1970 RAIV Judge Ragtops

[csx289]

Eric,
I am glad you can call the car I sold an "OK" car, without ever having seen the car since it was restored. Yes, it did originaly have Sandalwood interior and top. That fact was clearly mentioned by me in the auction catalog and to every prospective buyer that looked at it.It didn't bother me , or the buyer. I actually prefered it being a black interior and top.

I respect your opinion, and those of other members of this group. However , I respectfully ask that before passing judgement (no pun intended) on any of my cars , how much they are worth or are not worth, or my personal financial standing that you please get some first hand knowledge of anything you care to comment on.

Value (percieved or real) of ANYTHING in life only matters in the owner's eye when you really get down to it. On the day I sold my car , the new owner felt it was worth what he bid , and I felt I was getting a fair value for all of my efforts in making the car what it was , so we had a deal.

If you are truly interested in seeing what your RAIV Judge convertible is worth for real, take it to a first rate restoration shop , have it restored to #1 condition , and then enter it in an auction and let it "sit on the money" as they say. There are plenty of fine restorers such as Aloha/Imagine , Tiemann , Gary Thurlow, etc.. that would all be happy to take $100k give or take to get your car done to the level that I had mine done to.

At that point, we can compare prices on a hard loaded, good color , 4 spd w/ A/C RAIII Convert to a RAIV convert and see what the difference really is in the real world.

I will promise you this, for both your benifit and the buyer's , if this day should ever come I will reserve any comment on the condition of your car unless I have personally inspected it at the time of the sale.

As always, you are more than welcome to come here and look at any of my cars in person at any time. I'll even give you a tour of the toothpaste factory.

Regards,
Colin

[Belair62]

I agree Colin..I witnessed both the car and the auction......when the car rolled in there was quite a stir and the bidding got hot...beautiful car and restoration...and honestly described...

[supergonzo]

Hey Rob, I haven't driven the RAIV convert down the track yet. I have 2 other RAIV hardtop cars.One a Judge hardtop.
Both automatic cars.
The Judge RAIV hardtop runs about 13.30's consistently, although in cool air last year it ran a 13.06@105 mph. However this is with drag radials in an otherwise pure stock configuration. It seems consistent with what RAIV cars are running at the pure stock drags. 3.90 gears

The other hardtop GTO RAIV car, ran exactly the same as the Judge above, so I got bored with it. And I put headers on it, just to see how much better they were than the RAIV manifolds. It picked up 4 tenths!! I was surprised, it ran a 12.68@107 in cool October air here last year. Not bad for a motor I have yet to even take apart yet. Didn't even re-jet the carb! But that was under exceptional conditions.

Again the RAIV convert hasn't been down the track yet, (don't want to break anything) but I am assuming it will run 13.40-60's maybe? I am tempted actually to take it once before the July 24th race just to see if it will run well .

Thats my Judge and my previous car and LS6 Chevelle , which I sold.

[Chevy454]

Those are some pretty good times there, Gonzo! And 4 tenths just from bolting up headers...WOW!! Kinda makes ya wish ya didn't know how bad those manifolds were hurtin' ya, huh?!?

I envy you and the rest of the FS/FAST cars that make it out to the July 24th event. I've heard for years that E-town is arguably the best ET/MPH track around, as well as a nice a facility...but it's a rediculously long haul from here! Good luck to you and the rest of the guys going, though!

[supergonzo]

Thanks Again Rob, I'll try to do my best, just actually just wanna see all the other cool cars that will be there.

As far as Judge Convertibles go. I just sold my 69' Judge Convertible RAIII 4spd car. I did very well. So I know what they go for. This was the car I just sold. At one time I had 4 69' Judges. I have 2 now. Both RAIV cars. SO MUCH faster than RAIII's and standard GTO motors. Although I love all Pontiacs. <BR>


Your Yenko is an awesome car itself.

[COPO_Anders]

OK, it´s not a Judge. But I was reading a Swedish magazine tonight, Power magazine, and they had an article about a -70 RAM AIR IV GTO. Lars Sundeborn, a Swedish guy living in Santa Ana saw an ad in the Los Angeles Times back in -79 and bought the car. It´s a silver fourspeed convertible.

There is also a -70 RAM AIR IV GTO hardtop in Sweden. This one is gold. I´ve seen it on several meetings.It´s been restored to perfect condition.


Anders

[JoeG]

Ram Air IV AD------------

[yellowjudge]

Colin, I see my crumb illicts a full course meal from you. Someone said something about your bright teeth after the sale, harmless, but jump on him if you want.
Price, it was an auction, sale price disclosed to anyone. Alot of people discuss cars @ these high profile sales, as do I. OK,short for Oklahoma, as I had looked @ that car back in 1996, think that is where it was then. I'm intouch w/prev. owner who inspected it, & told me what he thought. I'm sure it was a great car.
Not taking anything away from any RAIII cars, but you're a car salesman, so what ever engine, option etc your car has, it's the best @ that time. I'm sure all the people on this site would agree, a RAIII<RAIV. Would you say a Z-28 is =to ZL1? Or an SS 396=LS6
100k resto?, that's some resto, out of my league.

No raiv judge convert= to a RAIII in value, your a good salesman, but that's a tough sale!

[csx289]

Eric,
Again, with all due respect, my post was not an attack on you, nor was it in any way trying to convey that a RAIII car is worth anything near a RAIV car! My point, which I feel you have missed, was that in response to YOUR question of basically "If Colin's RAIII car is worth this, what is my RAIV convert worth NOW". My comment was that it would be quite interesting to compare the difference in values IF you could find a RAIV convert restored to the same level as my RAIII car,and offer it for sale in a similar venue.

Also, I had made the point that your comment of the car being "OK" was perhaps unfair , as YOU have not seen the car since its restoration - a quite exhaustive and expensive one I might add. If there was a previous owner of the car at the auction, he did not introduce himself to me. I would have loved to talked to him. However, that still does not change the fact that you did not see it - unless, of course, you guys share eyeballs

Finally, as far as what I veiw as being derragatory remarks as to my being a "car salesman" , yes , I do sell cars. I also collect and keep more than I sell. I have sold a good number of cars to members of this site , and I am sure that they would agree that I am a lousy "salesperson". I let the cars sell themselves, and some cars I could have sold dozens of times over, but I keep them. Why is that? Because I am as much as a car nut as anybody on this board. I simply have to sell some cars to make money to keep some, simple as that!

I have to say that all appearances aside, you seem to be a better salesman than me. Haven't I been reading posts (this thread included) about your cars and how much they are worth for a long time? I don't think I ever made a post about my black Judge convertible.I also recall speaking to you on the phone a few times when you were selling ME cars - or at least brokering them.

And yes, $100k is what it takes to do a good resto these days with real parts and show paint. I'd love to see your cars done like this at some point, they deserve it.

My invitation still stands, you are more than welcome to come to my place at any time and poke around.I think you'd enjoy it.

Best regards,
Colin

[firstgenaddict]

There is currently a 70 RA IV conv undergoing a complete frame off and I believe that the current asking price is $699,000. With the price going up as per current trends. Here is the link 70 RA IV conv.