Fans want Volo Auto Museum to keep 'Ghostbusters' Ecto-1

The imminent sale of a Volo Auto Museum fan favorite has fueled a phone-ringing phenomenon.
 
Museum Director Brian Grams said that in the past week, more than 125 "Ghostbusters" Ecto-1 enthusiasts have called the museum to beg leaders there not to sell the iconic '59 Cadillac ambulance. The car is among nearly two dozen lots to be sold to the highest bidder during an eBay online auction scheduled for Nov. 1-7.
 
Featured in promotional materials and at [ http://volocars.com ]volocars.com, the star car has been a chief draw for the museum for the past decade. So why part with it? Because Volo soon will have something even better, Grams said.
 
"There are no screen-used Ecto-1s on display publicly anywhere," he said, noting that Sony Pictures maintains ownership of the original Ecto-1 and Ecto-1a used in the '80s "Ghostbusters" films. "After realizing that Sony has no plans to sell either of the cars any time soon, we decided to spend some money to refine our collection."
 
Volo's present Ecto-1 replica is built from a Eureka body, while the original is a Miller-Meteor. Grams said he has located one of these exceptionally rare bodies, and is sparing no expense in fine-tuning a new Ecto-1 display.
 
"We purchased it and we are spending a fortune to make it not a close, but exact replica of the original," he said. "The restoration is being done by the same people who recently restored the original car for Sony, so they have first-hand knowledge."
 
The new "Ghostbusters" display will be on view as soon as restoration is complete.
 
"All of our cars are originals except for instances like this, where a replica is the only option," Grams added. "We were fortunate enough to find one of the (fewer than 50) Miller-Meteor bodies and have access to the shop that restored the original car, so we are going to do our best to have the next best thing."
 
Meanwhile, the online auction will feature an opportunity to own one of only about eight Ecto-1 replicas in the United States, and much more. Click the online auction box at [ http://volocars.com ]volocars.com for more information regarding the auction.
 
And for more information about the Ecto-1 and Ecto-1 replicas, see this Star Cars YouTube video — [ http://tinyurl.com/qz3lyxv ]http://tinyurl.com/qz3lyxv.