The Ghostbusters’ Ectomobile Was Going to Be Completely Different

Say what you want about the newer Ghostbusters movies, but forty years after it was released, the original 1984 film is an all-time classic that is still part of our pop culture. When it came out, Ghostbusters was the biggest movie of the year, making $220 million in 1984. There were several reasons for the success, from the writing, the humor, the action, the practical effects, the direction of Ivan Reitman, and, of course, the chemistry between Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson. Nothing was cooler than the car, that bizarre-looking 1959 Cadillac ambulance painted white, the Ghostbusters logo plastered on the side, lit up with lights everywhere, and a siren so recognizable that to hear it today takes you back to another time. It was the perfect quirky car for a quirky movie, but it was almost completely different, from its color to the shocking things it could do.