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Note that this article covers the 2016 movie version of the Ecto-1. The 1984/1989 version can be found here, and the Real Ghostbusters/Extreme Ghostbusters one can be found here.

The Ecto-1 was a 1984 Cadillac Fleetwood hearse that Patty Tolan's Uncle Bill loaned her that the Ghostbusters used in the 2016 movie.

History[]

Primary Canon[]

Patty Tolan pitched herself as an asset to the team, citing her knowledge of New York history and if they allowed her to join said she would hook them up with a car. She proposed that having a car meant they wouldn't have to lug all their heavy equipment around. Jillian Holtzmann loved the idea of getting a car. Patty was confident of her pitch. Abby Yates told her she was in. The car in question was a hearse on loan from her Uncle Bill,[1] though he didn't know what it was used for. Some time later after being accepted to the team, Patty returned in a 1984 Cadillac Fleetwood hearse with black paint job and red roof. She parked outside Zhu's Authentic Hong Kong Food and honked the horn. Abby, Erin Gilbert, and Holtzmann exited Zhu's. Patty quoted Oprah with, "You get a car, and you get a car, and you get a car!" Abby protested she didn't disclose that the vehicle was going to be a hearse. Patty stated her uncle owned a funeral home, not a Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Erin joked she hoped Patty checked to see there wasn't a body in the back. Patty admitted she didn't know. Abby was surprised she didn't check. Patty insisted she was in a hurry and only checked to see if the car had gas. Abby asked if there was a body. Patty retorted Holtzmann should check. Holtzmann thought of seven good uses of a cadaver right off the bat. Patty stated they had to turn in the body if there was one in there. Holtzmann made a face. Patty told her not to do that.

After getting ready after the call from Stonebrook Theatre about ghost, Holtzmann retrieved the Ecto-1 and re-introduced it to the others with a new white paint job, including no-ghost insignias on the front driver and passenger side doors and on the back door. It had a ghost hood ornament and on the back stickers. Patty was not pleased. Abby exclaimed. Patty was shocked at what she did to the hearse. Holtzmann claimed she fixed it. Patty found it inappropriate for a hearse. She couldn't take it back in its current state. Erin pointed out it out as the "science mobile" and told Phil Hudson she was leaving with her science friends to do real work then told him good day. Holtzmann and Patty called out to Erin. Abby told Phil not to follow. Holtzmann drove a few inches forward when Erin tried to open the door. Erin played along. Holtzmann told her they had to go. Erin walked to door. Holtzmann drove forward. Holtzmann asked her to get in. Erin told her it wasn't the time to mess with her. Phil just stood there and stared. Holtzmann quipped to Erin, she was killing her then remarked they had fun then departed for Stonebrook.

After the Ghostbusters identified Rowan North and The Mercado Hotel, they departed from Zhu's garage unit in Ecto-1. Abby, seated in the front passenger, asked everyone who was in the mood to save New York City. They all exclaimed. Holtzmann drove on with the siren on. Ecto-1 drove on 7th Avenue heading south, passing Cafe Metro on West 54th Street. Holtzmann parked Ecto-1 in front of the Mercado Hotel's entrance. Jennifer Lynch staged a fake arrest to maintain the facade there was no ghosts and had Ecto-1 towed. Abby, Holtzmann, and Patty departed from Zhu's garage unit for the Mercado. They drove under an overpass around 66 to 68 Broadway, passed a bank and garage on 1745 Broadway, looking down towards West 55th Street, drove past 572 8th Avenue, at the intersection with West 38th Street and turned onto West 38th. Holtzmann declared they hit an impasse. Abby elected to clear a path. Holtzmann remarked it looked like her kitchen. Sabrett Hot Dog Carts blocked their path. There was a green glow coming from the one on the left. They slowly approached. The lid popped open. Slimer roared and scarfed more hot dogs. They gasped. Abby asked what the hell that thing was. Slimer turned and burped at them. They gasped. It flew towards them. They side stepped him. Slimer flew right into the driver's seat of Ecto-1. Abby and Patty yelled at him to stop. The engine started and Slimer reversed out. Abby was annoyed at Holtzmann for leaving the keys in the car. Slimer swung Ecto-1 into a parked car. Patty knew her uncle was going to be pissed. Slimer roared and the gas pedal was pushed down. He charged Ecto-1 towards them. Abby ordered everyone to light him up. Holtzmann interjected and revealed the equipment on the roof rack was basically a nuclear reactor.[2] Patty cast her vote that they don't shoot at it. They gasped and jumped out of the way. Ecto-1 barreled past the carts. He rammed a fire hydrant. A geyser erupted. He rammed a light pole and drove on. The pole crashed down, narrowly avoiding a man running. Abby realized they gave a ghost a nuke and proposed they should probably run.

Slimer later picked up and added Lady Slimer and the Ecto-1 Party Specters in/on the Ecto-1. He drove by the Mercado as the Ghostbusters entered it. After Rowan had changed to his destroyer form, the Ecto-1 was sighted again near the Portal. A lot of power was needed to reverse the polarity of the portal and draw all the ghosts back in. Patty asked about the roof rack equipment. Holtzmann theorized if they could get the reactors super-critical inside the vortex, the beta radiation could reverse the polarity.[3] Erin realized it would cause a total protonic reversal. Abby equated the plan to turning the portal into a giant ghost trap and called Patty a genius. Patty stated she was a Ghostbuster. Abby told everyone to focus on narrowing the car's path. They blasted one pole at time. Ecto-1 swerved away from each one. They sidestepped Ecto-1 and fired. The Ghostbusters blasted the two silver canister reactors on top of the Ecto-1 as it went into the portal, which caused a total protonic reversal.[4] The remains of Ecto-1 was assumed lost on the other side.

Secondary Canon[]

IDW Comics[]

During the second investigation of the Yorkville Brownstone, Ecto-1 got a parking ticket. Abby blamed it on the way the parking signs were designed made them too hard to understand.

Roof Parts[]

  • Part names taken from schematic posted on March 3, 2016 on Kenneth P. Higgins Institute of Science Paranormal Studies Lab (Web Site).
    • Baseline PKE Reference Cell
    • Power Cell
    • Pumping Lines
    • Proton Pack Pump-Out Connection
    • Turbopump Set
    • Ectoplasm Analysis Unit
    • Long-Range Psychokinetic Energy (PKE) Scanners
    • Positive & negative Polarized Spectral Foam Detectors
    • Loudspeaker
    • Reserve Liquid Helium Dewar
    • Hydrogen Tank
    • Proton Pack Spectral Charge Grounding Line

Behind the Scenes[]

On July 30, 2016, Shawn Thorsson blogged about the creation of the hood ornament for Ecto-1. Peter Rubin, one of the concept artists, spoke with Paul Feig, the art director, and the pictures car coordinator about adding a hood ornament. He did some quick sketches. The next morning at around 6:15 am, Rubin called a good friend, Shawn Thorsson, to work on the ornament. Within 24 hours, the project was greenlit. Principal photography was about to start within a week in Boston. Rubin sent Thorsson his 3d models. The final scale was determined and Thorsson printed out two ornaments on two different 3D printers, Zortrax M200 and Makerbot 2.0. [5] He would have used Objet30 but it was down with a faulty vacuum pump. [6] For both, Thorsson did some initial sanding, then a quick pass with some spot putty to fill in the build lines, then more sanding, a quick coat of primer, and a standard coat of glossy light red paint. They were mounted and placed in a mold box, which he took the precaution of sealing all seams in with hot glue, then mixed a batch of silicone and poured the mold. Thorsson's friend Rio happened to be in the work shop that night and helped out by pouring the rubber for the other mold with a different bucket. Once covered, they were left overnight to cure. The next day, he used a basic jeweler's cutter to remove the prototype ornaments from the molds. He cast the first copy in Smooth-Cast Onyx. Using both molds, he cast more copies in Smooth-Cast 300. 12 castings were made. He filled minor surface flaws with spot putty, sanded them smooth, put on a coat of primer and then a coat of gloss black. The first coat of chrome was added then buffed. Lacking time to send them out for proper chrome plating, Thorsson used Spaz Stix Mirror Chrome. Once the ornaments dried, he shipped them overnight to the Ghostbusters production offices on the East Coast. In short order, he saw the hood ornaments on the Ecto-1's on social media. [7]

Trivia[]

  • On July 7, 2015, Paul Feig posted a photo of the Ecto-1. [8] He followed up and posted the rear of the new Ecto-1. [9]
  • The press misreported the year and sometimes make of Ecto-1.
    • Autoweek reported it was a 1982 Cadillac hearse. [10]
    • EMPIRE reported it was a 1993 Cadillac Fleetwood hearse. [11]
  • Entertainment Weekly print edition for the June 24, 2016 #1420 page 18 revealed Patty's uncle painted the roof of his hearses red so the dead can go out in style.
  • Ecto-1 violates several federal regulations, including the type of siren it uses.[13][14]
  • The scene where Slimer guns Ecto-1 through the roadblock was filmed in Bostom. The part where he hits some lamp posts, Ecto-1 actually passes Milk Street. The building on the right of this other shot has a blue awning that reads "Travers Hospital Medical Group, Otavia Health" in the movie and is "Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Atrius Health" in real life.
  • A snippet of "End Of The World (Party One More Time)" played in Ecto-1 when Slimer returns again.
  • The two close ups of the canisters atop Ecto-1 to emphasize what to shoot as Slimer drives into the Portal were inserts done right at the last minute when the movie was being finished. The crew realized inserts were needed so they drove Ecto-1 around the Sony lot and filmed[15]
  • In the alternate extended scene "Uncle Bill", it is revealed Patty told Uncle Bill she was borrowing his hearse to help somebody move.[16]
  • Ecto-1 appeared in an unused version of Subscription Cover A of Ghostbusters 101 #1
  • On the Subscription Cover of Ghostbusters 101 #5, below Kylie Griffin is the Ecto-1.
  • On page 3 of Ghostbusters Crossing Over Issue #5, in panel 3, the toy coupe car is repurposed by Ghostbusters fan Jeff Shreck Jr., for his son, to resemble Ecto-1. It was dubbed "Ecto 1/2".[17]
  • Ecto-1 appears on Cover A of Ghostbusters Crossing Over Issue #6
  • Ecto-1 appears on the IDW Convention Variant Cover of Ghostbusters 35th Anniversary: Answer The Call Ghostbusters.

Appearances[]

Primary Canon[]

Secondary Canon[]



References[]

  1. Patty Tolan (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 7 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:45:15-00:45:28). Sony Pictures. Patty Tolan says: "I read a lot of nonfiction, and you guys know a lot about this science stuff, but I know New York. And check this out! I can borrow a car from my uncle, and y'all won't have to lug all this heavy equipment around."
  2. Jillian Holtzmann (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 14 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 1:40:34-1:40:37). Sony Pictures. Jillian Holtzmann says: "No, don't shoot. The equipment on top of that is basically a nuclear reactor."
  3. Jillian Holtzmann (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 15 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 1:54:18-1:54:23). Sony Pictures. Jillian Holtzmann says: "If we can get those reactors super-critical inside the vortex, the beta radiation could 180 the polarity."
  4. Jillian Holtzmann (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 15 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 1:54:41-1:54:42). Sony Pictures. Jillian Holtzmann says: "Aim for the silver canisters."
  5. Shawn Thorsson protagonist4hire.blogspot.com "Hood Ornament for the New Ghostbusters Ecto-1" 7/30/16 Line reads: "This little project started with an early morning phone call. I was looking forward to a rare morning of sleeping in and my phone rang at about 6:15 in the morning. I didn't recognize the number, but answered it anyway to find out what godless heathen was inconsiderate enough to call me at this horrible early hour. It was my good friend Peter Rubin. "Shawn!" says he, "are you busy lately?" "I'm always busy," says I, "but you don't often call, so what can I do for you?" "I'm in Boston right now," he replied. "I'm working on a movie." "That's kinda what you do." "This one's called 'Ghostbusters.'" "I've heard about that one." "I thought you might have." Cut to the night before. It turns out that Peter was working as a concept artist for the film and happened to be talking with the director, the art director, and the picture car coordinator (the guy who was responsible for building the Ecto-1 for the movie) the night before. They were discussing various elements of the completed cars when someone mentioned that it'd be a lot cooler if it had a hood ornament. That got everybody excited. A few minutes with a sketchbook and Peter had roughed out a design. They loved it, but since they needed the cars to be complete in time for promotional photography and initial filming within a week, getting it done in time was a tall order. That's when Peter mentioned that he knew a guy who tends to do really well with insane deadlines. That's where I came in. The film industry moves fast. Within 24 hours of the first call, the project was greenlit and Peter sent me his completed 3D model of the hood ornament: Once the final scale was determined, I had it printed out on two different 3D printers. I didn't want to run the risk that the print would fail and have to start over. As it turns out, both prints came out great."
  6. Shawn Thorsson protagonist4hire.blogspot.com "Hood Ornament for the New Ghostbusters Ecto-1" 8/1/16 reply Line reads: "One was a Zortrax M200, the other was a Makerbot 2.0. I'd have preferred to use my Objet30, but it was down with a faulty vacuum pump, so I had to rely on the FDM machines."
  7. Shawn Thorsson protagonist4hire.blogspot.com "Hood Ornament for the New Ghostbusters Ecto-1" 7/30/16 Line reads: "Here's one of them after an initial sanding: Then it got a quick pass with some spot putty to fill in the build lines: And more sanding: A quick coat of primer made it clear that everything was smooth and ready to go: To give it a tiny bit more shine, I gave it my standard coat of glossy light red paint: I actually went through the entire process on both copies: Then I mounted them for molding: And built up a mold box: Still paranoid about anything that could set the build timeline back, I dumped a ton of hot glue onto all of the seams in order to ensure that they were watertight: Then I mixed up a batch of silicone and poured the mold: Since my friend Rio was in the shop that night, I asked him to to ahead and pour the rubber for the other mold: I had him use a completely new bucket of rubber so there'd be a better chance of one of the molds working if it turned out that I had some silicone that had gone bad. Once they were poured, both molds were covered and left overnight to cure: The next day, I used a basic jeweler's cut to remove the prototypes from the molds: I cast the first copy in Smooth-Cast Onyx: Using both molds, I cast more copies in Smooth-Cast 300: By the time I was done, I ended up making an even dozen castings, then filling in a few minor surface flaws with spot putty: Then I sanded them smooth: Here they are with a fresh coat of primer: Then they got a coat of gloss black: The first coat of chrome was less than awesome: After a bit of buffing, it looked a bit better: Since I didn't have time to send them out for proper chrome plating, I had to settle for my old standby, Spaz Stix Mirror Chrome: Once they'd dried, the next step was to ship them overnight to the production offices on the East Coast. Then it was only a matter of time before someone walking past one of the filming locations posted this picture on Instatwit or something."
  8. paulfeig Tweet #1 7/7/15
  9. paulfeig Tweet #2 7/7/15
  10. Autoweek "This is the New Ghostbusters Ecto-1" 3/3/16
  11. Semlyen, Nick (2016). Empire Magazine Issue 324 June 2016, p. 64. Bauer Media Group, Harborough, Leicester, United Kingdom, ISBN 1234567890. Line reads: "Hence the new Ecto-1: not the famous Miller Meteor 1959 Cadillac, but a '93 Caddy Fleetwood hearse."
  12. Patty Tolan (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Deleted/Alternate Scenes; (Deleted Scene): Patty's Car (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 0:01:03-0:01:11). Sony Pictures. Patty Tolan says: "Oh! Well, my uncle believed that people need to go out in style. But he also used to be a pimp so that might have a little bit to do with it."
  13. Agent Hawkins (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 11 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 1:12:10-1:12:15). Sony Pictures. Agent Hawkins says: "You drive a hearse with a ghost on it, and you use a distinctly un-American-sounding siren."
  14. Agent Hawkins (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 11 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 1:12:15-1:12:19). Sony Pictures. Agent Hawkins says: "Do you have any idea how many federal regulations you're breaking on a daily basis?"
  15. Paul Feig (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition - Writer & Director Commentary (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 01:54:20-01:54:38). Sony Pictures. Paul Feig says: "That--these two inserts were done right when we were finishing the movie. We literally just drove around the--the,uh, Sony lot in--because we realized we needed an insert of the canisters atop the car so, uh, that's very much last minute."
  16. Uncle Bill (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Deleted/Alternate Scenes; (Deleted Scene): Uncle Bill (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 0:00:55-0:00:58). Sony Pictures. Uncle Bill says: "You told me you were borrowing the car to help somebody move."
  17. JeffreyShreck Tweet 7/15/18
  18. Uncle Bill (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Deleted/Alternate Scenes; (Deleted Scene): Uncle Bill (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 0:00:20-0:00:23). Sony Pictures. Uncle Bill says: "I don't want to hear about my hearse being in some other dimension."
  19. Patty Tolan (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Deleted/Alternate Scenes; (Deleted Scene): Uncle Bill (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 0:00:24-0:00:27). Sony Pictures. Patty Tolan says: "I mean, if I could go to the Other Side, and get for you, I would but it's gone."
  20. Patty Tolan (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Deleted/Alternate Scenes; (Deleted Scene): Uncle Bill (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 0:01:05-0:01:13). Sony Pictures. Patty Tolan says: "I swear to God, this is the honest truth. We took the hearse. We drove it into the Portal. We saved the world."
  21. Uncle Bill (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Deleted/Alternate Scenes; (Deleted Scene): Uncle Bill (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 0:01:22-0:01:24). Sony Pictures. Uncle Bill says: "Still gotta pay for the car."
  22. Abby Yates (2017). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters 101 #3" (2017) (Comic p.11). Abby Yates says: "Is... isn't that the ghost that stole our car?"
  23. Erin Gilbert (2017). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters 101 #3" (2017) (Comic p.18). Erin Gilbert says: "Um, we did knowingly set off a nuclear explosion in Manhattan."
  24. Kevin Beckman (2018). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters: Answer The Call Issue #5" (2018) (Comic p.20). Kevin Beckman says: "You guys, when do I get my own car?"

Gallery[]

Primary Canon[]

Design and Illustrations[]

Behind the Scenes and Interviews[]

Secondary Canon[]

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