The stars of a blockbuster movie are rarely forgotten, but what about the cars?
The 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance that became a pop culture icon as ECTO-1A in the 1989 film “Ghostbusters II” has definitely been forgotten.
After years as an outdoor display at Universal Studios in Orlando Florida, it’s become a ghost in its own right. A group – creatively and appropriately named “Ghostbusters Fans” – hopes to change that.
Ghostbusters Fans is petitioning Sony Pictures to sell ECTO-1A at scrap value so it can be restored.
Other than fanaticism, the group says it has more than 21,000 members at its disposal; it plans to raise money for the restoration on Kickstarter or another crowd-funding source.
Ghostbusters Fans has also set up a website, where fans of Dan Akroyd and coachbuilt ambulances can sign a petition asking Sony to sell the car. So far it has 1,663 signatures.
According to Ghostbusters Fans, a restoration of ECTO-1A and the original ECTO-1 from the first Ghostbusters film was started in 2007. The first car was completely restored, but money for the project ran out before any real work was done on ECTO-1A.
Restored movie and television cars can still draw large numbers of people at car shows and conventions, and large numbers of dollars at auction. an original Batmobile from the 1960s television series sold for $4.2 million at the 2013 Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona.
(Photo credit: Tony Castillo)
