Regardless of whether or not you’re a fan of classic muscle cars, you may find it difficult to not fall in love with this 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge Ram Air IV Convertible.
The car was sold at Mecum Auctions’ recent Kissimmee sales event, trading hands for a remarkable $1.1 million. That’s an extraordinary sum and largely comes down to the fact that the car’s spec is very rare. As a matter of fact, just seven examples like this were ever produced with an automatic transmission. It has also received an extensive body-off-restoration.
Mecum notes that the car is painted in Orbit Orange and was originally built as a factory exhibition car and used for show duty during its first year of existence before being sold to its first private owner.
Read: Modern-Day Pontiac GTO Rendered From Camaro, Because Why Not?
The Pontiac GTO alone isn’t a particularly hard car to find. Indeed, Pontiac produced 40,149 examples in 1970 alone. Of these, 3,979 were Judge models with just 168 being Judge Convertibles. A mere 17 Judge Convertibles were then built with the Ram Air IV V8 engine, capable of producing 370 hp and 500 lb-ft (678 Nm) of torque when new. Ten of these cars were equipped with manual transmissions while just seven have the automatic.
This Judge Ram Air IV Convertible has walked away with numerous awards over the years, including at the Meadow Brook Concours in 1998, Ault Park in 2000, and Cranbrook in 2004. It also claimed a win at the Milwaukee Masterpiece in 2009.
Nobody buys a classic muscle car like this expecting to find a great deal of features and amenities. Nevertheless, the Pontiac does include power front disc brakes, a Formula steering wheel, an AM/FM audio system, custom seat belts, a Soft Ray tinted windshield, and Rally II wheels with Firestone Wide Oval tires.
