This 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge Was Kept in Storage for 40 Years, Needs Work for Full Revival

The show was called Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, and the routine was “Here Come de Judge,” which in turn led to Pontiac producing ads with slogans such as “All rise for the Judge,” or “The Judge can be bought,” both of which were sort of no-brainers.

In exchange for an extra $332 (at that time), you got a 400 ci Ram Air V8 engine, Rally II wheels, a Hurst shifter, wider tires, various decals, plus a rear spoiler that Pontiac claimed was actually functional at higher speeds, producing some downforce.

Pontiac sold no fewer than 72,287 GTOs for the 1969 model year, with 6,833 of them featuring the Judge package.

Those cars will fetch a pretty penny nowadays, regardless of the state they’re in. Take this GTO Judge for example – we just found it getting auctioned off as a project vehicle, and with just a few hours left in the bidding process, it’s clear that it still holds a lot of value even though it doesn’t even run.

The side stripes are still there, but the orange paint has started to fade. Then you’ve got the dent in the left door, while the hood-mounted tachometer is MIA. There’s also rust everywhere – hood, trunk, rear bumper, doors, front fenders and rear quarter panels. Then you’ve got the 14-inch Rally II wheels which happen to be wearing mismatched tires.

On the plus side, there’s power steering and power-assisted front discs, which should count for something.

The interior, meanwhile, isn’t as bad as we had initially assumed. Sure, there’s no headliner, the shifter boot’s gone, pretty much everything’s torn, the steering wheel rim cover is dubious at best, and there are rust holes in the trunk floor, but the car still has its woodgrain dashboard accents, center console, the Hurst T-handle shifter, and the ivory vinyl upholstery for the front bucket seats and the rear bench seat.

As for the engine, like we said it’s the 400 ci Ram Air III V8 unit, featuring a four-barrel carburetor, an aftermarket ignition system and aftermarket exhaust headers. It all sounds pretty good, right? Well, sure, at least up to the point where you learn that this engine was last fired up in 1983, which explains the corrosion.

Back when this puppy was new, it used to put down 366 horsepower, with everything going to the rear wheels via its four-speed manual transmission. We’d love to see this car get a second lease on life. How about you?