiful that is was preserved so well over the decades by the prior caretakers!