1969 GTO Judge Corpse With No Engine Asks Absurd Money, Comes With Four-Wheel Disc Brakes

Pontiac hit the nail on the head with the optional performance package for the 1964 Le Mans (an option that became synonymous with ‘muscle car’ – the GTO). It was such a good idea that the rest of Detroit quickly copied it without the faintest sign of remorse or heavy heart. Soon, an armada of heavy-punching names emerged from every brand in the go-like-hell business. Still, the GTO kept its respectable demeanor at the forefront.

That was until the end of the decade, when pressure from the likes of Plymouth’s Road Runner, Dodge’s Charger, Ford’s Torino, Oldsmobile’s 442, and Chevrolet’s Chevelle, to name but a few, was causing the GTO’s iron fist grip on the muscle segment to lose its strength. Pontiac upped the ante with a more bare-bones performance variant of its fabled nameplate and called it the Judge.

Essentially a special edition of the GTO, the Judge offered bright colors, flashy graphics, and the Apex Predator 400 cubic-inch V8 available for the model year. However, the downward trend could not be contained as the moniker barely moved 6,833 examples (6,725 hardtops and 108 convertibles) in its inaugural year.

The end of the muscle car age was dawning upon America, and signs of this inevitable end were stronger yearly. In 1970, the Judge sold just over half of what it had achieved in its debut year (3,959 units in total, of which 162 ragtops).

In 1971, the GTO’s most rowdy version attracted only 374 buyers. That was the end of the line for His Honor – Pontiac scrapped it and never looked back. Three years later, at the end of 1974, the GTO was axed after spending its final two seasons as an optional package on other models.

They are rare muscle cars by all accounts – not unicorns, but few and far between – so an inherent high collector interest is perfectly understandable in today’s market. What’s less likely to compile is why some absolutely desecrated remains of long-deceased Judges are waved around as if the mummy is about to rise from the dead and start preaching the benefits of $0.30 gasoline prices. (that’s what a gallon used to cost when the Judge first rolled its rear tires upon the band of piston-armed delinquents 55 years ago).

Here's an example (in both meanings of the word): a 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge offered for sale for the modest sum of Combustion-Have-Mercy more than $27,325. The exact amount is not disclosed, as the bidding is still in progress, but here’s the twist (see it for yourself in the gallery).

It’s a devil-may-care carcass that’s little more than a parts donor at best. Despite its external dilapidation, the seller claims this is an original Judge and not a clone (he has papers to authenticate this claim) and that much money has already been poured down the restoration spout.

This GTO Judge allegedly has to show a body-off-frame job - but only on the frame, suspension, and the four-wheel disc brake conversion. According to the seller (who is not the owner, just a middleman), more than $5,000 was invested in parts and work for the upgraded suspensions with adjustable rear coil springs and shocks.

The bad news comes from the muscle section of the car – namely the engine bay, where nothing is the one big wrong about this car. Literally, there’s nothing between the front fenders; the original V8 is long gone. The transmission sits in the trunk, and the seller claims this is the original four-speed manual gearbox that came in the car. However, the rear end is only suspected to be a 3.90 (that was standard equipment for the Ram Air IV V8).

Sadly, we don’t know what exact motor came in this Judge – the regular Ram Air 400 cubic-inch V8, with 356 hp and 445 lb-ft (361 PS, 603 Nm), or the optional Ram Air IV, with 370 hp (375 PS) and the same torque output as the standard V8. However, for an unspecified extra cost, a real WS-code 400-cube V8 (6.6-liter) V8 is available for purchase, complete with heads and intake manifold (but without a carburetor).

The sale will include the following: a rear clip, the four-speed Muncie tranny, and shifter, a brand-new fuel tank, a new rear sway bar, a set of parking lights, braided stainless lines, a used hood scoops, a new front valance, brand new disc brake distribution block, and patch panels for the bottom of the front fender (with new clips and bolts). If the reserve is met, the buyer will also get a trunk lid, a new rear spoiler, and a set of headers with new 2.5-inch exhaust pipes.