WILLIAMSBURG — Roy Beals’ colorful 1970 Pontiac GTO has already gained a measure of local fame, having been featured in a Williamsburg Players production last October.
Now, Beals will mark his 50 years with the “Orbit orange” muscle car in combination with the Williamsburg Lions Club’s 50th anniversary car show Saturday on River Road.
“I wanted to celebrate having my car 50 years,” Beals, a club member, said. The Lions Club had wanted to celebrate its 50th anniversary, too, but that milestone came during the pandemic and they had to postpone it. So, they decided to combine the two events into one.
Beals wasn’t the first owner of the car, which came with a special options package known as “the judge” — mainly striping and a rear spoiler — so named by Pontiac division chief John DeLorean in honor of the Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In skit, according to Beals. It arrived in 1973 as a trade-in at Clark Oldsmobile Pontiac on Union Street in Easthampton, where Beals happened to work.
“One of the mechanics called it to my attention, and he said, you should buy that car,” he said.
So he talked to the salesman, who told him to write down what he was prepared to pay, and the salesman would write down the amount he wanted for it.
“I wrote down $2,000, and he countered and sold it to me for $1,600,” Beals said with a chuckle.
The GTO has a four-speed manual transmission linked to a 400 cubic-inch V-8, rated at 366 horsepower. The Ram Air engine means the scoops on the hood actually work, Beals said, “ramming” air into the carburetors. At 12 miles to the gallon, it’s no daily ride — it has a little over 129,000 miles on it, he said. He drives it mostly to cruise nights, in Whately, Florence and Hadley, but the thrill of the car’s power and sound never fades.
“When he drives it, I look in his eyes and they’re just gleaming,” his wife, Evelyn, said.
Evelyn Beals plays a big part in the story, too. The Williamsburg Players performance, “The Keeper,” was based on the story Roy Beals wrote about buying the car and “getting the girl.”
“I bought the car in 1973, married my wife in 1975, and they’re both keepers,” he said.
A few years back, he moved the car into his cellar and spent three years repairing it, modifying some components and fixing up the bodywork. When he was done, White Lightning Auto Body did the finish work and striping.
Saturday’s car show will be held at 10 River Road on the property of Gerry Lashway, Beals said. There will be a food truck, beer tent, a live band and a DJ, and a 50/50 raffle. Registration for show cars opens at 8 a.m.; the fee is $10. Spectator parking is $5.
At the close of the show, at 2 p.m., Beals said, “We’re planning to have cars caravan up through the center of Williamsburg and back down Route 9.”