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peppergreen · 02-25-2006, 10:41 PM

Dug up a Postcard I had of a peppergreen 70 Judge convertible. Noticed the car was from Dell's Auto Museum in Wisconsin. Googled it and found out that in 1999, their warehouse had a fire and they lost this Judge.

Anybody know what they did with it? Would anything be salvageable from a fire. The endura looks ok in this pic.

Here's a link to some more pics
http://www.roadfly.com/magazine/gall...41_c_1_s_.html

peppergreen · 02-25-2006, 10:43 PM

Sorry, here's a couple pix of the Judge........a good license plate would be FRY EM.

Ron Landis · 02-26-2006, 12:14 AM

we've probably seen it at a car show somewhere. Again, these cars are now like Corvettes...they NEVER make it to the junkyard! I strongly doubt that this one is any exception. JMHO Ron

GTO JOHN · 02-26-2006, 11:56 AM

Iv'e been to the Dells Museum several times and talked with the owner about 3 years ago. He is an older gentleman who has been operating the museum as a tourist attraction for years. He had cars for sale pretty regularly at the museum and sold some of his private collection off and on.

The cars from the fire are being held in another building awaiting their fate. The insurance company was balking at the value determinations the last I heard so it may be years before it is resolved. Cars probably will be sold off at some point but they are in limbo for now. The fire was very hard for him as he lost some very rare cars and basically his life's work.

In addition to the 70 Pepper Green Judge there was a 64 Red/White GTO vert and a 68 Firebird 400/auto that were burned also. I know he had about 6 first gen Camaros get burned up. 80 cars in all. Very sad deal.

da judge · 02-27-2006, 03:20 PM

THE DELLS IS ONLY MINUTES FROM WHERE I LIVE. THE MUSEUM DIDN'T BURN, IT WAS A STORAGE BUILDING THE GUY OWNED THAT WENT UP. I REMEMBER WHEN THAT HAPPENED. THERE WAS A PHOTO OF THE BURNED BUILDING ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE STATE PAPER. YOU COULD SEE A TORCHED SUPERBIRD. I WAS TALKING LAST FALL TO A FRIEND OF MINE. HE OWNS A HO FIREBIRD CONVERT. AND IS A REGULAR ON THE PY FIREBIRD FORUM. HE USED TO OWN A 71 BUICK GS STAGE I CONVERT., REAL LOW NUMBERS PROUDUCED. I ASKED HIM WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO IT. "OH, I SOLD IT TO THE GUY WHO OWNS THE DELLS MUSEUM" WHICH LED TO THE OBVIOUS QUESTION. YEP, SHE'S HISTORY NOW. I HAVN'T HEARD ANYTHING LATELY ON WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE CARS.

68bird400HO · 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by da judge

THE DELLS IS ONLY MINUTES FROM WHERE I LIVE. THE MUSEUM DIDN'T BURN, IT WAS A STORAGE BUILDING THE GUY OWNED THAT WENT UP. I REMEMBER WHEN THAT HAPPENED. THERE WAS A PHOTO OF THE BURNED BUILDING ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE STATE PAPER. YOU COULD SEE A TORCHED SUPERBIRD. I WAS TALKING LAST FALL TO A FRIEND OF MINE. HE OWNS A HO FIREBIRD CONVERT. AND IS A REGULAR ON THE PY FIREBIRD FORUM. HE USED TO OWN A 71 BUICK GS STAGE I CONVERT., REAL LOW NUMBERS PROUDUCED. I ASKED HIM WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO IT. "OH, I SOLD IT TO THE GUY WHO OWNS THE DELLS MUSEUM" WHICH LED TO THE OBVIOUS QUESTION. YEP, SHE'S HISTORY NOW. I HAVN'T HEARD ANYTHING LATELY ON WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE CARS.

That's Me!

I grew up in Wisconsin Dells and have known the owners of the auto museum for almost 25 years. The 70 Judge convertible is being restored. It is a Pepper Green RAIII 4-speed with a green interior. It was really sharp with the white convertible top. I was just over at the body shop last week looking at it and noticed the top code is E, so it should have sandalwood top. They bought the car in 1983 for $7,800 out of the Milwaukee Journal in the condition it was in on the post card. I was there the day they bought it. I even got to drive it once.

This car looked worse than it was. Only the exterior sheet metal was warped from the heat. The frame, floors, firewall, and interior metal was all good. Now my 71 stage1 convertible is a different story. That one may not be restorable as it caught the brunt of the fire and is pretty toasted. That's the car I should have never sold.

I remember after the fire his comment was "...at least I got to enjoy them". He would drive these cars all summer long switching off periodically. He rolled up quite a few miles on several of them.

peppergreen · 02-28-2006, 10:12 PM

Here's the postcard.

Good news that it's being put back together........hate to lose a green judge eh Baron VZ?

sawyer · 03-01-2006, 07:37 AM

There was a 3 speed pepper green 70 convert Judge for sale for a long time in all the major old car trader magazines. Does anyone know if the car sold?

peppergreen · 03-01-2006, 10:43 AM

Is that the one that was for sale out of Washington? I remember when that Jvert was on ebay-- the Buy it Now was $90,000US bout a year ago. Might have been a good deal.

Baron Von Zeppelin · 03-01-2006, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peppergreen

....hate to lose a green judge eh Baron VZ?

Kermit said it best, "it ain't easy being Green". That one got too far gone to part it out. Glad it's being parted-back-in.

I never knew about the Ohio cars that jimmy d. mentioned. Sounds interesting.

sawyer · 03-01-2006, 10:13 PM

Peppergreen:
I don't remember where the car was located. It was on ebay for $90,000. Don't know what ever happened. It's probably a 4 speed by now.
Ramair:
I would be sick for passing on that deal. My biggest mistake was waiting too long to get my car. I really can't see how much higher they can go from here. The average guy, myself included, is simply out of play.

pontiac6269 · 02-27-2006, 04:50 PM

I remember seeing the picture of the burned building with the Superbird.

Baron Von Zeppelin · 02-27-2006, 08:06 PM

My heart really goes out to that guy. Horrific loss and he will never get a decent settlement compared to the actual values. Be very lucky just to get his initial investment amount back.

I lost one Car in a house fire at my mothers in 1984 (Black with Black deluxe 69 RS/SS Camaro 4spd), can't imagine the shock of losing 80. Especially Jvert, Stage 1 Vert and Superbird, etc................................Damn.

jimmy daniel · 03-01-2006, 12:16 PM

Changing the subject but this was almost as sad as all those Pontiacs that were stored (rusted) under the tarps and trees in Ohio. That was a great story when it ran and I would love to see some more pictures if anybody had any. Does anybody know how many of those cars got restored? There were rows and rows of Judges, GTO's, 57 Bonnevilles, tripower cars etc.. HPP's story had a great picture of all those cars after they took the tarps off. I still regret not going and bidding on them.

RAM AIR 1967 · 03-01-2006, 03:17 PM

I looked at the Pepper Green 3-speed car at $25,000. That was 5 Years back and did not like the car and said NO. To bad but that is life.
Joe

2manyponchos · 03-02-2006, 03:26 PM

jimmy daniel. We've got an entire roll of film from the lot in Ohio (pre digital camera). Truely amazing to see. If I get a chance, I'll scan some of the photos and post. -Doug

jimmy daniel · 03-03-2006, 11:34 AM

Doug, that would be great. To this day I still regret not going. That was like a Pontiac history museum. I cannot imagine how that man acquired so many rare Pontiacs. I would LOVE to see a follow up story. Jimmy

lawbreaker2 · 03-07-2006, 10:31 AM

It may have been a good thing you did'nt go, I know I would have had to bring a big box of tissue paper.

jimmy daniel · 03-07-2006, 11:07 AM

2manyponchos,

If you've got pictures, let's see them. Were the as many cars as it seemed like? I've still got that issue from 1999 and each time I look at it it's sad. I'd love to know how many of those cars were saveable and how many were actually restored.

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