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For the 'Back to the Future'
DeLorean
1959 Cadillac
( Ecto 1 )
Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!
The Ectomobile, or Ecto-1 is a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor
Futura Duplex limo-style endloader combination car
(ambulance conversion)
used in the 1984 film Ghostbusters and 1989 Ghostbusters II.
The Ectomobile was also featured in the 2016 remake
of Ghostbusters.
A combination car was a vehicle that could serve either as a
hearse or as an ambulance, and had the capability of being
swapped between those roles without much difficulty.
This hybrid usage of the cars reflects an era when funeral homes
offered emergency ambulance service in addition to their
primary trade, especially in smaller towns and rural areas.
Combination cars were often built on a Cadillac Commercial Chassis
and were customized by coachbuilders such as Superior,
Miller-Meteor, Hess & Eisenhardt and Cotner-Bevington.
The 1959 Cadillac S&S Ambulance has a 6.5-litre V8, 320 hp engine.
The dimensions are: 20 ft long, 6.5 ft wide and weighing in
at 7,300 lbs.
Also has an air suspension system.
The original design of the Ecto-1 was an all-black exterior with
flashing purple and white strobe lights, the vehicle was ultimately
painted white since the majority of the scenes were filmed at night
and a dark car would be lost on screen.
The Miller-Meteor Ambulance was designed to look run down in
order to match the budget the Ghostbusters would have had
to purchase such a mode of transportation.
The Ectomobile has a distinctive siren wail, and features
a special pull-out rack in the rear containing the staff's
proton packs, which facilitates a quick retrieval without
the complication of having to reach into the vehicle's rear.
There are also various gadgets mounted on the top, whose
function is never revealed in the movie.
Three cars were used in the movies:
Only one was used during the entire filming of the first movie.
the third 1959 Miller-Meteor was purchased after the second died
during shooting of Ghostbusters II.
The original Ectomobile used by Universal Studios during filming
the movie was sold on eBay in 2009 for $45,100.
The Universal Studios Ecto-1 Replica was sold at the Barrett-Jackson
auto auction in Scottsdale Arizona in January, 2010 for $80,000.
The Ecto-1 also had a miniature replica mass-produced
as a children’s toy, which sold more than 1 million
toys worldwide.
Burt Reynolds’ 1978 Pontiac
Firebird Trans Am “Bandit” Re-creation:
A 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am owned by Burt Reynolds
that was customized to look like the one he drove in
“Smokey and The Bandit” was sold at the Barrett-Jackson
Las Vegas auction in 2018 for $192,500.
It was a high price for a tribute car that wasn’t even the same
model year as the black and gold Trans Am in the film, but
having been commissioned and owned by Reynolds himself
it came with a unique cache, not to mention his signature on
the glove compartment door.
He had all of the fixings, including the 8.2-liter engine tuned
and fully customized to bring power up from the original
output of 220 horsepower to a head-turning 600 horsepower.
As far as the authentic 1977 “Bandit” car from the movie, there
were about 12 used during filming and Reynolds said they
were all scrapped because they got so beat up from all
of the stunts.
There is one car, however, that didn’t appear on screen but that
Universal Pictures took on tour to promote the film, which was
last sold in 2016 for $550,000.
The black and gold Pontiac Firebird Trans Am used in Smokey and
the Bandit was supposed to be a special edition of the 1977 model.
But the Trans Ams used in the film were actually 1976 models,
with the soon to be released front ends from the
1977 model.
1958 Plymouth Fury -
( Christine )
In the 1983 movie, Christine was a possessed 1958 Plymouth Fury,
but a combination of 1957 and 1958 models were used in the film.
All of Christine’s engine sounds were taken from a 1970 Mustang
428 Super Cobra Jet.
More than 20 cars were used in the movie, and not all of them were
Furys, but also Belvederes and Savoys.
Most cars were used on screen, and the rest served as parts cars.
One of the movie cars sold for $198,000 at Barrett-Jackson’s
Scottsdale auction in January 2015.
All the cars were painted red and given matching interiors.
The gold trim was painted silver or made for the cars that did not
have it.
The opening scene of the movie shows Christine as the only red Fury,
this scene had to be filmed first so the other cars could be re-painted.
If you look closely, the Furys do not have the gold trim or the word
'Fury' on the fins, as the real cars do.
The trim on the movie cars had already been painted silver.
The car’s windows were painted black on the inside to give Christine
a “sinister” appearance whenever she got angry, the darkened glass
also concealed the stunt driver.
There was a small driver section which was a patch of black window
tint so that the stunt driver could see.
There were 4x4 in. wood beams between the firewall and front core
support and the radiator was mounted in the trunk so that in crash
scenes the radiator fluid would not spill out.
When Christine appeared to regenerate herself, hydraulic pumps
were installed on the inside of plastic 'stunt doubles'.
These pumps were attached to cables, which were attached to
the car's bodywork and when they compressed,
they would suck the paneling inwards.
Footage of the inward crumpling body was then reversed, giving
the appearance of the car spontaneously retaking form.
Some Plymouth Fury facts:
With a $3,000 average price, the 1958 Fury was the most expensive
Plymouth model for that year.
Its production of 5,303 was down from the 7,438 for 1957, but up from
the short 1956 run of 4,485.
After 1958, the Fury name would be put on Plymouths of all types
ranging from station wagons to police cars.
The Flintstone's Car -
Yabba Dabba Doo!
The Flintstone's RockWagon Footmobile
from Bedrock, is 100 % manual, powered by foot.
This Bedrock vehicle has No power steering, No heater,
No air conditioning, No engine, and No floor.
It is built from wood and stone, and the 2 wheels
(rollers) were built with granite.
