The Build
A 1970 GTO The Judge — featured on American Restoration.
Coker Tire executive Wade Kawasaki tracked down a low-mileage, numbers-matching 1970 GTO Judge in Hawaii and handed it to Bodie with a single ask: get it to SEMA 2015 looking exactly like it did on the showroom floor.
Bodie preserved the factory 400 Pontiac drivetrain to keep the car numbers-matching, then rebuilt everything around it. The reveal aired as 'Here Comes the Judge' — Season 7, Episode 7 of History's American Restoration.
- Numbers-matching survivor with ~44,000 original miles, found in Hawaii
- Owned by Coker Tire president and SEMA chair-elect Wade Kawasaki
- Restored on a one-month deadline for SEMA 2015
- Bodie was the only shop featured in every episode of American Restoration Season 7
Vehicle History
The Pontiac GTO helped launch the muscle car era in 1964, and "The Judge" package — named after a Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In catchphrase — arrived in 1969 as its most flamboyant variant. The 1970 model year brought the 400-cubic-inch Ram Air III and optional Ram Air IV engines, making it one of the most feared street machines of its day.
Known for: "Here comes the Judge" — the muscle car named after a TV catchphrase
Gallery
Build Process
