Ecto-1
Every workshop has that one project, the one that’s less of a build and more of a life goal. For us, that's the Ecto-1. This beast of a build isn’t a workstation, but it takes up enough space to feel like one. At this point, it's more of a pile of dreams and bolts than it is a car, a testament to a childhood fantasy that just never seems to get worked on. It’s a project so big, so ambitious, that its very presence defines a section of the workshop, with its disassembled frame and scattered parts waiting patiently for attention.
More than just a car, this build is a tribute to a fandom that's been a driving force for me for years. It’s a project that demands patience and a lot of parts, and its progress is measured in years, not months. Its disassembled body sits like a ghost of its former self, with half-finished bodywork and a tangle of unorganized wiring, each piece a promise waiting to be fulfilled. It's a constant reminder of a grand idea that has simply been on hold.
Ultimately, the Ecto-1 is a living museum to a work in progress. It’s a monument to a good intention, and to a dream that, despite all odds, still holds a central place in the workshop's heart. It sits patiently, waiting for the day we can finally get back to it and turn this pile of dreams into a reality.
June 30, 2013
There were a lot of photos before this, but they were lost to a time before cloud storage was a given. My entire collection, from a young child up to around 2012, was gone. This first photo marks a new beginning, showing me cleaning up the window area to convert it over to the beautiful wrap-around windows.
September 9, 2013
So, I think what you’ll notice in a lot of these photos is the Ecto-1 just kinda moves around my shop and becomes a catch-all. It's not for a lack of desire to work on it—trust me, the dream is still very much alive. It’s just that 90% of my time is spent on customer projects, and the other 10% is spent on the shop itself. The Ecto-1 is a project for that rare sliver of time that just never seems to show up.
October 6, 2013
I'm not really sure why I took this picture, but one day I gotta get back to it. This car's previous life was spent hauling a band's equipment around, and the previous owner cut out the floor support to make room for their gear. It’s a crucial piece of the puzzle I have to put back in, a small detail I'll get to... eventually.
March 27, 2014
Alright, so a lot of people are going to say what I did here was an act of sacrilege, but I did it anyway. I took the entire Ferno stretcher apart. After years of debating whether I wanted to leave it looking aged or clean it up a bit, I finally chose to clean it up. Not to the point where it looks brand new—I want to keep the character it acquired over the years—but to give it a good polish that I could only do by taking it apart. It was also the perfect excuse to measure every last part.