A Blast from the Past

I went to a car show in Weston (MA) center this weekend, put on by their Rotary club. Part of the attraction was that Emily Rooney was supposed to be there with her dad’s Tiger (that’s the late Andy Rooney, of 60 minutes fame), an almost duplicate of my Tiger, as long as you are looking from more than 50 feet away. Hers is the better one.

The place was overflowing with an eclectic mix of old and new, everything from quite young Ferraris, to an ancient steam car, that was fired up to provide the “noon” whistle. I ran into a couple of old work acquaintances who were displaying their cars, a V-12 Jaguar and a A-H 3000, and two of my Sunbeam buddies, all three of us sans Tigers. And the word was Emily had left minutes before my arrival.

Anyway, one car really brought back memories of my college days. It was a Pontiac GTO “Judge” convertible, beautifully restored. Just like the brand new ride that my college friend Bill had, and I got to drive once. Same color, stripes, and everything.

I was looking the car over, and could hear the owner talking to some folks. There were only 168 Judge convertibles made, he said, and this is the only one in this color, mint turquoise.

WHAT? No, there was Bill’s car, too... It took another second before I realized what I could be seeing. I questioned the owner about what he knew of the car’s history, and he said not much, but his research discovered that it was delivered to the Pontiac dealer in Arlington, MA, a the closest dealer to Bill’s home. And the dates worked out just right… So THIS MUST BE IT, Bill’s old car. Incredible, after all these years.

Bill sold it after a couple years to switch to a BMW. The current owner didn't have much of the history after the dealer. He bought it in a rather sorry state, painted dark blue and thoroughly used up. Today it’s like new, better maybe.

Though he’s moved out of state, I’m quite sure I know a guy who knows how to contact Bill today. So I plan to get word, and some pictures, to him.

Small world. Judge convertibles are in fact very rare, and properly restored are worth six figures these days.

Cool story. Can you post a photo here?

I did not know they were that rare. I went to high school with a guy that drove an orange 69 Judge.

OK, here are some photos. I tried to find some from back in the day, but no luck. Perfect license plate, too.

Stu

spitfirebill wrote: I did not know they were that rare. I went to high school with a guy that drove an orange 69 Judge.

Was it a convertible?

My family ordered a new one in late 1971 but didn't want the decals all over it. Being late in the year, what they got was in fact a 1972 455HO Le Mans Sport (they weren't called GTOs in that model year).

Decent power, but the usual poor handling and braking of the period. I sold it to someone that was into that sort of car - one of 17 made with auto, and 18 with manual trans.

wspohn wrote: My family ordered a new one in late 1971 but didn't want the decals all over it. Being late in the year, what they got was in fact a 1972 455HO Le Mans Sport (they weren't called GTOs in that model year). Decent power, but the usual poor handling and braking of the period. I sold it to someone that was into that sort of car - one of 17 made with auto, and 18 with manual trans.

regretting it now?