I ain't afraid of no work! Film fan spends thousands of hours (and £50,000) painstakingly restoring Ghostbusters car
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It pays not to be afraid of ghosts or work when you're restoring one of just six cadillacs of this calibre in the world into a replica Ghostbusters ECTO-1 car.
Paul Harborne, 49, has so far spent more than £50,000 creating an indentical hearse to that in the 1984 blockbuster.
The restoration enthusiast from Sedgeley, in the West Midlands, wanted to create 'an authentic Ghostbusters experience'.
Indeed, he is so passionate about getting the car just right that he has juggled part-time employment as a security worker with this project.
Restored: Paul Harborne pictured with the Cadillac after
11 months of painstaking restoration work
Rare: The 1959 Cadillac when it was delivered to Paul
Harborne's house in Sedgeley, West Midlands, in May 2011
He plans to hire out the vehicle, complete
with fancy dress outfits, so fans can go on their own ghostbusting
journey.
Having searched worldwide for the 1959 Cadillac, Mr Harborne almost gave up hope after discovering there were only half a dozen still left
Yet in a spooky twist of luck, he managed to find the exact vehicle just a few miles away in Leicester.
It seemed someone else had the same idea but then ran out of money, much to Mr Harborne’s joy
Work needed: The car needed considerable work when Paul
Harborne took possession of it last year
For hire: Paul Harborne plans to hire the restored
Cadillac out so that people can enjoy their own authentic Ghostbusters
experience
He has almost managed to fully restore the Ghostbusters ambulance/police van which has involved making everything inside from hand.
He said: 'It was a complete wreck as it had been abandoned.
'It’s extremely rare and very hard to restore.
'There are 158 miles of wire in the roof to power the four lightbars and rotating beacons on top.'
No seats: The interior of the car in desperate need of
some work. More than £50,000 later and the car is unrecognisable
Pride and joy: The restored Cadillac. Paul Harborne
juggled part-time employment in the security industry with the restoration
project
'There are four speakers in the hearse as well as two DVD players so you can not only watch the film, but also hear it when you’re inside and out.
'I’ve set up an iPod so that there are also genuine sirens and sound coming from the car.'
Mr Harborne, who has also restored an A-Team van, even had a phone call from the popular ITV show The X Factor in 2009 to see if the Ghostbusters car could be used in Jedward’s live performance.
Unfortunately the car wasn’t yet ready and a cardboard cut-out had to be used instead.
Mr Harborne is hoping that if a third Ghostbusters film is made, his creation might make the starring role.
Until then, he’s just happy
He added: “It’s certainly been a challenge - 50 year old cadillacs are hard work!”
In action: The Cadillac used in the 1989 Ghostbusters
sequel Ghostbusters II
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