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This car belongs to Jim Wangers CLICK->
Vintage picture of a 1969 Carousel Red Judge sent in from Jeff Klein. Jeff comments: This is a picture taken in 1969 of my twin brother and I (we were 3 years old) sitting on a dealer demo Judge that my Dad ordered when he sold cars at the local Pontiac dealership. He drove it around until it was sold. I think I'm the one in the front. Color pictures were pretty new back then. This one was taken with a disposable camera that you mailed the whole thing in for developing. It produced pictures the same size as the negative (about an inch square). CLICK->
Jeff Klein sent in this picture of a vintage Judge jacket. Jeff comments: This is a picture of a Judge Jacket that my Dad got in 1969 from the Pontiac dealership where he sold cars. He only wore it once or twice, it's in perfect condition - except for the patch which was taken off and put on a winter jacket for a year. The jacket has 70's hoop zipper pulls and the sleeves have reflective stripes. It has a draw string bottom and zippered pockets that seem to open backward. To get anything out of the left side pocket you need your right hand. Likewise, the right side pocket requires your left hand. The inside tag says, "Bonner Manufacturing Company, Inc. - Bonner Springs, Kansas."Click here to see a bunch of Pontiac salesmen in 1969 with these jackets. CLICK->
Here's an order form for the Judge jacket (readable). It says, "...it's only available from Pontiac." You could also order GTO or Firebird patches on it. A check for $9.75 is made out to McManus, John & Adams, Inc. - which was the advertising agency for Pontiac at that time. CLICK->
This has got to be one of the rarest GTO Judge jackets around. This one is still in its original packaging. It sold on eBay for $1076. Judge jackets had two lettering types. This is their first type of "parts counter" jacket. These had embossed felt lettering glued to the jacket. They easily came off when washed. Later they changed to a patch. The only problem with this one is that you cannot wear it - unless you want to decrease it's value taking it out of the package.
These mass-produced jackets were made to resemble the one-of-a-kind jacket that was seen in the magazine ad with the caption "THE JUDGE CAN BE BOUGHT". Jim Wangers, formerly of the ad agency that created the print ads comments on jackets. He saw a different jacket that appeared on ebay in April of 2006, "On the most recent promotion of the infamous Judge jacket. This was an item that we created only to be used as a prop in the magazine ad "The Judge can be bought". The model standing next to the car is wearing
this one of a kind apparel. After the ad ran, there were many requests to purchase a jacket like the one in the ad and the merchandising folks and Pontiac Sales Promotion Dept responded with a dealer "parts-counter" sales effort. The jackets were only
mildly successful in sales because it was never used again in an ad or
promoted with any special effort. Needless to say the jacket has been
reproduced (reasonably accurately) several times and have enjoyed modest sales success as a highly respected collectors item. The jacket was a very light nylon water repellant effort, which in
it's original form did a good job of matching the Carousel Red car. See the ad. It is hard to say whether this jacket or others like it are original or part of the many reproductions that have appeared over the years. I did manage to hang on to that original "prop" jacket for many years and donated it to the GTOAA club in Atlanta for the 1997 Convention. It was used as a silent auction item, signed personally by me and drew what we all thought was a fantastic figure of $2500 for the Atlanta Boys Club." CLICK->
Mayfair Maize 69 Judge owned by Shane. He's still working on the interior which is gold in color. Documentation includes; Original window sticker, about 1/2 of the original build sheet, and all the
standard documentation from Pontiac Historic Services. Options; RAIII Engine, Power Steering, Power Disc Brakes, Console 4-speed, Safe-T-Track, Mayfair Maize, and of course The Judge. CLICK->
1969 Ram Air III Carousel Red Judge owned by Vinnie Brinich. It's got an non-original close ratio 4-speed M-22 transmission, tilt, air, and a 3:23 safe-T-trak rear end. It is driven on a very regular basis. It was last painted in 1985. He had the engine rebuilt and is restoring the interior. CLICK->
1969 Ram Air III Carousel Red Judge, left rear view. CLICK->
1969 Ram Air III Carousel Red Judge, right front view CLICK->
This is an early magazine advertisement for the 1969 Judge. The car in the photos is a pre-production model. Note the different Judge stripes down the side of the car, and the rear wing that had an early shape which turned down at the back edge to closely match the shape of the fender. CLICK->
Here's a PHS confimed 1969 Judge convertible sent in from Paul. It's a bare bones model that came with bench seat, 3-speed Hurst floorshift, AM radio, RAIII, and limited slip differential. Check out the huge Texas dealer plaque attached to the rear trunk lid - gonna have some holes to fill. This Judge has some odd stripes. They go all the way back to the rear of the car instead of stopping under the rear quarter glass. Years ago you could not purchase reproduction Judge stripes. You had them hand painted on. These were probably hand painted. CLICK->
1969 Judge convertible picture #2. Interior view of that bench seat. Looks like it might be hard to shift into the even gears with the seat that far forward. There is a "Clutch Kit" on the passenger seat. CLICK->
Here comes the judge license plate. CLICK->
Don Hansen sent in these pictures of his friends 69 Judge project. Pic #1. (from the United Kingdom?) CLICK->
69 Judge project. Pic #2. Take a look at this engine. PICTURE SET CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE ...
Here's a comment from a recent visitor...
Says Stephen Brown (stephen.@clickandgroove.com) - "Great site. Packed. I'm producing a new show for History Channel called "Full Throttle" - when we do GTOs we'll give you a call."
