CarWalk makes it feel so good: Hundreds turn out for downtown car show
CarWalk returned to downtown Abilene last week, although if the ghosts of ArtWalks past had shown up, David Rogers would have been there to greet them
Rogers is the owner of a 2014 MINI Cooper Clubman he converted with a year's-worth of work to resemble the Ghostbusters' iconic Ecto-1, only half its size. Hence the license plate, "Ecto-0.5".
"It actually started with a conversation where I worked at the time," Rogers recalled. "We were sitting around talking about famous movie and TV cars that we liked, and it was pretty well known that I’m a big Ghostbusters fan and a big Mini Cooper fan."
One of his buddies suggested turning a MINI Cooper into an Ectomobile. Rogers laughed and joking started outlining how he would do it.
"The more we sat around joking about it, the more it became not a joke and the more my wife had to put up with it in reality," he said. All told, it took a year's worth of effort to make the conversion over a longer period of time.
"I'd just tinker on it a little bit at a time," he said.
The roof supports an instrument pack right out of the movie, complete with yellow tanks and blue lights that he says for legal reasons he can't run on the street. The barn-doors at the Clubman's rear open to reveal a Proton Pack, trap and other Ghostbusters gizmos.
Of course the iconic decal decorates both doors and a tiny Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man - looking a little singed - waves to passersby from his perch beside Ecto-0.5's Texas registration sticker.
Which leads to the obvious question: Does he drive this thing around?
"Oh, yeah. It's a daily driver," he answered. "You will see it at the drive-thru in McDonald’s and you'll see it in the parking lot at United when I’m getting my prescriptions."
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: CarWalk makes it feel so good: Hundreds turn out for downtown car show
