Four decades ago, before Aerosmith was selling out stadiums, the band was traveling New England and trying to become a household name. The band members rode in a funky 1964 International Harvester Metro van with a cartoon man and "Aerosmith" painted in bright colors across the side. Decades later, the dated yet iconic van has been found, and the people who located it know a thing or two about nostalgic vehicles.
The hosts of History Channel's "American Pickers" say the van had spent years in the woods of a small Massachusetts town after being abandoned in the 1970s. In an episode of the show that aired July 30, hosts Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz visit Chesterfield, a town about 100 miles west of Boston, to inquire about the van.
The pickers find the dilapidated vehicle with the tires flat, the door missing and the paint rusting off. Still, Wolfe and Fritz, who search the country for valuable pieces of American nostalgia like cars and toys, were willing to pay a pretty penny for the rundown van. Wolfe says it's "a piece of American rock and roll history."
The tale of the van has not been confirmed by CBS News, and it is unclear when Aerosmith abandoned it or why.
More at CBSNews.com.