Ecto 1 Makes a Triumphant Return For ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ as a Barn Find
Ghostbusters is one of the all-time great cultural touchpoints that has risen to heights that outreach its quality. For whatever reason, the classic 80s comedy has buried itself into our collective consciousness. As with most iconic pop culture phenomena, Ghostbusters brought along with it the relics of the film as icons, too. The coolest among these artifacts has got to be the crowned Prince of movie cars, the 1959 Cadillac Futura Duplex with an ambulance/hearse conversion known as Ecto 1. Thankfully, the vintage Cadillac is making a comeback for the next installment of the iconic film series; Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
The Ecto 1 might be the best part of Ghostbusters
We were supposed to have already seen (and loved) the newest Ghostbusters film, Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Instead of good times with ghosts, we got COVID. Now we’re over a year out from the original release date, and all we got is a second official trailer. Well, something is better than nothing, I suppose.
After seeing the second trailer for Afterlife, many like-minded car nerds will be plumb chuffed to see the triumphant return of our favorite vintage Cadillac, Ecto 1. As Car and Driver notes, the Ghostbusters’ ride is the 1959 Cadillac Futura Duplex with an ambulance/hearse conversion from the first Ghostbusters film. Ecto 1 was a run-down, busted, old Cadillac ambulance that the original crew turned into the ectomobile.
This vintage Cadillac was how the Ghostbusters scooted around NYC with its signature whining siren. While the vintage Cadillac hearse stuck around for the subsequent films, it was strangely missing in the 2016 film starring Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Kristen Wiig.
Ecto 1 is the coolest barn find of all time
Barn finds are the most exciting thing within the vintage car world. Finding an abandoned Ferrari or some such would be pretty damn exciting. If you compare that to opening an old farm building to find the Ecto 1 as a barn find, the Ferrari might as well be day-old bread.
The new Ghostbusters: Afterlife trailer shows the new batch of Ghostbusters finding the iconic car on, Egon Spengler’s Oklahoma farm. The lucky finder is found by none other than his grandson, played by Finn Wolfhard of Stranger Things fame.
Although we should probably expect a montage of the kids getting the vintage Cadillac running again, they clearly get the hearse going. The kids are shown ripping the Ghostbusting whip through their now ghost-infested town.
The Ecto 1 has seen some changes over the years
Ecto 1 has gotten a gunner seat since we’ve seen it last. This feature is prominently shown with the youngsters blasting proton streams all over town like its 80s NYC. In true 2021 fashion, the Ghostbusters’ old rig can now deploy a drone to get eyes on the spookies from afar.
This newest installment of the pop-culture megalith is set to drop on November 11, 2021. If the film is half as fun as the trailer and has as much Ecto 1 as it seems to, then we should all be in for a good romp.
Don’t forget; Never cross your streams. Unless…
