Network
If you want to add a unique, rare or museum-quality car to your garage, the best place to start is by perusing the automotive consignments at auctions like Barrett-Jackson and Mecum. While we aren’t currently looking for anymore cars to add to our stable here at Street Legal TV, we did come across a perfect example of what a little bit of searching can find you – an immaculately clean 1970 GTO Judge convertible heading to the Kissimmee, Florida, Mecum auction in late January.
This Judge has all the right numbers on its side, from less than 170 convertibles made to just 14 finished in this paint scheme.
But this isn’t just a “base” Judge. In fact, it’s one of just 47 YZ-coded Ram Air III/ automatic cars and one of just 14 cars finished in Palladium Silver. How’s that for a fantastic find to start off the new year?
While there were nearly 3,800 Judges built for the 1970 model year (less than 170 of which were convertibles), this one is believed to be the most correctly date-coded and numbered Judge still in existence today. Backing that theory up is remarkable documentation, including the original build sheets and Protect-O-Plate.
Built in June of 1970 at the Pontiac, Michigan, plant, this and a nearly identical Palladium Silver Judge convertible were shipped to a dealership in Canada to start their performance lives.
Years later, this particular car was treated to a full rotisserie restoration, spanning over three years and more than 2,000 hours of work. Unfortunately, the other convertible was lost along the way.
With the GTO as unique as it is and with all 19 of its original factory-selected options still intact, it was important that the car was restored back to factory specifications. In fact, great efforts were made to make sure the car came out of the restoration process even better than how it would have rolled off the assembly floor decades earlier. This included a full rebuild of the factory 400ci Ram Air III/automatic drivetrain while maintaining as many original parts as possible, including connecting rods and main bearings.
The car also maintains its original water pump and exhaust manifolds, which were reconstructed rather than replaced for restoration purposes. The only date-coded or numbered components that had to be replaced on the car were the radiator, alternator, starter and voltage regulator.
The Judge is fully operational and in near perfect original condition, right down to the displacement in the engine and the original factory-issued JT-coded Rally II wheels that grace the car.
The GTO also features its original factory red interior, possibly the only red interior put in a Judge in 1970.
From the exterior's Palladium Silver paint scheme to the interior's red finish, this GTO Judge is finer than factory-original. 
