With due apologies to all the supercars streaking across the screen in the Fast and Furious franchise, there's little argument that one vehicle is just as iconic. That would be Etco-1, the ambulance that ferried stars Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Harold Ramis in the 1984 movie hit Ghostbusters. Now segue to a GM 1959 Pontiac Bonneville Superior Coach, decked out in Ghostbusters finery that went up for sale on eBay on Tuesday with a closing date for bids set for June 10. That said, this vehicle isn't the real deal when you consider that in the first two Ghostbusters flicks, producers used at least two vehicles during filming, all of them Cadillacs.
This Pontiac Used To Be A Hearse
While the owner calls it a "Ghostbusters" ambulance, there's no reference that it was involved in the production. Instead, the posting tells of the vehicle's past as a hearse for decades in Mexico. Specifics on the vehicle are sketchy, including the installation of a "small block Chevy engine," and more than 100,000 miles on the odometer. Additional details include an accumulation of rust and a dire need for a total restoration job.
As for where the vehicle is now located, judging by the owner's area code, this Pontiac seems to be in the vicinity of El Paso, Texas, although all the available paperwork came from New York and Mexico. On that documentation, however, is the lack of a 17-digit vehicle identification number. The owner explained that was due to registration laws in New York that didn't require VIN information on cars made before 1972.
Ghostbusters Also Used A Fleetwood
We know that at least one of the two Caddies dubbed Etco-1 in the first two movies was a 1959 Cadillac Futura Duplex that weighed almost 3.5 tons and boasted a 6.3-liter V8 engine that could deliver 320 horsepower. That one is reportedly being renovated for use as a promotional prop for Ghostbusters: Afterlife slated for release later in 2021.
But in one movie, a Caddie wasn't used at all. In that outing, an all-female remount of Ghostbusters released in 2016 that starred Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Kristen Wiig, producers opted for a 1984 Fleetwood hearse.
Lots Of Ghostbusters Ambulance Imitations
That said, there's no shortage of Ghostbuster ambulances created by gearheads all over the continent. One of them is located in Edmonton, Canada, and owned by antique collector Alex Archbold, who owns a novelty shop called Curiosity, and uses the vehicle to promote his business. He also went so far as to create a license plate for it, appropriately stamped with ETCO-1.