ECTO-1 seems fairly good for a 1959 Cadillac that has spent many years chasing ghosts, however the members of the Ghostbusters staff wished so as to add a extra fashionable car to their fleet earlier than embarking on their subsequent journey. Just like the #vanlife crowd and Amazon, they received a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.
Whereas the Caddy is not retiring, will probably be joined by a purpose-built instance of Mercedes-Benz’s largest van in “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” which is due out on March 22, 2024. At first look, the Sprinter seems like, nicely… a Sprinter. Aside from a handful of exterior decals, it seems like the common 2500 mannequin meandering throughout a giant metropolis to ship parcels. Nonetheless, it is decked out with world-saving gear inside.
Referred to as ECTO-Z, the Sprinter is fitted with a pull-out rack that carries gear reminiscent of ghost traps, proton packs used to seize ghosts, and the all-important muon scrubbers. ECTO-1 can haul this {hardware} as nicely, nevertheless it’s so much much less refined: a few of it must go on the huge roof rack. Selecting the panel model of the Sprinter with a excessive roof helps the Ghostbusters staff maintain a comparatively low profile.
On a extra severe word, Mercedes-Benz proudly factors out that its Sprinter is barely the second official Ghostbuster car since ECTO-1 made its debut when the franchise launched in 1984. There is a catch: whereas the ECTO-1 license plate first appeared on the aforementioned 1959 Cadillac, it additionally ended up on a 1982 Cadillac-based mannequin within the Paul Feig-directed Ghostbusters reboot launched in July 2016.
Mercedes-Benz hasn’t launched technical particulars, however the Sprinter is solely supplied with a 2.0-liter turbodiesel four-cylinder engine now that the three.0-liter turbodiesel V6 is out of the image. It makes 168 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque in its customary configuration, whereas the non-obligatory high-output model posts figures of 208 and 332, respectively. The extra highly effective 4 sounds good for chasing ghosts. The engine spins the rear wheels through a nine-speed computerized transmission; it would not appear to be ECTO-Z is fitted with all-wheel-drive.
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