WHEN you think of iconic movie cars, the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters is likely to be high on everyone’s list.

None more so than for Austyn Brown, from Wimborne, who has been a massive fan of the films since he was four and had always dreamed about getting one of the cars.

Now, his dream has become a reality as he and some friends have painstakingly recreated the iconic vehicle.

Around the pandemic, the opportunity came to buy a Cadillac Miller-Metor Sentinel from the USA.

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“This is a ’63, the original is a ’59 but this one came up and it’s close enough. I just went, 'let’s do it, let’s get it,'” the 41-year-old teacher said.

“We bought it from a guy called Murray, which I thought was a sign after Bill Murray from the original film.

“It took about six months to come over, it took a long time to come over, just because of the size of the thing. It’s not like shipping a table, it's huge.

“As soon as it arrived, we’ve basically just been working on it ever since.”

The car is ‘almost there’ with just some electrical work to do on the outside of the vehicle, before refitting the interior.

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Even before he had bought the car, Austyn had been collecting parts to use in it for around a decade and storing them in his garage.

He asked his friend, Mark Lees, to help out in the project.

“Having a bit of knowledge of the electrics, I think one day I was asked if I wanted to be involved, it should be fun, should be quite straightforward,” Mark, 38, said.

“It sounded great, and seeing the car when it came over, seeing the size of it, seeing it in real life, it’s been brilliant.

“It definitely is fun, but it definitely is hard work.”

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The car will be at Tower Park Cineworld for the launch of the new Ghostbusters film on Saturday, March 23.

Austyn said it hadn’t been smooth sailing refurbishing the car, but that it is ‘just good fun’ and brings smiles to people’s faces. He is working with the Rainbow Trust charity and will be out fundraising with the car.

“It’s great when you’re driving this down the road, and the amount of people that wave to us or flash their lights or toot their horn as you’re driving along, its great and it brings so many smiles on so many people’s faces,” Austyn said.

“Dan Ackroyd once said the thing about this car is it’s the classic clown car. Everything was jumbo on it, it had way too many lights on it, it was the original clown car. It is, it just makes a lot of people happy.

“You can’t help but look at it and smile.”