The story
The Judge was named after the «Here come de Judge» routine on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and released in December 1968.12one source
It was meant as a cheap GTO against the Plymouth Road Runner, but cost more than a standard GTO: $332 in 1969 by Wikipedia and Consumer Guide's Judge profile ($354 in Consumer Guide's model article), and $337 in 1970 and 1971 by Over-Drive's option lists; its 1971 table puts the Judge $394 above the GTO (our arithmetic).134567sources disagree
Pontiac stopped taking Judge orders after 1 March 1971.1one source
How to spot a The Judge
Deck-lid spoiler
A wide spoiler on struts across the deck lid.45
Stripes and Judge decals
Side stripes and «The Judge» decals.35
Black grille
A blacked-out grille.35
Rally II wheels without trim rings
Rally II wheels, but without their trim rings.35
Production by year
How many The Judges were built each model year.
As a table, with notes
| Year | Built | Note |
|---|
| 1969 | 6,833148 | 6,725 hardtops and 108 convertibles (our sum). |
| 1970 | 3,79719 | 3,629 hardtops and 168 convertibles (our sum). |
| 1971 | disputed17 | 357 by Wikipedia, 17 of them convertibles, or 374 by Over-Drive's table, 357 hardtops plus 17 convertibles (our sum). Ruling |
Engines
1971: Pontiac's RPO code, from Over-Drive. 1972: the engine letter in the VIN. Before 1972 the VIN carries no engine code, and a dash means none of our sources gives an RPO code.
| Years | Code | Engine | Rated |
|---|
| 1969 | — | 400 Ram Air V8, 4-barrel (standard) | 366 hp23 |
| 1969–1970 | — | 400 Ram Air IV V8, 4-barrel | 370 hp35 |
| 1970 | — | 400 Ram Air V8, 4-barrel (standard) | 366 hp510 |
| 1971 | LS5 | 455 HO V8, 4-barrel (standard) | 335 hp gross, 310 net16 |
Where the sources disagree
Every conflict behind the figures on this page. All rulings.
Open
The price of the 1969 Judge package
Our ruling: Unresolved, leaning to $332. Wikipedia, citing Autotrader Classics, and Consumer Guide's Judge profile give $332; Consumer Guide's model article says $354, so Consumer Guide disagrees with itself. 332 is also the Judge option's order code (Over-Drive's 1970 list: «Code 332-WT1»), so a code read as a price cannot be ruled out. Over-Drive's 1969 text repeats Wikipedia's sentence and is not counted, and we have no Pontiac price list for 1969.
What each source says (3)
Open
How many 1971 Judges
Our ruling: Unresolved. Both give 10,532 GTOs and 661 non-Judge convertibles, so they differ only in the hardtops: Over-Drive's 9,497 GTO hardtops leave room for 357 Judge hardtops, Wikipedia's figures for 340 (our arithmetic).
What each source says (2)
- 357 in all, 17 of them convertibles1one source
- 357 hardtops and 17 convertibles, 374 in all (our sum)7one source
