Ok… so Ive been the proud owner of an '89 Grand Marquis (fully loaded for her time) for about 2 years. She has a 5.0L Ford 302 under the hood and in fact some damage aside from being sideswiped on the highway, she looks and is in as good condition as if she just came off the assembly line.
Anyways Ive been toying with different things that Id love to do with her, either keep her stock of go custom. I was even considering chopping the top and making a convertable.
But how could the Grand Marquis hold up as an Ecto? My only beef with this is its more a luxury vehicle than a utility or work one. But some parts off Crown Vic Police Interceptors of the same era (yea I have access to that kinda stuff too) could change that. Again back to reality though, just how would a sedan look as an Ecto vs. a wagon, truck or van?
Ok so here’s a VERY crude concept drawing… heres the disclaimer: I SUCK at photo editing and only have access to MS pain on this computer. Also, I had some trouble painting around the damaged fender.
Anyways, Ive toyed with drawing roof racks and its just not looking good… but I think its more the inability to draw on a computer than the car itself. Of course, I could throw a solid blue bar up there and just have the car painted like that. Fortunatley I can get away with blue lights. Maybe a few gizmos here and there. Itd deffinatley have to be streamlined though, not bulky like on a work vehicle… speed being the point of an interceptor.
Feedback and ideas are welcome.
Oops, I forgot to draw in the back door… Im sure you’ll get the point.
I like that train of thought AJ, it would certainly save me money on lightbars… because that equipment I already have!
4 Whelen Engineering Dual Blue LED Talons:
So I think if I threw just a couple items on the roof which could be done with minimal expense… Id pretty much just have to pay for the body work and paint. Maybe get an old Federal Q Siren for cosmetics.
I was thinking of maybe taking the vertical vanity lights on the B Post (between the front and back door)… and retrofitting some LEDs in there that scan up and down as in the power cell and graph on the proton packs.
I think you’d get laughed at if you turned that into an Ecto, maybe not amongst the online fanbase, but definitely by people in your home town.
At any rate, I think that car has FAR more potential to be a badass Men in Black LTD, or even a quick-and-cheap bluesmobie. The MIB car would be ** freaking awesome**.
Im a firefighter, and with state issued permits we can operate blues… with pretty much unlimited possabilities. Lightbars, dash lights etc. Of course… I would still not be allowed to run them on the road unless responding to a call. While legal in some states, CT restricts sirens in POVs to chiefs and officers only though. So pretty much like civillians I couldnt just play with it on the road… but, nothing would restrict me from using them on a call. That would deffinatley have me laughed at.
I could just imagine pulling up to a medical scene with that, “Im here in case they fail.”
Im not so much worried about being laughed at… I just want to do something different. Frankly, if any cars are to be laughed at Id say about 85% of thoes done on “Pimp My Ride” are good candidates. Its just an idea at the moment though, I know the car has much more potential than this. Besides, I think my wife would shoot me, she hates this car as is lol.
By the way, the MIB car is a pretty sick idea too. Thanks!
Though I myself cannot stop laughing, and also agree with Boomer that there is so much more potential to this… I am simultaneously awe struck, this looks do-able…
The only reason I could conceive for doing that would be the demolition derby mod which somebody did (exceptionally well) over the summer. It’s just not an ecto car.
Go get yourself some neuralyzers, though. That baby is BEGGING for you to push the red button.
ARRRGH! I hate computers! I seriously just typed a whole thing about how an undercover ecto would work really well and I made a typo and hit backspace and it made the page go back and I lost it! I think it was pretty good too! Trust me, the concept can be done! Please, hear me out before you make any non-ecto decisions!
I’ll write down all my ideas and redo this tomorrow. I think you’ll like it.
I took the idea of being there in case paramedics fail and the under cover thing and spun it into something I could picture being one of the vehicular arsenal for a GB Inc. type of situation.
Ive been wondering how well a Volvo station wagon would fare as an Ecto… from personal experience of cutting people out of semi-mangled ones I can say they are freaking tanks. But strength aside it just looks to soccer mom. Been seeing alot of Audi wagons latley… that might hold up, they are kind of sharp, but a bit small. Also considered the Mercury Sable and Ford Taurus (wagon versions), but from personal experience the Taurus sedan is crap. I only consider the Sable and Taurus because they are adequately sized, relativley in-expensive and in aubundance in my area.
But yea, I still agree Boomer and I wanna push the red button. I think if I did something like the MIB car, Id have to make it the converted one (into the rocket car) otherwise Im sure most people wont get it… and a vanity plate on a black car that says MIB would be a bit dull. Guess Ill have to pull out the movie later and watch it for ideas. Im already feeling some though… it has a big trunk so Im sure I could make a weapons cache’ or put different hinges on it and some flip out rocket engines for static display.
I dunno… I just want to do something different. Ive always wanted to be in a car show… not just a spectator and though I can easily say my Marquis is in the best shape of any Ive ever seen of her era, shes still not the only one.
Since Im bored and have no life heres my rendition of CPDs design… I tried to make it a little less bulky. Shes a big car… but too much would probably ruin the look.
I dunno, I actually kinda like it. And hell, if I had the money Id consider putting a Federal Signal Corp. “Vector” Lightbar up there to make up for the lack of equipment on the roof. Could look sharp but who knows, Im to damn broke.
