50 Most Famous Cars Of All Time!

Of course! And just think of how many coaches have been saved from rotting to death and being crushed and have been brought back to life because of it!
 
Nice list, but let the debate begin about what was left out. How about Squad 51, the AMC used in Adam-12, the Kenworths in Movin' On or BJ and the Bear. I know that this could go on for ever, but the Mercury in "Uncle Buck"? Come on!
 
Jeremy D. Ledford said:
Look what made the top ten in this list!
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I wonder… has this car helped or hurt our hobby? Personally, I’m quite sick of having people yell out “Ghostbusters” wherever I drive my ambulance (which looks absolutely NOTHING like the movie car). I can’t imagine how many beautiful cars have been converted (destroyed) into a Ghostbuster wannabe. For myself, I feel this movie car hurt our hobby.
 
Jim Staruk said:
I wonder… has this car helped or hurt our hobby? Personally, I’m quite sick of having people yell out “Ghostbusters” wherever I drive my ambulance (which looks absolutely NOTHING like the movie car). I can’t imagine how many beautiful cars have been converted (destroyed) into a Ghostbuster wannabe. For myself, I feel this movie car hurt our hobby.
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I would argue both. It can hurt the hobby in the view of those who wish to have a completely factory stock coach. Let's not forget though about all the gothic people who turn theirs into a more sinister looking vehicle, or the standard halloween modifications. Those two cause more harm to older coaches than an Ecto conversion.

How does it help? Simply put, it saves a car from oblivion like I said in the above post. I can think of at least 4 people off the top of my head who have bought a car that was almost gone (no floors, doors, rockers, quarters etc..) and are working toward a restoration of the car, albeit with the intention of making it an Ecto. I would argue a coach that has been brought back to life, no matter in what configuration, is better than one that continues to rot. You can always remove the blue hoses and the gizmos on the roof and return it to stock if that's what one desires.
 
not to throw a wet blanket on. I have to say I don't. it's not saved for history if it's made into something else. the ghostbuster cars will forever be ghostbuster cars. they are no longer 59 MM ambulances. they have been changed into ghostbuster cars. no one looks at them and says hay look how they saved this old MM. they only say hay it's the ghostbusters car. start humming the theme song and shouting the punch line GHOSTBUSTERS. the George Barris Godzilla is one more no longer what it was. once you make radical changes to the car so it is recognised as something different, it is no longer what it was. your car do as you want still applies. but to me it's not saved. when I drop in to the junk yard and look at a car that is striped and rotting away it still the car it was. one of these in the yard would still be the ghostbuster cars because thats what it got made into. to rusty to save?? then how the he!! did you make that out of it, if it was to rusty to save.:twak:
 
I agree about the Batmobile,but aleast they do say what the orginal car was , but i did see the black beauty from the orginal green hornet show in the list. i did get to see 1 of 29 of the black beauty's used in the lastest green hornet movie at the Northamerican Autoshow in Detroit at Cobo hall on sunday to promote the movie
 
John ED Renstrom said:
not to throw a wet blanket on. I have to say I don't. it's not saved for history if it's made into something else. the ghostbuster cars will forever be ghostbuster cars. they are no longer 59 MM ambulances. they have been changed into ghostbuster cars. no one looks at them and says hay look how they saved this old MM. they only say hay it's the ghostbusters car. start humming the theme song and shouting the punch line GHOSTBUSTERS. the George Barris Godzilla is one more no longer what it was. once you make radical changes to the car so it is recognised as something different, it is no longer what it was. your car do as you want still applies. but to me it's not saved. when I drop in to the junk yard and look at a car that is striped and rotting away it still the car it was. one of these in the yard would still be the ghostbuster cars because thats what it got made into. to rusty to save?? then how the he!! did you make that out of it, if it was to rusty to save.:twak:
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So, I want to make sure I understand what you're saying. Once a car is converted into the Ectomobile, it can never go back to being a hearse or ambulance?

This car

Ghostbusters_Ectomobile.jpg


can't ever look like

709_1614952153.jpg


again? Honestly, I don't believe that for a moment. You are correct though, once radical changes have been made, it is no longer the same car. I believe that only applies to cars that have custom metal fabricating done, there is no metal fabricating done to the car, only rivets and screws that can be welded up. You are also correct that lay people would recognize the car more as the Ectomobile than a Miller-Meteor Futura. Most people also wouldn't even know the coach maker or model. They would just see it as a hearse. Last time I checked,

98.jpg

is still attached to the car, making it still a Miller-Meteor.

This is a picture of my friend's car when he first bought it
100_0116.jpg


So far he's put in new floors and rockers, it's a long way from completion but he is bringing it back from the brink of extinction. Had he not stepped in, it would've been crushed. I know this to be a fact as this car had sat for sale for YEARS.

Please understand, I want to understand why you (and other people) feel this way. As everyone knows, I'm new here so if this has been discussed ad nauseum, I apologize for stirring the pot again. I don't know any of the society rules, but from what I can observe, it seems as though the overriding theme here is a concours apperance. There is nothing wrong with that, I've been to concours shows and I can appreciate a factory stock car as much as the next person. What I disagree with is that people completely write off a car simply because it's been modified. I have first-hand knowledge that the Ectomobile was on it's way to the crusher when it was saved with an 11th hour deal and was restored. Would you rather have let that happen or have another professional car saved from becoming scrap?
 
If I ever had a Ghostbuster's ambulance I would never convert it back to it's original form. Ghostbuster ambulance's are the bomb and it seems every other old ambulance is now associated with this particular ambulance. Ok by me. Have fun with it and since it's your car you can do whatever you want with it including using suction cups or removing air horns if you don't like them.
:respect:
 
Loren Baldwin said:
So, I want to make sure I understand what you're saying. Once a car is converted into the Ectomobile, it can never go back to being a hearse or amb.

Please understand, I want to understand why you (and other people) feel this way. What I disagree with is that people completely write off a car simply because it's been modified. I have first-hand knowledge that the Ectomobile was on it's way to the crusher when it was saved with an 11th hour deal and was restored. Would you rather have let that happen or have another professional car saved from becoming scrap?
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first off I never said it could not be brought back to what it was. time and money would be all it takes. I said it is no longer what it was. sorry your can't call the GB car or a clone a 59 MM ambulance it's now a movie prop or a replica of a movie prop. I never said I don't like the car or appreciate the craftsmanship what went into making the car. your statement was that it was to rust to "fix" back into a 59 ambulance so they made a GB car out of it. my point was if they could make a GB car they could have made a stock ambulance out of it. it was not to rust to save. you have pictures showing it was saved and converted. look up the word converted. then ask again how can I say it's not a 59 ambulance. it was a 59 ambulance it's now a replica of a movie prop same as the bat mobile in all it's forms the green Hornet car, James Bonds Austen Marten and the list goes on. as a car club we value the stock form. this is not it. that doesn't say that as individuals we can't admire the car as converted or the work that went into the car. it just doesn't meet our collective interest in restoring and preserving professional cars. what I can't understand is why you can't except that. this GB car is not a restored or preserving professional car. but a vary nice converted 59 MM into a clone of a movie prop. it advertised the movie and glorifies that. it does nothing to advance the hobby of restoring and preserving professional cars. but I will say I'm glad the picked the car they did to do this to. not a complete one. most of us would have let it die a natural death. my point still stands if they could make a road worthy GB car out of it they could have made a road worth ambulance out of it. they wanted to make the GB car not the ambulance. so that's what they did. it's not now a professional car it's a movie prop clone. thanks for the pictures lot of work went into that one.
 
John ED Renstrom said:
first off I never said it could not be brought back to what it was. time and money would be all it takes. I said it is no longer what it was. sorry your can't call the GB car or a clone a 59 MM ambulance it's now a movie prop or a replica of a movie prop. I never said I don't like the car or appreciate the craftsmanship what went into making the car. your statement was that it was to rust to "fix" back into a 59 ambulance so they made a GB car out of it. my point was if they could make a GB car they could have made a stock ambulance out of it. it was not to rust to save. you have pictures showing it was saved and converted. look up the word converted. then ask again how can I say it's not a 59 ambulance. it was a 59 ambulance it's now a replica of a movie prop same as the bat mobile in all it's forms the green Hornet car, James Bonds Austen Marten and the list goes on. as a car club we value the stock form. this is not it. that doesn't say that as individuals we can't admire the car as converted or the work that went into the car. it just doesn't meet our collective interest in restoring and preserving professional cars. what I can't understand is why you can't except that. this GB car is not a restored or preserving professional car. but a vary nice converted 59 MM into a clone of a movie prop. it advertised the movie and glorifies that. it does nothing to advance the hobby of restoring and preserving professional cars. but I will say I'm glad the picked the car they did to do this to. not a complete one. most of us would have let it die a natural death. my point still stands if they could make a road worthy GB car out of it they could have made a road worth ambulance out of it. they wanted to make the GB car not the ambulance. so that's what they did. it's not now a professional car it's a movie prop clone. thanks for the pictures lot of work went into that one.
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Thank you for clearing it up. There seems to be a misunderstanding in what I said regarding the rusty cars though. It's not that they're too rusty to restore so they're making the Ectomobile out of it, it's that they wanted to their own Ecto and that just happened to be the car they bought. I should also clear up the pictures. The first one is the actual Ecto, the one of the biege is how the car looked before it was converted (yes I understand that term) and the third is the actual data plate for the Ectomobile. The floorless red one is only in primer right now, the restoration has been not been completed yet.

I can respect the club's goal to restore and preserve these cars and I applaud it. I don't know if you saw my introduction thread, but I have many restorations under my belt so I sympathize. I have no qualms with getting every vintage pro-car back on the road, but by your own admission, you say "most of us would let it die a natural death". How does that help advance the hobby if it's own members aren't willing to do what they claim they do? The guy that's restoring the red car is in his early 20s and can hardly afford the repairs on the car, but he makes do. I would imagine most PCS members are well established or have a business that could much more easily return this car to it's former glory but chose to pass on it.

I do understand your differentiation between the car being a movie prop and for it's intended purpose now, but the fact remains another 59 MM is being restored. Just the simple fact that someone wants to take undertake such a HUGE project as that car quite laudable, despite what its end state might be. I'm sorry if my opinion is controversial around here, but I'm confident we have common ground on a multitude of other issues.
 
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