[BobShields]

During high school, I asked a guy if I could buy a 1974 Oldsmobile ambulance that's been sitting on his property for 30 years, but he wouldn't budge. A few years later, he decided to give it to me. I finally got it out of his yard today! Here's some pictures I snagged today







There's one really great looking Oldsmobile Ecto I've found, but so far I've only been able to find one single video of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHCzBVobESw If anyone else has more photos of this car, or any history on it, I'd be really appreciative!

It ran up until the 1990s when he parked it. It still has neck braces and catheters and some other old eqipment. My dad drove it when he was an EMT, he said it was the nicest car to drive in the ambulance fleet. I'm sure mechanically it's fairly sound. Biggest issues are the rust. floor on the drivers side is mostly gone, and the rear panels have really bad rust. The hood release cable had snapped, so I had to take apart the grill to pull the cable. Hinges on the drivers side are bent, so I can only open it 1/4 the way. Got booster cables on it. All the roof lights work sans one. The beacon even still rotates. If I ever think my car is in bad shape, I just browse this forum for a few minutes and I'm reminded it could be much, much worse.

I know this is probably the wrong place to post a question like this, but should this car be used as an ecto conversion? I'd feel bad dismantling the roof setup... it's already so cool as it is. My priority is to get it running and driving, and fix some of the major rust issues first. But there's a point where I'm going to have to decide between an Ambulance restoration or and Ecto restoration.

I know I lucked out, getting a professional car for literally nothing. Now I just gotta decide what to do with it.

[BobShields]

alright I apparently buggered up imbedding the photos. I'll try this way instead

[KCGhostbuster]

Nice find (a lots of patience). Good luck with your build.

[BobShields]

Yeah, I think it's gonna be a ton of fun when I get the chance to work on it. I'm sure once it has new gas and the carb is cleaned out it'll probably run. Hoping I can get the sirens working haha

[gamera1968]

Nice find after waiting 30+ years.
Best of luck getting her up and running some red lights!

[BobShields]

Doubt I'll have it running before the release of GB: Afterlife, but when I do get it on the road I'll definitely drive it to some of the filming locations! would make for some nice pictures, even if its the wrong car

[Macktacular]

I know this is probably the wrong place to post a question like this, but should this car be used as an ecto conversion? I'd feel bad dismantling the roof setup... it's already so cool as it is. My priority is to get it running and driving, and fix some of the major rust issues first. But there's a point where I'm going to have to decide between an Ambulance restoration or and Ecto restoration.

I know I lucked out, getting a professional car for literally nothing. Now I just gotta decide what to do with it.

First off, congrats on finding such a cool-looking car, and for getting it for free! As for converting it - don't feel bad. It's never going to be used as an ambulance again, it's too obsolete. Hollywood doesn't need it, they've got vintage ambulances aplenty for filming. And collectors have plenty of them as well.

I'm an odd duck in that I'm not a purist, but I think rather than removing features you should consider trying to incorporate the existing features into your design. A little less of "well if I remove this it'll look more like the movie car", and a little more "well if they had had THIS car, how would they have modified it?" The topper is already a really great and varied shape, it really looks like it can take some fun and creative modifications very easily. And those lights on the side... there's so many lights all over this car! 14! You can definitely do something with that, like changing the colour of the glass, or maybe even installing some blacklight bulbs in the white ones for a cool effect with it's parked.

Whatever you decide to do with it, I really hope that you enjoy working on it. I'm sure it'll be loved by everyone who sees it.

[BobShields]

Yeah... I might be spending too much time at the professional car forums... they sure hate the ecto builders... (I kinda get it though)

If I ectofy it I'll absolutely put some blue lenses on those tunnel lights, to kinda emulate the deck lights on the original. As inaccurate as those side lights are, I honestly love them, they'd absolutely be incorporated into the build. The main thing I'm stumped on with this ambulance is the beacon. It's big and red and beautiful, and it makes me wonder what I need to do if I make a roof rack. It'll have to be built around the beacon, and I think I need to make it with a super low profile so it doesn't obstruct it. I think it'd definitely doable though!

[Macktacular]

I'm glad that you're keeping the side lights, they really are a great and fun feature with a lot of potential. As for the beacon - again it looks really great and is a feature that really suits the vehicle. Depending on the height of the roof rack, could you raise the beacon up a bit to poke over it? I think it looks really good there in the middle but you could also move it more forward toward the front of the raised section, and place your rack behind it. Not as far forward as in the 2016 movie, you've already got 5 lights up there, but it's an option. The 2016 roof rack is actually much more sparse than the original & sequel film's, and maybe you can take advantage of some of that raised roof space by having some things "embedded" in the roof (IE - cut down so it looks like part of the HVAC is inside the roof, placing the texas instruments control panel on the side rather than on top, etc). Of course, this is very largely dependant on whether or not you want to be able to remove your roof rack or not.

[MegaChannelA]

alright I apparently buggered up imbedding the photos. I'll try this way instead

No way! Alberta!

[navarre1095]

So much potential there!
I wouldn't worry so much about making it exactly like the Ecto-1
You could just move the roof light a little farther forward.
What would Ray do?
BTW, does that beastie have the 455 Rocket under the hood?

[Dr.D]

You lucky lucky man! I've always thought the 70s Olds would make a great Ectomobile. Good luck, I cannot wait to see this one finished!

[DeLoreanDMC81]

Great looking car, glad it all worked out.

With my ‘59 Cadillac Miller-Meteor there was the real debate to convert it or leave it alone. I decided to convert it. I thought, it’s my property, I’ll do what I want with it. Plus, it’s what’s going to make me a lot happier, versus keeping it stock.

So whatever you decide, that is the best choice. And don’t let anyone try to discourage you. It’s your property, do with it what you want.

Good luck with whichever decision you go for.

-James

[Creativeguy]

If I had the chance to have either car, I'd convert them too. People can cry and complain when they pay for the cost.

[BobShields]

Hey all. I’m actually looking to make some progress on the car this summer! I’ve kinda left it on ice while I’ve been working in another city.

Does anyone remember a thread of another guy with an Oldsmobile Ecto-1? I’m sure I remember seeing it on this forum, but I haven’t been able to find it. It could be the same as this car:



-but I’m sure the one in the thread I saw had blue lenses as opposed to amber. Maybe it was another Cotner-Bevington I saw but not necassarily an Oldsmobile.

[BobShields]

Found a siren! It's not a C5GB, but it fits the look fairly close. And it works!



Got some bad cracks in the housing.

[Macktacular]

Nice find! If you can find some way to seal those cracks, even better, but so long as they're not going to get worse / lead to damage to the inner mechanisms I think they give a bit of character. Especially if you wind up going with a "weathered" look to some of your bits and bobs.