24 Jun 09
Who you gonna call when you're told that you are about to drive one of the most famous film cars of all time?
I did, of course, consider calling all my friends and holler: 'I'm driving the Ghostbusters hearse!' when I got behind the wheel of the vehicle that made Bill Murray a household name, but I'm a humble man and not prone to showoffy antics.
I did call my mum though.
The Ghostbusters Ecto-1 that I drove around the banked track at Brooklands is a big old lump and to me, it doesn't make much sense if you're rushing to trap a fiendish ghoul. It does, however, make perfect sense if the idea is to attract attention.
For those, who can't remember, the Ecto-1 was the shambolically appropriate mode of transport for the Ghostbusters team as they traversed New York in search of ghostly goings-on. Complete with 50s styling and massive proportions, the ambulance lolloped and screeched around the city, making it the ultimate comedy vehicle for the ultimate comedy film.
Ghostbusters legends Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Rick Moranis and Sigourney Weaver may have stolen most of the limelight when the classic comedy was first shown, but the Ecto-1 hearse/ambulance was no wallflower either. It's a machine embedded in our cultural consciousness even 25 years after the original film's release.
