Did you think Aerosmith would really lose its tour bus forever? Dream on.
Recently, the hosts of the hit History Channel show American Pickers walked this way to track down the legendary band’s original tour van, which disappeared in New England in the early 1970s. Because they didn’t want to miss a thing, the hosts were thorough, and they ended up coming across the van in a forest in Chesterfield, in Western Massachusetts. While the rusted, 1964 International Harvester Metro may be too decrepit at this point for the band to actually get back in the saddle again, its appearance has solved a long-standing mystery.
The woodland property’s owner, identified only as Phil, told American Pickers hosts Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz that the vehicle was already there, on permanent vacation, when he bought the land. Although the previous owner was affiliated with the band, the Pickers pumped him for information and found he was unable to confirm the van’s authenticity. For a while, it seemed the hosts were livin’ on the edge of getting closure. Finally, a game of phone tag that included Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, reached original Aerosmith member Ray Tabano, who helped the search reach its crazy conclusion. Once on the other side of this mystery, Aerosmith purchased the van from Phil for $25,000.
The band may have once been cryin’ over their lost vehicle, but now it’s safe to say they are feeling sweet emotion. Truly, it’s a wonderful time to be honkin’ on bobo. (Okay, that last one made no sense.)
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