Amidst all the high-dollar vehicles and perfumed pigs, there were several nuggets to be had at Mecum‘s Kansas City Spring 2014 auction that just wrapped up this past weekend. One that caught our eye was this 1969 GTO Judge.
If you know the Judge’s history, you know it originally started out as a Plymouth Road Runner-fighter but ended up being a deluxe GTO with all the bells, whistles, stripes, and spoilers. After an initial run of 2000 or so Carousel Red Judges, Pontiac allowed consumers to order one in any GTO color. Standard motivation was the Ram Air III 400, which was optional on the base GTO, while the top option was the Ram Air IV 400 rated at 370 horsepower. A bit over 700 GTOs had this motor in total, with only 297 and five of those being hardtop and ragtop Judges, respectively.
So when GM Authority noticed this Expresso Brown RAIV Judge, we thought it would command a decent price. While brown is not everyone’s favorite, Expresso Brown is one of the few that don’t count as a demerit, actually giving the Goat a rich look; inside you’ll find a gold interior. Options showing on the car include hood tachometer and hidden headlights, plus a few modifications made for the sake of drivability.
So why did this Judge sell for only $44,000 when some RAIII Judges have hit over 100 grand? Some theories:
- Non-matching motor (although has a correct replacement)
- Judge fans want Carousel Red or something more interesting than brown, as rare as it is
- What did the PHS documentation show that didn’t match to the car?
- What details were incorrect?
A car of this caliber must have everything factory-correct for it to achieve a top price (unless a bidder has had too much to drink…). Without having seen the Judge in person, we can’t say for sure whether it was truly a bargain, but $44,000 is a nice price for what is for many people the ultimate and fastest GTO ever built.
Comments
Not having the original motor in a vette is the kiss of death for an NCRS judged vehicle. To get the high points AND the high dollar you have to have the original Powertrain.
Call me biased, but the fastest GTO ever built came from Australia. No stock GTO from that era could run consistent 13s in the 1/4 mile let alone do 155mph (limited) or 170+mph (unlimited) like a stock 05-06 GTO.
That said I LOVE the brown – assuming the car is as nice as it presents in the pic – I agree that it was a bargain at 44 grand. I’m always amazed at the prices these cars command. When new they were “greasy kids” cars. Marketing gimmicks to get at all that baby boomer dough flooding the market.
Yes they looked good, were fun, and performed, but in the end they were simply dressed up bread and butter intermediates, with parts bin heavy duty parts and stripes. Paying six figures for a car that commanded entry level prices when new is stupid. And even more so when you consider that most were produced in such high numbers that anyone who wanted one had, or could get one.
back in 1969, my brother ordered a light green stripped down 69 gto ,ram air IV, no power steering or brakes, no console, dog dish caps , no hood tach and a 4 speed with a 4.30 rear gear,he put on headers and cutouts,the only other option was hideaway headlights, back then there was nothing anybody else could make that could beat it at the track, (the big 3), it IMHO was the fasted gto made, i remember driving it, ( i was the wash boy),man was it fast, he sure wishes he had it today.what would that be worth today ?
I saw this car in person at Mecum in Harrisburgh. It was just ok. It’s NOT a judge. It has the judge side stripes and wing and ram air with 4 spd. I’ve seen it at 3 Mecum events so far.