Why Orbit Orange Became The '70 Judge's Feature Color
As HPP reported previously ("Movers and Shakers," Aug. `08), the GTO Judge was originally intended to be a one-season promotion for 1969. Specifically designed as a spoof of the musclecar wars and so outlandish the public had no choice but to pay attention to Pontiac, there was little doubt in the Division's plan that the Judge would be a brightly colored memory by the time the '70 Pontiac model lineup rolled around.
With the successful sales of the '69 Judge, the gurus within Pontiac had other ideas. Against co-creator Jim Wanger's expressed wishes, Pontiac continued the Judge for a second model year. "I protested, but by the time the '70 model lineup was being put together, word that John DeLorean had been promoted from Pontiac to Chevrolet was already circulating; that weakened my position concerning the Judge," Wangers recalls.
In another bold move, Pontiac decided to promote the '70 Judge in Polar White, detaching the top-of-the-line GTO from its trademark Carousel Red hue. "The sales teams were in a very aggressive posture to continue the Judge, but never looked at why we designed the Judge in the first place," Wangers says. "They didn't understand our motivation behind it or the power of the Carousel Red color. We got off to a horrendous start in '70 on the Judge," he continues. "Response dwindled from there."
After the Judge's '70 introduction, Wangers was called to Pontiac for an emergency meeting. The Judge was going to be cancelled, and Pontiac wanted to find an immediate way to save it. "It was no surprise that Polar White wasn't getting the public's attention," Wangers explains. "People expected the Judge to be in Carousel Red. We asked Pontiac's paint supplier to provide a Judge in Carousel Red, and quickly, because Pontiac wanted to keep the Judge alive."
What happened next is revealed for the very first time to HPP readers. Pontiac executives saw the one-off Carousel Red '70 Judge prototype and thought it was frightening. "The car itself was really quite nice, but the image that the '69 Judge created just didn't carry over to the new body style," Wangers says. "If there ever was a car that blew you off the road, it was the '70 Judge proposal in Carousel Red. It was just too big a statement. Even though the '70 was not really a bigger car, it was bigger where it counted. It was too much; it was a good car for a parade, but not something you'd want to live with every day."
With the paint supplier there, the next step was to soften the Carousel Red with a more muted tone. "They came back with Orbit Orange and it worked. It looked much more sophisticated than Carousel Red, yet retained the aggressive, in-your-face attitude of the '69 Judge. Without a doubt, the decision to bring the '70 Judge back in Orbit Orange saved the car from being cancelled," Wangers says.
A Pontiac Car Distribution Bulletin dated October 3, 1969, informed dealers that Orbit Orange was now available as a Judge-only option. Presented with this wild new color to whet their appetites, public reaction rebounded and Judge sales started moving again, in total, 3,797 by the end of the '70 model year (9.45 percent of total GTO sales). Orbit Orange may have saved the Judge, but as you can see in this story, the Judge looks great in Polar White, too. --CP