In Memory of: David Tucker o/o The Trany Shop

Dave Tucker owned The Trany Shop in Norval, Ontario. Long time residents remember when it was located in a side unit of the Knolcrest Center in Georgetown many years ago.Dave specialized in transmission and drive train rebuilds, repairs and performance improvements. At the time no one else in Georgetown was doing that kind of specialty performance work. Business grew and eventually his facility expanded to the point where it occupied the front row of units of the block of the plaza, sharing space with Apple Auto Glass and Krown Rust Control. Along the way, Dave indulged in his passion for building hot Mopar machines. I've lost count of the variety of cars parked outside his shop, there were so many. There was the Hemi Orange 1970 RoadRunner 440 hardtop, the silver 1971 cuda 340 hardtop, even a 1970 Chevelle SS 454 hardtop. I didn't even know that was Dave's until I did a story on it when it had been restored many years later. He'd bought it and ended the downward spiral of destruction that car was facing after a list of abusive leadfoots. Luciano Delry of Hamilton bought it later and restored it to former glory.
That 1971 silver 340 cuda was later restored by Alan Gallant in Georgetown. It is now a stunning white with orange and black interior four speed car with factory a/c. Dave's own projects were just as interesting. He had a RoadRunner strip car that he'd been working on for years. He also had a 1971 Challenger hemi hardtop clone that was just gorgeous. I did a photo story on that one when Dave and Lorenzo told me it was finished. I'm sure there were lots of other cars equally deserving of mention but I only had experience with these ones. I remember especially the photo shoot for the Challenger. It was done at the Apple Factory parking lot one spring evening. Dave and I went there and I climbed up the frame of an old windmill to get a picture of the Challenger from above. The white vinyl top and hood decals looked so nice I wanted everyone to see it. Dave held onto the tower when it started creaking until I got a decent pic. On the way home, he showed me what the modified 426 hemi was capable of. A very memorable ride indeed. A year or so later,Dave bought the former Texaco gas station in Norval and moved his business into the shop. Dave and family lived in the house next door. It was a dream set up that ended commuting to and from work. I always dropped by to see what new project cars Dave or Lorenzo were working on. Dave always had time to talk to me. The work he did on my Turbo Trans Am transmission was great. Everything from a new flexplate and rebuilt transmission with a shift kit. That car got rubber anytime I wanted it.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. This one came a lot sooner than any of us wanted. Dave passed away in his 47th year on December 6th, 2008. We will miss him but the memories will remain forever.

PHS Interviews: Tim Schroeder of the '69 Blue Judge Registry

I've had good feedback from the post on the 1972 Chevelle LS-5 convertible registry started by Stan Kryla last year. Today we're featuring another muscle car registry. Tim Schroeder, of Michigan, is GTO Judge crazy. His passion is for certain colour Judges, particularly blue ones. This is natural as he owns two of them. Those of you unfamiliar with GTO Judges, it was a performance package Pontiac released in 1969 featuring the Ram Air III engine as standard equipment and a Ram Air IV optional. The first run of Judges were all Carousel Red. After the first batch, Pontiac released Judges in other colours. I talked with Tim to learn more about the registry and the goals behind it.

Q:Tim, the first question I have to ask is why just the blue cars?

A:My favorite colour has always been blue. It could also be I was born to like it as my Dad is the original owner of a Crystal Turquoise Judge that was around when I was born. My Mother used to take me around town in it until it was parked in the early eighties. After that, my Mom owned more blue cars so I was always around them.

Q: Excluding special paint orders, how many shades of blue were available on a 1969 GTO Judge?

A: There were three standard shades of blue in '69; Liberty Blue, Warwick Blue and Crystal Turquoise. Liberty Blue is the dark shade, Warwick Blue is a light shade and Crystal Turquoise is a light shade with a slight green tint in it. Some say Crystal Turquoise can be considered another shade altogether.

Q: Currently your registry tracks engine, plant of origin, interior colour, transmission type and build date. What kinds of questions do you hope to be able to answer with this database?

A: My main goal with the registry is to attempt to track down as many '69 Blue Judges that were made as there's no known production colour breakdown available for that model year. Secondly, it seems a lot of people want to know how many other cars were produced with the same colour combo and options as theirs. What better way to find out than to build a registry?

Q: Looking at the numbers, we already see some interesting patterns emerge. Liberty Blue is the biggest entry so far with 15 cars. Only one of them however, has a Parchment top. Is the top vinyl or painted?

A: That particular Judge came from the factory with a Parchment Vinyl top. I find it interesting that with the small amount of information gathered so far that there's also a Crystal Judge with a Black Vinyl top which actually is my Dad's car. There's a Warwick Judge with Parchment Vinyl top as well. I hope as time passes we come across more vinyl top cars as I personally love the look.

Q: Can you explain to those viewing your site by monitor, the difference between Liberty and Windward Blue? Many owners' screens will display these two colours as identical when they aren't alike.

A: Windward Blue is lighter by about forty percent compared to Liberty. I always thought if you took Liberty Blue and added Warwick Blue in a 50/50 mixture, you would get close to Windward Blue. It is actually a very neat colour.

Q: Windward Blue is by far, the rarest colour on your database. A quick check with The Ultimate GTO Picture Site (TUGTOPS) using their picture search engine reveals only two Windward Blue Judges. I personally expected Crystal Turquoise to be the rarest colour as it's a light metallic shade prone to sun fading and therefore likely to be repainted another colour. This leads me to ask about colour availability. Were certain shades dropped during the production year?

A: All the standard blue shades were available through the entire '69 year. Windward Blue was actually one of three special order colours available on GTOs and Judges. Windward was a standard Firebird shade available on a GTO for anywhere from $100.05 to $115.85 depending on your PHS document.

Q: An odd thing to note is the availability of Judge stripe colours on the blue cars. I read somewhere that Pontiac didn't reccommend the red, white and black decals for Liberty Blue cars. Yet we've seen some made that way. Would it be a good idea to note what colour stripes were available on the blue cars?

A: Yes.I've been keeping track of stripe colours on original cars for over ten years now.If you look in any book, you'll see that blue Judges were supposed to have blue/yellow/red/stripes but I've documented several original cars and they ALL were black/white/red. I do plan on putting more info on the website but I'm new to the website game and hope people will be patient while I learn to do this.

Q: My big surprise was not finding a single three speed manual transmission Judge when it was supposedly standard equipment with the four speed optional. What was the biggest surprise for you with this registry?

A: My biggest surprise was documenting three Windward Blue cars as I figured I'd be lucky just to find one as it was a special order shade.

Q: You own two Judges, are both of them blue?Which one will you restore first?

A: When I was younger, I set a goal that my Judge collection would consist of every shade of blue offered in '69. I currently own a Warwick/Parchment four speed Judge and a Liberty/Parchment four speed Judge. My Dad still owns his Crystal Turquoise/Black top automatic Judge, so the last one to get is a Windward Blue car.
Both of my Judges are basket cases and the picture on my main web page is the Warwick car. Once I finish and sell my '70 GTO I want to get going on the Warwick car.My Dad and I also have a Crystal Turquoise, Windward Blue and Warwick Blue GTO in our stable needing restorations. I've also bought and sold many other Goats through the years.

Tim, thanks for your time. We hope you look over Tim's site to learn more about these great muscle cars. Check it out at www.69bluejudge.com