1970 Pontiac GTO Judge Tribute

- LS V8 Engine
- Orbit Orange Paint
- "The Judge" Livery
- Custom Seats
- Clean Example with Reliable Power

(Please note: If you happen to be viewing this 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge Tribute on a website other than our Garage Kept Motors site, it's possible that you've only seen some of our many photographs of the car due to third-party website limitations. To be sure you access all the more than 160 photographs, as well as a short start-up and walk-around video, please go to our main website: Garage Kept Motors.)

“Few muscle cars made a bolder visual statement than the 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge.” - Auto Editors of Consumers Guide

Motor Trend provides a bit of historical background for “The Judge's” origin: “Pontiac General Manager John DeLorean was on top of the situation. A special product-planning group inside Pontiac was formed to create an answer to the Road Runner. DeLorean brought in ad-man Jim Wangers to add his insight to the project. Creating a low-buck performance car is a challenging balancing act. Lavishing performance parts into a car is easy; the opposite is very hard. Since drag racing is the arena of muscle cars, DeLorean's Ad Hoc Committee settled on the name 'E/T' (elapsed time) for their Road Runner fighter.”

Ultimately, DeLorean would cite the television popularity of the “Here comes da Judge” line and, while those words were a trademarked line, he settled on “the Judge,” and automotive history was made.

Offered here is a 1970 Pontiac GTO perfectly executed “Judge” tribute in Orbit Orange over black. Rather than an identical “clone,” this professionally created Judge features added reliability in the form of a replacement LS V8 powerplant, and new comfort and convenience upgrades like racing bucket seats, along with all bespoke GTO Judge appearance features. Its odometer shows just over 9,000 miles.

The Orbit Orange exterior paint—identical to the special paint on most factory Judge cars—is in exceptional, showroom-quality condition. Across all body panels—including the Endura® front bumper cladding, the twin hood air intakes, racing-style side mirrors, and the rear-deck spoiler—the finish is uniform and properly glossy. There is no damage to the body, no dings or dents, and no obvious wear indications. Cabin glass and lighting lenses are clear and free of damage. The chrome rear bumper is pristine, and the limited chrome trim on the body is well-preserved. Paint has been properly applied in the factory manner to door jambs and the underside of the trunk. All requisite Judge graphics are perfectly in place and complete. Factory 5-spoke styled-steel wheels with proper “PMD” (Pontiac Motor Division) center caps are mounted with BFGoodrich Radial T/A® raised-white-letter tires.

Inside, custom, racing-style, high-back, folding front bucket seats (leather covered and stitched in red) with “The Judge” appliques on their headrests, are an obvious and appealing comfort (and safety) upgrade. The rear bench seat has been reupholstered in matching black leather. Door trim incorporates (from top to bottom) original black vinyl, black carpet, chrome trim, and GTO badging in a pleasing design. Roll-up windows are stock. Fresh black carpeting covers the cabin floors. A matte-black sport steering wheel with Pontiac-logo center frames the original gauge cluster (including 140-mph speedometer) surrounded by woodgrain trim. A lower-dash turned-metal panel houses control pull-levers. Heating and air-conditioning controls are slide-levers located in the center dash. A full-length woodgrain-trimmed center console houses the automatic-transmission shift lever. (Included with the car is a Custom Autosound® vintage-style replacement radio featuring electronic controls and Aux input capability.)

Under the hood, the replacement recent-vintage LS V8 is the center of attention. The engine is perfectly clean and features a low-restriction air-filter intake. The entire engine bay is similarly clean with all components--including air conditioning--properly in place. The engine swap was clearly professional work; the benefit is 21st Century reliability. Viewed from below, the car's chassis is complete, undamaged, and properly laid out. The performance headers and full-length dual exhaust system are focal points.

The car's factory-applied build-data and VIN identification tags remain in place.

While the more than 160 high-definition photographs and the short walk-around-and-startup video available on the GarageKeptMotors website showcase this '70 Judge Tribute in detail from every angle, including from below, we expect and encourage in-person inspections at our Grand Rapids, Michigan showroom. Please call to arrange an appointment in advance as our showroom is not open to the public. And feel free to get in touch anytime by phone or email if you have questions.

There is a great deal of owner-satisfaction in a well-executed tribute build, especially so when both performance and comfort not available in the model back in the day are perfectly integrated. The next owner is bound to enjoy this “Judge” on the road, as much as receiving the many compliments inevitable at classic-car-owner gatherings. “Tributes” don't come much nicer than this.