[OneJudge]

I wanted to share what I believe is one of the most historically significant and best-documented early 1969 GTO Judges in existence.
My car is a Framingham-built 1969 GTO Judge (VIN 242379G125205). It is the lead / pilot unit of the verified five-car DON 00017 corporate pilot batch — the official documented start of regular Judge production under Pontiac’s “pattern cars” rollout.
Key facts supported by primary documents:
• Validated by Jim Mattison / Pontiac Historical Services as the very first Judge built at the Framingham Assembly Plant for regular production.
• Part of the DON 00017 five-car corporate pilot allocation (Framingham + Atlanta ×2 + Arlington + Fremont), built in the exact mid-January 1969 window described in Pontiac’s own May 8, 1969 internal production memo (“Production of The Judge started in mid January with 1,000 pattern cars being built in Carousel Red only”).
• Matches the exact specifications authorized in the December 12, 1968 Car Distribution Bulletin — the official corporate document that created the Judge option (Sales Code 554 / WT-1).
• Complete surviving factory documentation: Full PHS report, original broadcast sheet (correctly showing DON/Order #00017), and cowl tag (01B date + trim tag FN 56607 Parchment interior).
• Built during the first realistic week of regular production after the New Year holiday shutdown. Dealers were not yet authorized to place regular customer orders — this was a corporate-directed pilot allocation.
This is not speculation. It is backed by primary Pontiac Motor Division documents from 1968–1969, combined with exceptional surviving factory records.
I’ve spent years researching and documenting this car, including the full DON 00017 pilot batch. I’m happy to share the documentation with serious researchers or historians.
Photos attached: car, broadcast sheet, and cowl tag.
Appreciate any thoughtful discussion.

[Held for Ransom]

Pattern Judge on BaT. I see John is already on it.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...c-gto-judge-38

[Held for Ransom]

Originally Posted by OneJudge

I wanted to share what I believe is one of the most historically significant and best-documented early 1969 GTO Judges in existence.
My car is a Framingham-built 1969 GTO Judge (VIN 242379G125205). It is the lead / pilot unit of the verified five-car DON 00017 corporate pilot batch — the official documented start of regular Judge production under Pontiac’s “pattern cars” rollout.
Key facts supported by primary documents:
• Validated by Jim Mattison / Pontiac Historical Services as the very first Judge built at the Framingham Assembly Plant for regular production.
• Part of the DON 00017 five-car corporate pilot allocation (Framingham + Atlanta ×2 + Arlington + Fremont), built in the exact mid-January 1969 window described in Pontiac’s own May 8, 1969 internal production memo (“Production of The Judge started in mid January with 1,000 pattern cars being built in Carousel Red only”).
• Matches the exact specifications authorized in the December 12, 1968 Car Distribution Bulletin — the official corporate document that created the Judge option (Sales Code 554 / WT-1).
• Complete surviving factory documentation: Full PHS report, original broadcast sheet (correctly showing DON/Order #00017), and cowl tag (01B date + trim tag FN 56607 Parchment interior).
• Built during the first realistic week of regular production after the New Year holiday shutdown. Dealers were not yet authorized to place regular customer orders — this was a corporate-directed pilot allocation.
This is not speculation. It is backed by primary Pontiac Motor Division documents from 1968–1969, combined with exceptional surviving factory records.
I’ve spent years researching and documenting this car, including the full DON 00017 pilot batch. I’m happy to share the documentation with serious researchers or historians.
Photos attached: car, broadcast sheet, and cowl tag.
Appreciate any thoughtful discussion.

I would think there would be more than 5 00017 cars. There should been an 00017 for each major Zone number.

[OneJudge]

Originally Posted by Held for Ransom

I would think there would be more than 5 00017 cars. There should been an 00017 for each major Zone number.

;
Only 5 needed 1 pilot test for each assembly plant building the A chassis there were other DON ‘ S
00018 - 00143 my possession these all went to dealerships around the country. The Plsn to get them our fast

[johnta1]

There are more than 1 'DON' per plant, with only 5 plants for the dealer zones.

Link to the Pattern Judges.

Click the heading 'Pattern' and it will list by the pattern number.
Example: A-Atlanta has 2 pattern 00017's
One in Zone 19 and one in Zone 20.
One each for the other plants.

Also this page does not have every example out there. I would like to get all the examples that were made though!

There are many others not found yet.

[north]

DON (Dealer Order Number) is by Zone not by plant.

I do have another Judge in my listing from Framingham that has a VIN number over 5,000 earlier than the car in question. VIN's were not exactly sequential but 5,000 cars represents probably three weeks Pontiac production at that plant.

[OneJudge]

I wanted to contribute primary documentation on what stands as one of the most historically significant and thoroughly verified early 1969 GTO Judges: my Framingham-built example, VIN 242379G125205.
This is the lead/pilot unit of the verified five-car DON 000017 corporate pilot allocation (Framingham + Atlanta ×2 + Arlington + Fremont). It represents the documented start of regular Judge production under Pontiac’s “pattern cars” rollout in mid-January 1969.
Key facts supported by primary Pontiac Motor Division documents (1968–1969):
• Validated by Jim Mattison / Pontiac Historical Services (PHS) as the very first Judge built at the Framingham Assembly Plant for regular production.
• Part of the small DON 000017 corporate pilot batch built in the exact mid-January window referenced in Pontiac’s May 8, 1969 internal production memo (“Production of The Judge started in mid January with 1,000 pattern cars being built in Carousel Red only”).
• Matches the exact specifications authorized in the December 12, 1968 Car Distribution Bulletin — the official corporate document that created the Judge option (Sales Code 554 / WT-1).
• Complete surviving factory documentation: Full PHS report, original broadcast sheet (correctly showing DON/Order #000017 and associated job details), and cowl tag (01B build date + trim tag FN 56607 Parchment interior).
• Built during the first realistic week of regular production after the New Year holiday shutdown. This was a corporate-directed pilot allocation before dealers were broadly authorized to place regular customer orders.
This is not speculation or interpretation. It is backed by original Pontiac documents from the period, cross-referenced with exceptional surviving factory records for this specific car.
Regarding earlier comments in the thread:
• On the number of 000017 cars and Zone vs. plant allocation: The initial pilot batch was intentionally limited to one test/pilot car per major assembly plant building the A-body chassis (five cars total across the plants listed above). This was a special corporate hold/allocation to validate and launch the new option quickly. Subsequent DONs (starting 000018 and continuing through at least the low 001xx range in available records) were used for broader dealer/zone distribution and stock. DONs are generally assigned by Zone, but this early pilot group used a distinct corporate-directed code structure for rapid rollout.
• On other early Judges and VIN sequencing: Other early-production Judges exist (as noted by north and others), and VINs/build sequencing are not perfectly linear across plants or even within a plant. Body sequence numbers, DONs, build dates on the cowl tag, and PHS/broadcast sheet details provide the clearest picture. This particular car’s combination of the lowest DON in the pilot batch, earliest realistic Framingham build date for regular Judge production, and complete matching documentation uniquely positions it as the verified lead/pilot unit for that allocation.
I have spent considerable time researching and documenting this car and the full DON 000017 pilot batch, including cross-referencing with period memos, bulletins, and other surviving examples. Photos of the car, the broadcast sheet, and the cowl tag are attached (or available upon request). I’m happy to share the complete documentation package with serious researchers, historians, or anyone contributing to the Pattern Judge Roll Call project.
My goal is accurate historical preservation and making these primary records available to the community. Constructive input — especially from those with deep experience on pattern cars, production memos, or zone allocations (such as John Wallace) — is genuinely welcome.
Appreciate the discussion and the work everyone is doing to document these significant early Judges.
OneJudge

[Held for Ransom]

Do you have any internal documentation showing the itinerary of the project manager starting at the Framingham plant, then Atlanta, Arlington and Fremont? If there were 5 cars slated, I would think the first 2 would have been at the first plant, or even all 5. And repeated at the other plants. Mainly worrying about color, spoiler placement and stripe placement (Bypass Code 2).

[OneJudge]

Originally Posted by Held for Ransom

Do you have any internal documentation showing the itinerary of the project manager starting at the Framingham plant, then Atlanta, Arlington and Fremont? If there were 5 cars slated, I would think the first 2 would have been at the first plant, or even all 5. And repeated at the other plants. Mainly worrying about color, spoiler placement and stripe placement (Bypass Code 2).

Thanks for the question.
The DON 000017 allocation was a small corporate-directed pilot (one car per major A-body plant, with Atlanta receiving two) built in mid-January 1969. There is no single surviving internal document that shows a project manager traveling between plants with an itinerary. Each plant received its allocation and built its car(s) locally to the specifications authorized in the December 12, 1968 Car Distribution Bulletin (Sales Code 554 / WT-1).
Color
Pontiac’s May 8, 1969 internal production memo states that the initial pattern cars were built in Carousel Red only. All five DON 000017 cars were Carousel Red.
Bypass Code 2
This code appears on Judge builds across multiple plants. It routed the vehicle onto the special Judge option assembly path for the WT1 accessories, decals, spoiler, and stripes — distinguishing it from a standard GTO on the regular line. It is not unique to the five-car pilot batch.
For the Framingham lead/pilot unit (VIN 242379G125205) specifically:
• Cowl tag shows 01B build date (first realistic week of regular production after the New Year shutdown).
• Broadcast sheet shows DON/Order #000017 and Bypass Code 2.
• Validated by Jim Mattison / Pontiac Historical Services as the very first Judge built at the Framingham Assembly Plant for regular production.
Key documentation for this car (broadcast sheet showing DON 000017, cowl tag, and PHS validation) has already been referenced in the thread and is available to anyone seriously contributing to the Pattern Judge Roll Call. I’m happy to provide additional specifics or clarification if it helps the effort.
Appreciate you raising these points — this kind of detailed discussion strengthens the historical record.
OneJudge

[OneJudge]

I appreciate the discussion on VIN sequencing and pattern numbers. After 11+ years of research, including direct mentorship and review of primary factory documents, my conclusions are based on the surviving broadcast sheet (showing official assignment date January 9, 1969 and body sequence ZGA453185), the original dealer order confirming 0000017 with dealer code 29-991, the 01B cowl tag, PHS verification, and the fact that this remains the only documented 01B-tagged Framingham Judge in the 132-car registry.
If there is specific physical or documentary evidence (PHS report, broadcast sheet, dealer invoice, or trim tag) that directly shows another Framingham 01B-tagged car was scheduled or built earlier, I would genuinely like to see it so the record can be as accurate as possible.

[OneJudge]

The primary documentation on VIN 242379G125205 — including the surviving broadcast sheet showing the official factory assignment date of January 9, 1969 (“99 01-09”), body sequence ZGA453185, the original dealer order confirming pilot batch 00017 with dealer code 29-991, the 01B cowl tag, and full PHS verification — was first introduced and discussed in this forum in 2015.
Attached is a screenshot of that original thread where the registry operator posted the same documents and asked the community for help determining whether this car could be the first Judge built. In the years since, no one has produced direct physical or documentary evidence (PHS report, surviving broadcast sheet, dealer invoice, or allocation records) that disputes the January 9, 1969 assignment date, the body sequence, or this car’s status as the lead unit of the documented 5-car corporate pilot batch 00017.
Both sides should stick to what the documented evidence actually shows rather than speculation about unknown cars or unverified VIN ranges. After more than 11 years of the same primary records being publicly available in this forum, conclusions should be based on the evidence that exists, not on what might exist.
Submitted for the historical record.