User avatar
By zeta otaku
#4850826
Are... are you also going to adopt the numerous species that have taken up residence in the vehicle?

Seriously, good find, but DAMN is that going to be a nightmare of a fixer-upper. I hope you're able to bring her back to life :D
User avatar
By lifelongfan
#4850828
I'm going out again very soon to get a better look, literally had no time when I found her. If nothing else, maybe I can part her out to help save other Ecto's! If she's repairable, it probably a good thing I own a car repair shop and I'm damn good at fabrication/restoration!
User avatar
By lifelongfan
#4850847
Damn, I'm not technologically inclined, it took me forever to figure out how to upload those photos! I'll work on getting them re-posted this evening...
User avatar
By lifelongfan
#4850881
Y'all bear with me, I'm not very good with computers, but lemme try this again!

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I finally got the owner's son on the phone, and he didn't want to sell it unless I bought ALL of the crap in the yard. Luckily, a friend knows the owner's widow, and we are in the process of trying to touch base with her. Hopefully I can convince her to sell just this car, I don't want, nor can I afford, all the other junk cars in that yard. I know she's rough. That's an understatement. But my hope is that if I can buy her, even if she can't be saved, there are a ton of perfectly good parts still on her, maybe I can find a better body and use the parts, or help one of you guys with your Ecto project. The quarter glass and, for the most part, the quarter trim are in perfect shape. She still has her original gurney. She even still has her original red lights behind the grille. I was told she original belonged to Parkview Hospital (no joke!) here in my town, she was purchased later by a funeral home, and then finally, in 1982, by the current owner. They drove her home, parked her, and she hasn't moved from that spot in the last 34 years!
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User avatar
By Morfeusoneiros
#4851006
Sounds like you have the tools and the talent to fix it up. Good luck, both with buying and restoring. Hope you'll make a build/restore tread when the time comes!
Last edited by Kingpin on January 8th, 2016, 1:32 am, edited 1 time in total.Reason: Corrected autocorrected word
User avatar
By lifelongfan
#4851278
UPDATE! I got a hold of the owner, he said he would be willing to sell, and gave us permission to look the car over thoroughly, and to clean all the junk off of her. He said he would prefer to talk to his wife before naming a price. BAD NEWS: she's beyond any reasonable restoration. She had so much junk on top of her, we couldn't get a good look at the roof. Upon removing the junk, she had a half vinyl top at some point, and the rear half of the roof is literally missing, rusted beyond repair, and caved in. The rocker panels are also MIA. The quarters and doors could probably be saved, but it would be a hell of a lot of work. The fenders were surprisingly solid. The windshield is cracked, as is the passenger front door glass, but the rest of the glass is in excellent shape. The trim is immaculate. The 1961 Professional-car-only taillights are perfect, but the rear bumper is toast. The engine is complete minus the radiator. The following are pictures I took today as we clean her off. Even in this condition, I'm still going to try and buy her if the price is right (read: cheap), there are far too many good parts to just let her rot. So here's my question for my Ghostbusters friends; what's she worth in this condition?

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User avatar
By lifelongfan
#4851690
Can she be salvaged? Yes. Would it cost a fortune? Yes. I'm still trying to get her, although the owner has a completely unrealistic idea of what she's worth. He has watched far too much Barrett-Jackson. I am doing my best to make him realize just how bad she is currently. What am I going to do with her? I don't quite know yet. If I can make her mine, I want to pull her out, pressure wash everything, and get her to my shop and up on a lift to see the extent of the rust. I don't fully restore cars at my shop, but I'm a well above average fabricator, a reasonably good body man, and extremely good with mechanicals. My customers call me "The Doctor". Anyway, if I think I could fix her body & chassis, I'll take her to my shop at the house, and if it takes me 10+ years, so be it! If she's just too far gone, frame is rotted, body is worse than it looks, etc., then I will see about getting a better body and/or parting her out to save others. Unfortunately, mother nature has had her way, I live smack-dab in the middle of the rust belt. I don't deal with salt and snow, I deal with heat and extreme humidity. It destroys cars. And this poor girl has been out in the elements for the past 34 years.
Herring14, ESpengler84 liked this
By ESpengler84
#4852298
While that's a rare Miller-Meteor there, I don't know if it can ever be saved. I'm really concerned about the frame after all those years it may collapse if you try to move it. In that condition you are looking at the value of the parts you can salvage and use on another car. I would love to see this car get saved. I have a Miller Meteor of my own. It breaks my heart to see this car in that condition.

As it sits, I wouldn't want to pay more than $1,000. That's a very generous offer and sometime sellers have no clue about reality. Seen 1959 Cadillac Superior hearse hulks in worse condition than this car and they wanted a fortune . .
By transam99
#4852859
Wow i thought my 61 is rough. I just bought mine for 3000 in california and its more intact. Great find tho i love tht they are still out there waiting to be found. i know i am interested in parts if u do get it. I think if u got it for 1000 tht would be awsome. If anything its awsome yard art!
User avatar
By lifelongfan
#4853170
Just an update... I have spoken with the owner a few times now, he still won't name his price. And I don't want to throw out an offer until he does. I'm trying to get him to meet me out there so that he understands her current condition. He says he wasn't aware of the extent of the rust, and wasn't aware of the cracked windshield. He also has a 1946 Chevy Stylemaster out there that's been there as long as the M+M, but it has been covered the whole time and is in amazingly great shape. I was trying to make a deal on that car as well, but he and I were too far apart on the price, and the M+M is my main focus. I've been a Ghostbusters fanatic my whole life, hence the screen name "lifelongfan", and part of the reason I don't want to let this car rot is because in 32 years of hunting barns & backyards, car shows, and every local nook and cranny, this is the ONLY Miller-Meteor I've ever seen. In fact, this is one of only two vintage hearses or ambulances older than the mid-1970's that I've seen around here of any type. I missed a 1964 Superior combination a few years ago, it got crushed before I could get it, which still bugs me to this day...that car was extremely clean. Unfortunately, almost all of the salvage yards around here crush vintage cars as soon as they get them. A few years ago, one of the yard owners bought a factory Petty Blue/white stripe/white interior 1973 Roadrunner 340/auto from me...and within a week he had crushed it. I was pretty upset when I found out, that car was 90% complete and fairly rust-free. I've heard of a guy in a town not far from me that has a 1961 Eureka hearse, but I've never seen it. I text or call the guy every two days or so, but only once in a while do I get a response. I'll keep y'all informed as things progress.
User avatar
By Kingpin
#4853310
You ask me the guy's trying to weasel you out of more than what those cars are likely worth, his inability to name a price (unless you happen to say something first, where he'll increase your offer) and apparent ignorance of some of the most substantial issues of damage would tell me to back away.
User avatar
By Nicholszz
#4856456
Current condition? Like everyones saying. I wouldn't pay more then 1,000.
GIVEN, they are rare. And if restored very expensive.
But RUST is the huge deal here. And you know it's not going to run.
Poor girl looks like she's falling apart.

But really... I've seen worse. Living in Canada... We have big winters, the salt we use to melt snow kills cars.

I suppose if the frame isn't damaged as much as exterior, you're gold. Buy it.
All you NEED is frame, fins, windshields.
The windshields don't look that bad. You might be able to fix those with crack repair.

IF the guy still wants you to buy the lot? I donno... Pitch 4k, salvage them, then car wreck I guess.
User avatar
By lifelongfan
#4949369
Well, five years later and the guy never would sell. We called him every other month or so for the past five years, and the answer has always been the same. I recently bought an incredible survivor 1962 Miller Meteor Duplex and I'm so glad I did! But out of curiosity, I went out to the property to see how the 1961 has faired since the last time I was out there... and it had been a while. I hate to say it, but she's gone, rusted beyond any and all hope. I couldn't believe how bad she had gotten since the last time I was out there! There are still a few good parts on her, but not many. Another year or two and there won't be anything left. I think y'all will agree. Rust In Peace, poor baby. I'm sorry I couldn't save you!
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User avatar
By Kingpin
#4949374
I never ceases to amaze how people will let historic cars like that rust and rot to death rather than slash their sale price. A reduced profit is better than a loss compounded by having to pay someone to tow/ship a tetanus factory to the scrapyard.
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User avatar
By lifelongfan
#4949377
Actually, where I'm from, a tarp would only make things worse due to the EXTREME humidity. I always joke that it's so humid all the time, it's a miracle that we haven't developed gills! When we found her five years ago, there were remnants of a rotten old blue tarp falling off of her. Not being IN the woods and covered with dirt & leaves & such would've helped preserve her better too. But hoarders don't care. Five years ago, she could've been saved. It would've been a monumental project, but it could've been done. Now? No way. Having been a fabricator in a past life (I worked for a restoration shop), there's so much missing, there's really not much to start with. Someone would have far less money in the long run just by buying a better starting point. Hoarders suck.
deadderek liked this
By tobycj
#4949378
The guy is nuts. He could have had a grand, now he's got nothing. Could you go down under cover of darkness and "liberate" the glass at least? ;)
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User avatar
By lifelongfan
#4949379
As much as I would love to save the glass, I'm not a thief, and the local police have kept a pretty close eye on the property since it got burglarized and vandalized last year (including this car). The teens were caught red-handed digging around inside this car after smashing out the right front window.
User avatar
By rayp_Stantz
#4949441
THIS is my dream. Buying this car...driving with it.
But in Germany this dream is even more far away then in united states. Finding and buying one, shipping here...well i need to win in lottery first. Even if i could afford one...the german "TÜV" would never allow this car to drive german streets i guess. Those TÜV-dudes are hardcore if you are a tuner / or want to drive such cars like Tumbler/Ecto/Deloreon[B2tFuture] etc on the street. A no go in this country. :(

Awesome, keep it up!

And yes a shame how people can park such kind of cars in the "jungle" or desert.
Vandalizing such cars is like kicking the head of old people on the floor...its not believeable for normal people, young or not.

Greets
User avatar
By Macktacular
#4949501
I'm sorry that one got away from you. It's a real shame when people won't accept reality and more and more seem to think they've got gold when they've barely got tin. In my case it's usually people wanting $5 a pop for comic books that aren't even worth 50 cents, but because SOME comics are worth money they think that ALL old comics are worth money.

This just makes me think of something though. Remember those Mercedes SSK kit cars that were sold in the 70s, fibreglass body on a VW or other cheap car frame? I wonder how much it would cost to make a mold for a Meteor body that could be put on similar-sized station wagon or other long frames. I suppose there's way more people who want to drive a '29 Mercedes Benz than the Ecto 1, so probably there wouldn't be enough of a potential market to make it worth it to do in a run large enough to warrant the initial cost investment.
deadderek liked this
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