Who can command over 280,000 views in the span of a month? Well, Jay Leno and his costar, a 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge, did that very thing in a feature from Jay Leno’s Garage. For those looking for a little bit of the back story on the Judge, then Leno has everything you need to know.
According to Leno, the Judge moniker was derived from the catchphrase, “Here come the Judge,” used comedian Pigmeat Markham on the Laugh In television show. After the introduction was complete, Leno introduces the owner of the GTO, Wade Kawasaki. Kawasaki is the President of Coker Tires and the 2017 Chairman of the Board for SEMA. This particular car was Kawasaki’s dream car growing up and working at his father’s Shell Gas station in downtown Los Angeles.
Photos Captured From Jay Leno's Garage
According to Kawaski, he purchased the GTO from a friend in Hawaii and from there it took about three years to get the car to its current state. Amazingly, the salt air had little impact on the classic muscle car thanks to the archaic form of undercoating. After a complete rotisserie, the car is absolutely gorgeous and ready to cruise thanks to the 366 horsepower 400 CID engine.
All of the interior, aside from the carpet, is original; fortunately, this car only had approximately 40,000 miles on when it was parked inside of a garage where it was stored for approximately 20-years. Kawaski had this GTO restored to it factory conditions and the guys decided it needed to be taken out for cruise. After short cruise and a trip down memory lane for the guys, the GTO needed to be taken back to the garage before the rain started. Trust us, rain in southern California brings out the worst in drivers and it much safer to get this beauty safely off the roads.
Photos Captured From Jay Leno's Garage
The Goat was the star on American Restoration on the History channel in February 2016 with Bodie Stroud, who got the car finished in time for the 2015 SEMA show in Las Vegas, where he presented it to Kawasaki. It was proudly displayed in the Coker booth that year.