Photo: Channel History
A piece of American rock’n’roll history was discovered in the woods of Massachusetts, on the property of a man named Phil, by the hosts of American Channel’s show American Pickers.
Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz visited Chesterfield, near Boston, where they tracked down and eventually located the original touring van of the band Aerosmith. That was before they started playing sold-out stadiums and traveling by private jet, of course.
At the time, they could only afford the 1964 International Harvester Metro van, painted with the figure of a man and “Aerosmith” in funky letters. The van was abandoned in the ‘70s, but Wolfe and Fritz didn’t say why or who did it, CBS News reports.
The discovery was featured on a recently aired episode of the show. Wolfe and Fritz specialize in nostalgic memorabilia, particularly cars, so they were thrilled when they made their discovery. Though doubtful at first, they still paid Phil a whopping $25,000 for the van.
This despite the fact that it was in very bad condition. The show revealed that the van hadn’t been used in years and was left outside, exposed to the elements. It was missing a door and all its tires was flat, was covered in rust and the carpet was falling from the ceiling.
Before paying, the show’s hosts made sure they verified that the van was the original one. They tracked down Ray Tabano, one of the founding members of the band, who played with Aerosmith between 1970 and 1972.
“I just flashed back to when we started the band,” Tabano said, when first laying his eyes on what he recalled was their “rolling hotel” when they were on the road.
“This is it, baby,” he added. “It certainly looks like it. Oh my goodness gracious. I’m afraid to say how long it is, but it’s been like 40 years since we were in this thing. It was like a touring hotel… This is definitely the van. You found it.”
At the time, they could only afford the 1964 International Harvester Metro van, painted with the figure of a man and “Aerosmith” in funky letters. The van was abandoned in the ‘70s, but Wolfe and Fritz didn’t say why or who did it, CBS News reports.
The discovery was featured on a recently aired episode of the show. Wolfe and Fritz specialize in nostalgic memorabilia, particularly cars, so they were thrilled when they made their discovery. Though doubtful at first, they still paid Phil a whopping $25,000 for the van.
This despite the fact that it was in very bad condition. The show revealed that the van hadn’t been used in years and was left outside, exposed to the elements. It was missing a door and all its tires was flat, was covered in rust and the carpet was falling from the ceiling.
Before paying, the show’s hosts made sure they verified that the van was the original one. They tracked down Ray Tabano, one of the founding members of the band, who played with Aerosmith between 1970 and 1972.
“I just flashed back to when we started the band,” Tabano said, when first laying his eyes on what he recalled was their “rolling hotel” when they were on the road.
“This is it, baby,” he added. “It certainly looks like it. Oh my goodness gracious. I’m afraid to say how long it is, but it’s been like 40 years since we were in this thing. It was like a touring hotel… This is definitely the van. You found it.”
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