Ecto-1

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Ecto-1
Transportation

Appeared in	Ghostbusters Ghostbusters II IDW Comics

The Ecto-1 was the vehicle that the Ghostbusters used to travel throughout New York City busting ghosts and other entities.

1 History
- 1.1 Repairs
2 New Incarnations
3 Secondary Canon History
- 3.1 Ecto-1 in Animated Series
- 3.2 IDW Comics
4 Behind the Scenes
5 Appearances
- 5.1 Secondary Canon Appearances
6 Gallery

HistoryEdit

The vehicle used for the Ecto-1 was a 1959 Cadillac professional chassis, built by the Miller-Meteor company. The ambulance/hearse combination was the end loader variety. Dr. Ray Stantz found the vehicle shortly after he mortgaged his mother's house to buy the Firehouse. Because of his mechanical skills, he was able to repair the vehicle, which he acquired for $4,800 (a rather large sum at the time for a used vehicle in such disrepair - equal to about $9,800 in 2008 dollars).

After repair, the vehicle had quite a unique character. It became a well-recognized symbol for the Ghostbusters franchise, both in the film itself, and in real life. The vehicle had enough room in it to store Proton Packs for all of the crew, along with Ecto Goggles', P.K.E. Meters, and a slew of Traps.

RepairsEdit

After purchasing the vehicle in used condition, Ray had to make repairs on the following parts of the car:

Suspension work
Shocks
Brakes
Brake pads
Lining
Steering box
Transmission
Rear end
New rings
Mufflers
(a little) wiring

New IncarnationsEdit

After the Ghostbusters were shut down, the Ecto-1 was used primarily for transport to and from appearances at such places as children's birthday parties. It fell into a state of disrepair, and is seen spewing smoke, and having various other mechanical problems.

Following the Ghostbusters' return to business after capturing the Scoleri Brothers, the Ecto-1 got an overhaul and was renamed Ecto-1a.

A further updated version of the Ecto-1 appears in during the Thanksgiving 1991 weekend, Ecto-1b. This version is similar to the Ecto-1a, but adds a Super Slammer Muon Trap on the roof which enables it to capture smaller ghosts much more quickly than the portable versions, as well as adding the possibility of capturing much larger ghosts.

The Ecto-1 makes only a brief appearance in the stylized version. It should be noted that the stylized version game uses the the old name Ecto-1 and not the Ecto-1b.

Secondary Canon HistoryEdit

Ecto-1 in Animated SeriesEdit

The Ecto-1 was modified during much of the cartoons run, including adding weapons a blowup raft device. To read more about the changes go here.

IDW ComicsEdit

After Fred's crew of Poltergeists killed Egon, Ray, and Winston, Fred stashed the bodies in Ecto-1. Fred then drove Ecto-1 off into the East River. It appears the Angels later hoisted Ecto from the river in the least.

Rachel Unglighter used her demonic magic to power the Ecto-1, now dubbed Ecto-10, and perform time jumps. These jumps were targeted specifically to each displaced Ghostbusters' Proton Pack, each with their own unique energy signature.

The Ecto-1 designation is used again, as evidenced by appearance and license plate.

Behind the ScenesEdit

Ecto-1 and Ecto-1a are Miller-Meteor Futura Ambulance/Hearse Combination mounted on a 1959 Cadillac Fleetwood Professional Chassis.
In Ghostbusters II, Ecto-1 was backfiring and spewing smoke. This was not done by special effects as the Cadillac truly was in a poor state of repair. It finally "died" on the Brooklyn Bridge. The NYPD fined the filmmakers because the Brooklyn Bridge does not have breakdown lanes and Ecto-1 was blocking traffic.
Before Ghostbusters: The Video Game was released, the original (and now rusty and literally falling apart) Ecto-1 was restored to promote the game. Dan Aykroyd was shocked at the high quality of the restoration.
There had been 3 Miller-Meteor Ambulances to portray the 2 vehicles, the pre-Ecto-1 which was never transformed, Ecto-1 which was originally a gold ambulance & Ecto-1a.
Ecto-1 was promoting the 1984 film shortly after it was released in theaters. It drove around New York City with one of the Ghostbusters driving it in costume. Ecto-1 caused many accidents because other drivers lost control when they spotted the now-famous car.
Steve Dane was the fabricator of the original Ectomobile, not George Barris.