Could a 1969 Pontiac GTO Ram Air IV be better than a GTO Judge?

Driving review and technical breakdown for a 1969 Pontiac GTO Ram Air IV. Better bang-for-your-buck than a GTO Judge?

GM's engineering wizards unleashed the 400ci Ram Air IV V8 engine as the top power option for 1969. Built for severe, high-rpm duty, the 370hp Ram Air IV was based on a special iron cylinder block with 4-bolt main caps, high-strength crankshaft and rods, forged aluminum pistons, a hot hydraulic cam, free-flowing cylinder heads, a big 750-cfm Quadrajet carburetor on a lightweight aluminum intake manifold, and low-restriction dual exhaust system, making it good for 370 factory-underrated horses. As the ‘Ram Air’ name implied, an efficient twin-scoop hood and sealed intake plenum underneath delivers cool, dense air to the engine for additional power. Available with a choice of 4-speed manual transmissions or GM’s quick-shifting heavy-duty M40 Turbo-Hydramatic automatic transmissions, the Ram Air IV mill required HD cooling and Safe-T-Tack limited-slip rear end with either 3.90:1 or 4.33:1 gears. While the A-Body GTO is relatively heavy, acceleration with the Ram Air IV is awesome, with the quarter mile covered by a stock example in just 13.99 seconds.

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[josefinawydler]

Ram Air IV GTOs were so strong that most were dynoed at 450 horspower with a closed exhaust . Open the exhaust and add a decent electronic distributor and 500 horsepower at the crankshaft was very possible. 12 second time slips were normally if tuned correctly .

[charlesdalton]

What a dream machine! Thank you for sharing. Frankly, the drop top, the options, and the RA IV - I prefer this to a Judge at this point in my life.

[ChrisL-nitb]

Family friend owns a 1970 Ram Air 4 judge convertible, bought it from bank repo in 1972. Auto car, one of 17. Phs documented

[ndAmdmt]

Never understood why Pontiac didn’t increase the cid to the 428 or 455 for the RAIV. With the right rear end it could have kept up with just about anything back then.

[christopherkraft]

I've always been a big fan of the 69 GTO of any flavor & this one is exceptional!!! Thanks for sharing this exciting video!!! 👍👍🙂

[rajcam]

Awesome car! Hope one day my 1971 Lemans GT-37 will be this nice!

[mta]

One of my neighbours has a 70 Buick GSX. It would be fun to see them side by side at Cayuga.

[scotchbudmeister]

Had a 69 RA III. It wasn't quite the beast as the RA IV but it ran strong. Love the blue block, Pontiacs had the nicest looking engine bays.

[marc]

Nice to see this car. The GTO convertible I’m restoring has the same body, top and interior color!

[mikepearson]

Love the Ram Air 4s , Wish they put the Ran Air 5s in them , Love Any Judge mostly , my 1969 Ram Air 4 Judge W/ 433 gears

[MrRebar]

*Legendary Motorcar* She's a beauty, thank-you sir for taking the time to show us. God Bless.

[michaeljoeallen]

I salute you for keeping it factory fresh. Oh man that top. 👍

[wduvernay]

TOO bad they never came out with a Ram Air 4/5 428 In these.

[ricksidenstricker]

I cannot imagine, in any rational thought process, how this body style of GTO is less than perfect. Holy experience. I remember when the 68's came out, I was a child, and I would just stare....nothing else comes close as an overall package in performance and styling. While I love the performance of the newer do not have the realness, sound or style of these time machines. Who would not love a disappearing antenna and

[johndillinger]

stupid question.
judge was an appearance package.ram air 4 was available in any GTO.

[hornetbrown]

I just want one really, really nice car, like one if these GTOs or a W-30 Cutlass Supreme, a Nova 350 4 speed or a 70 Chevelle 396/402.
I personally don't believe any of these musclecars are worth about $70-80K. $200K+ for a car no matter how rare it is, is sheer madness. Eventually, the markets gonna tank on these things. They're not ancient Silver Ghosts or special bodied Packards or Lincolns made just after WWI.

[kurtzimmerman]

pontiac did make round port cylinder heads in 1967. i forget what the casting #s were, but almost 200 gto's got them in 1967

[karlepaul]

Love everything about this car, except the fact it's a convertible. Really any muscle car that's a convertible just drops points in my book. Just my taste, maybe I'm just weird. lol

[joshacollins]

I'm going to say it that the body style looks better without the Judge stripes.

[JohnnyAloha]

As someone who’s owned a ton of Pontiac muscle for well over 40 years I’ll be devils advocate about the RA IV. While it did have a lot of potential it wasn’t a great end product. In bone stock form they weren’t really any quicker than a basic GTO engine with the same driveline behind it. The added power at the upper end was offset by very weak low end power.

Fundamentally the RA IV only made sense when it was modified to take better advantage of its high flow induction and camshaft design. This meant headers and larger diameter exhaust plumbing. It also called for much higher timing advance than the stick setting (which was necessary for emissions reasons. Lastly the standard 3.90 gears were not sufficient for the radical cam duration. It really needed 4.33 gears but they made the 3.90’s standard in order to make the car more practical to regular use buyers.