I was two years away from getting my driver’s license in 1986, but that didn’t stop me from checking out the classifieds in the Evening Journal. While a lot captured my attention, Pontiac was the brand that I favored the most (thanks to my neighbors, whose family owned a Pontiac dealership in Elmer, NJ), with the GTO Judge being my dream car.
Perhaps a year before, I happened to capture my first glimpse of my dream car. Eagle-eyed me saw a bright orange car about 100 yards ahead on the local pike, so I begged my mom to catch up. This 1969 Judge was driven by a woman named Donna whom I would later befriend and annoy with my teenage Pontiac questions.
But during that summer day in 1986, something different popped out at me: “1969 GTO Ram Air IV.” I knew this was the top engine for the GTO, but it wasn’t a Judge. I quickly grabbed by The Big Little GTO Book and glanced at the production numbers. It seems the Ram Air IV was rarer than any Judge, and it was at that moment that I figured out that the engine trumped a fancy paint job, stripe, and spoiler. I tugged at my dad’s sleeve to check out the Goat, which was located in a nearby town.
My dad was not a car guy, but he was sensitive to cars, if not my enthusiasm for them, so he was already prepared for this rite of passage. I remember seeing what I’d call a “candy apple maroon” GTO as we approached the address. The owner, Bernie, told us he had built the engine. We drove the car around the block, though my dad had never driven a high-performance four-speed before, so it was uneventful other than I fell in love. The asking price was $4,000. Dad arranged to have the car looked at by his trusty mechanic.
The result was that, per my recollection, it had incorrect parts and ran poorly. To my dad, incorrect meant something was wrong, and he reported back to Bernie with this news and a bargaining chip. Bernie was none too pleased to hear criticism of his handiwork, and the two were not able to come to an agreement, so Dad walked away, with me and my money in tow. I don’t recall my dejection, but I was 14 so I had plenty of time to find a car. (As it so happened, I ended up with a 1970 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 W30 convertible, but that’s a story for another time.)
Fast-forwarding to 1995, I was in college and had a two-year-old issue of Hemmings laying around. Why I was looking through an old issue is a question I cannot answer, but this was in the days before the Internet, so I was still a fan of hunting down cool cars and dreaming. Deep within the Pontiac section, I found a Ram Air IV 1969 GTO that was listed for sale in my home state. The ad said it was originally the same color I was told back in 1986. Could it be the same car? I called the number and spoke with a gentleman whom we’ll call Mister J, who confirmed he was the guy who bought the car from Bernie and he still owned the car despite the ad from two years before.
I kept in touch with Mister J over the years. Seems like we chatted over the phone once a year or so; other times, maybe a few years would pass. Perhaps 15 years ago, we added email as a form of communication, but it was no more frequent. Over time, Mister J had responsibilities like grad school, taking care of an elderly family member, and the travails that come with life. He drove the Goat about 1,000 miles before taking it off the road in 1994 and, since then, it has sat, as has his 1968 GTO that he bought when he was 21. Over the years, Mister J has primarily fed his enthusiasm with newer machinery.
Earlier this summer, I was vacationing at the beach in my home state, so I asked Mister J if I could visit the Goat and finally meet after all these years. The ravages of time and storage have taken their toll somewhat, but now I can get the real story of this car and compare it to my memories: No, this car didn’t really have any wrong parts on it, but it did run rough and had no top-end power, which Mister J attributes to a worn camshaft and perhaps the lifters. Though the cable to actuate the Ram Air system was still present, the original Ram Air hood was missing, as was the plenum and plumbing. All the important engine stuff, like the heads and manifolds, were still on the car, as were the Rally II wheels. The original M21 four-speed had been replaced, a 12-bolt unit with 4.10 gears had taken place of the original rear end, the hood tach was aftermarket, the engine bay was spray-bombed with gloss black (including all the wires and hoses) and Bondo was used to fix the body before the burgundy repaint, but everything else checked out. A casual glance showed a console, gauges including a clock, and hideaway headlights.
Mister J is now retired and has plans for the Ram Air IV. As an engineer, he’s super-organized and methodical, but he’s been planning this for a long time as well. Once the GTO is restored and he enjoys the fruits of his efforts, will I have the opportunity to be the first in line to own The One That Got Away? I really don’t know, nor does it matter because the story about the first car I seriously considered and how I was able to find it years later is good enough.
Source: www.classiccars.com