#1  
Old 01-01-2022, 04:39 PM
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da judge da judge is offline
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Default Cruise night 1970 GTOs.

About three years ago, a rural restaurant about 10 miles south of my small south-central Wisconsin city started up a Thursday night car cruise. It was also going to feature live music. I almost thought they were joking as the place was out in the middle of nowhere. Goes to show what I know as the thing just took off. Most nights have been packed with 60 to 70 cars with highs of over 100.

One Thursday in early July this past summer I was at the cruise as usual with my 1970 Judge. GTOs haven't been all that common there with only a 1969 Vedoro Green example as the only other regular attendee. After hanging out with my friends, I decided to take a walk around to the side of the building and check out the overflow section.

There I was surprised to find a Granada Gold 1970 GTO. Wow. I eventually found the owner and talked with him. He was from the Milwaukee area but was staying somewhat close by for the upcoming the GTOAA Nationals in Wisconsin Dells. He had somehow heard about the cruise and decided to drive on over. It sure was nice to talk to him as 1970 GTOs are few and far between around here.

Then, moving on further down the row of cars, I was really surprised at what I found next, a genuine 1970 GTO Judge. Holy cow! It's always great to find something you've never seen before. A quick walk around revealed Atoll Blue in color, a white vinyl roof, black interior with a four-speed trans. It was an attractive combination that I don't think I've ever seen before.

The owner was gone but he soon came back over. I told him I owned the red 1970 Judge out front. He was another nice guy to talk to and appeared to be in his late 40s. He explained that he had just bought the car this spring from a car dealer in Iowa. He seemed to me to have bought the car more because it was a nice car rather than him being a number-obsessed GTO expert. He had graduated high school in the area and currently lives about a half an hour or more directly south of the cruise location.

After that I kind of took a closer look at his car. All of the block letters, part numbers and casting codes appeared to be spot on. But I didn't get to look at the quadrajet carb numbers. It had a reproduction window sticker which said it had been sold new at Arrow Pontiac Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. So the car hasn't traveled too far over it's lifetime.

Overall, I thought it was a great car. Not ready for concurs judging, but a really nice car you could actually enjoy. Kind of like the Judge I own. The only real big complaints may be the alternator bracket, trim rings, underhood body color paint and how far out the splitters are situated (as a 1970 owner, I pay special attention to that).

I told the owner about the upcoming GTOAA National Convention in Wisconsin Dells, but I never saw him or his car there.
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Last edited by da judge; 01-01-2022 at 04:56 PM.
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  #2  
Old 01-01-2022, 07:19 PM
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Brewster Brewster is offline
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Is it a drive-in east of Alpine Valley area? Darn I cant think of the name right now???
Been along time but use to rip our Trans Am's to that cruise night once in a while. You never know what will show up at some of those little gems. Hope to bring my gto down south this spring and hit some small town cruises.
Cool pics but what about the red one??

  #3  
Old 01-02-2022, 12:43 PM
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Ram Air IV Jack Ram Air IV Jack is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brewster View Post
Is it a drive-in east of Alpine Valley area? Darn I cant think of the name right now???
Been along time but use to rip our Trans Am's to that cruise night once in a while. You never know what will show up at some of those little gems. Hope to bring my gto down south this spring and hit some small town cruises.
Cool pics but what about the red one??
Brewster, are you referring to Gus's Drive in East Troy?? I've been there and some of our club members too as a group. Great food and the cruise night on Saturday is excellent. They pull in a lot of cars too!!!

Loved the article and photos Rich!!!!

  #4  
Old 01-02-2022, 06:42 PM
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Yes, thats it! Great times ripping to Gus's and enjoying the cars and making new friends. Wasnt sure if that is where he was referring to??

  #5  
Old 01-02-2022, 10:17 PM
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Andretti Andretti is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brewster View Post
....Cool pics but what about the red one??
I second that!

  #6  
Old 01-03-2022, 11:14 PM
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300deluxe 300deluxe is offline
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My son wants to buy a 1970 GTO in the spring. We know of a car thats sitting in a lean. The guy wants $14,000 for it. Its a Granada Gold, 4 speed, PS, PDB, sport wheel car. Its been sitting in the same spot for over 20 years. Not original engine....400 engine was rebuilt 25 or so years ago....we did hear it run a few months ago, but carb needs rebuild. Underbody pretty good, needs quarters and lower fenders. Endura is nice. Comes with repro quarters, Judge spoiler, seat covers and carpet, and some other odds and ends. He needs something to work on as his 68 Cutlass is finished and he is bored. He is only 25 years old and he got his car addiction from me as he was raised in Musclecars...I have owned around 30 of them in the last 35 years. He actually wants to make it look like the Two Lane Blacktop GTO. We need more young people keeping these cars alive, because when we are gone, we need people to keep these cars alive...I can't imagine a world without our classic cars...to me that would be truly horrifying....and if the "Club" gets their "Agenda 2030", these cars will be banned from street use.

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  #7  
Old 01-10-2022, 01:19 AM
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tininjun68 tininjun68 is offline
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@300deluxe, glad to hear your son is in the hobby. Got my oldest into it and looks good for my two younger ones. Has your son seen Slapshot? The Two Lane Goat is a great car but since you’ve already got a Granada Gold Car, thought you might show him Paul Newman’s (Reg Dunlop’s ‘70) Goat that could serve for some cool inspiration.
100% agree about getting the younger generation into classics. I think the biggest draw could be the classics have unique design compared to today’s cars. Classic owners have to be willing to be good ambassadors, showing and talking our “badass dinosaurs” up in order to get the young kids into classics.

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