Mr. Hord - I thought we already discussed this at:
http://www.professionalcarsociety.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17418 ? Rather than repeat myself like you did here - I think a few points are topical.
Why do I care? Well - simply because of what I value. I am surely not ashamed to admit I liked Ghostbusters I and II, they were fun movies with great characters. Folks who make Ghostbusters knock-offs (or even exact replicas) out of professional cars value the movie far more than the car itself and its history. It's a prop for whatever purpose they so choose - ranging from entertainment/fun, pure love of the movie, or charity work at children's hospitals. No judgment for any - I like fun, and I'm sure children with cancer surely do love any visiting entertainment. The owners may value their vehicle - but if they so chose they could have restored it to its original state and they did not. My 1963 GMC-Christopher rescue ambulance from Norfolk FD - I have photos of that vehicle on the scene of rollover accidents and a city councilman being loaded in the back unresponsive after collapsing at a fire. During its 25 years in service, my Rhinecliff Rescue Squad 1963 Pinner-Chrysler is documented to have at least a few die en route, see the delivery of at least one baby, wrecks, a plane crash, and was even involved in a front-end collision during an emergency response that sent its driver to the hospital with head injuries. It's about what's valued most, pure and simple. When a replica-maker or other modifier sees a professional car - they see it in need of being changed into something else. You referenced the young mother from Iowa who purchased the 1983 S&S hearse.
http://www.professionalcarsociety.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17414 She makes clear even to her child that she is "making it better" by turning it into a camper. When I see these cars, I see a historical artifact that just so happens to drive. I don't own a museum - but I wish I did and assist with two.
Look at many of the news stories on Ghostbusters replicas and you'll see a common theme of "trash to treasure." The general public seems to rarely appreciate a professional car unless it's in pristine condition or modified in some fashion. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer folks remember when ambulance service wasn't provided by a "Monster Medic." At 10 years your junior I surely never saw one in service. I have near-zero interest in straight hearses - but these vehicles too touched lives throughout their service time. From what I've seen - hearses unnerve the general public with their negative connection with the loss of a loved one. A necessary evil perhaps, but not something they want in their neighborhood as some have found... Even the antique ambulance has a negative light with the public - not only from the physical resemblance to contemporary and current hearses - but also that folks seem to believe prehospital care in the past was some kind of ill-conceived bloodbath with poor care. Conventional wisdom is that the funeral home ambulances weren't a matter of community convenience and generosity on the part of the local mortician, but instead a malignant conflict of interest. In retrospect - what's new is old and many of the touted advancements like spinal immobilization and advanced care like most drugs and intubation actually worsen outcomes in the field. Basic care measures - FIRST AID back in the day - actually makes a difference. Unfortunately, with the rapid turnover, fractured and divergent makeup of service types, and lack of centralization in the EMS community - few appreciate the history. It worries me that many folks who believe as I do about ambulances are those who worked on them years ago. Unlike the fire service, many EMS professionals (including myself at one point) chose to look down upon the past and our forebears in order to somehow make ourselves feel superior in some fashion. Funeral directors I suspect will have less trouble as they don't seem to have this affliction.
It disappointing to me that many folks' only connection to the vehicles we own is that movie, and I believe it's easy to observe that many here are frustrated by the endless parade of "Ghostbusters!" calls from the roadside. Although the replica-makers would be thrilled, that isn't what we purchased the car for. I literally can't drive my 1963 Pinner-Chrysler ambulance out onto the road without a pile of attention. Some is "nice car" or other usual classic car talk - but a significant portion of the time I have to get past someone's child-like excitement about seeing a "Ghostbuster car." Rather than answering someone's questions about the history of EMS, how the car was made, or any number of other things I'd enjoy talking about - I can either spend time getting past the topic of that movie or just smile and move on.
Adding onto all of this - is that professional cars are inherently uncommon. Sure - some are more common than others, but the "rare" conventional cars of which there are only a few dozen or hundreds was the norm for ours. It's more and more difficult to find an unmolested professional car, particularly in any degree of decent shape. Today's ambulances and hearses find themselves sold on the cheap, with few interested for any reason. It was no different in the past for even the most gorgeous professional car. Maybe one day, the aforementioned 1983 S&S being turned into a camper in Iowa will be the hot ticket item like any 1959 professional car is today. Why is that? Well, simply because it appears the vast majority of the few that didn't get crushed or rotted away are now Ghostbuster "replicas" or attempts. Once turned into a station wagon, Ghostbuster car, whathaveyou - it's basically done as far as PCS-types are concerned. Depending on just how far folks have gone in their "conversion" - there's no going back, at least without tearing apart another professional car. The parts these folks are getting rid of - interior primarily - for their purposes are the very ones you just can't get. Few would be violently ill if a true "****box" is modified, but from what I've seen it's primarily good, original cars that are chosen for this purpose. Same reasons we choose a car, are the same reasons folks looking for an Ecto are. I too like the "look" of the 1959 cars, but I doubt I will ever own such an ambulance due to this very fact.
That's just my opinion - and obviously you have yours. This is the forum of the Professional Car Society - which obviously supports historical preservation. What has been posted by the PCS Members above is the common sentiment of the group that seems to accompany these posts. Other forums may have a different opinion - maybe you should seek them out? I see you are not a PCS Member and primarily have come here seeking help in your posts - maybe you should have greater respect for the values of the group you are asking for it from? No one's going to change their mind about what they value based upon my post or yours. As said before - it's their car to do whatever they want with it. Rather than being upset, I wish more would just understand the difference in perspective and "live and let live." Just because others believe differently doesn't mean I have to take their ideals as my own. In your case though, there is no reason to beat a dead horse.