A piece of Aerosmith’s history has been discovered on a wooded property in Chesterfield, MA. The band’s original touring van, used during the early 1970’s, showed up on the History Channel’s American Pickers in an episode that aired July 30th.
When the ‘Pickers’, Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, visited the New England property and saw the van, they decided to call in an expert to authenticate it. The property owner said the vehicle was on the property when he bought it, although he was aware of a connection between the band and the previous owner.
Wolfe made a call to Dan Auberbach of the Black Keys, who called up Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry. Perry sent Ray Tabano, a founding member of Aerosmith, to take a look at the custom painted 1964 International Harvester Metro.
Tabano authenticated the van and even showed a picture of himself in the vehicle during its touring days.
Wolfe and Fritz gave the property owner $25,000 for the vehicle.
Ray Tabano was a childhood friend of Steven Tyler’s and a founding member of Aerosmith. He left the band in 1971 and was replaced by Brad Whitford.