What Happened To The Aerosmith Van From 'American Pickers'?

During Aerosmith's early days, the band played anywhere they could to hone their sound and fine-tune their wild stage presence. And what does every good band need besides a roadie? A reliable mode of transportation. For Aerosmith, that was a 1964 International Harvester Metro van from the very same makers of the beloved (and recently resurrected) Scout.

Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz made a name for themselves as hosts of The History Channel's long-running "American Pickers" television show traveling the countryside looking for old barn finds and unearthing long-lost treasures, so they knew something about touring vans. During the show's 19th season (episode 13 aired on July 30, 2018), the pair headed to a heavily-forested property in Chesterfield, Massachusetts, because the owner claimed he had what might be Aerosmith's long-lost touring van. Not long after the episode aired, Aerosmith reached out to the American Pickers, explaining that the band wanted to buy and use the van for their residency show in Las Vegas. But only after it was refurbished and preserved.

When Mike and Frank got to the property, they found a rusted-out relic from the past with a crude hand-painted color image of what resembled Robert Crumb's "Keep on Truckin'" cartoon character standing next to a yellow and green logo version of the word "Aerosmith" on the side. As the owner showed it off to Mike and Frank, he explained that a man named Mark Lehman used to live on the property, and when the van came to the property, the whole bottom portion up to the van's frame was already in direct contact with the ground.

By the end of the episode, Ray Tabano, the band's original guitarist, verified the van's provenance.  He recalled they used it as a dressing room and a rolling hotel because they literally lived in it, and even showed them a photo of the band in the van. Additionally, he said the yellow and green logo was "the first time the band's name had ever been written out" and the "Keep on Truckin'" dude was actually a self-portrait of the owner of the van: Mark Lehman, the same guy who once lived on the property.

Mike and Frank purchased the van for $25,000, despite the majority of it — including the engine — all but rusting away while sitting out in the Massachusetts forest for decades. However, Mike thought it was still worth the price because it was, as he described, "the most incredible thing we've ever found in our lives." That's saying something, considering the American Pickers have found some incredibly cool cars over the years.

The team was profoundly honored and immediately went to work, but because so much of the original van had rotted away, a second parts van was needed to complete the project. Over the course of six months, two members of the Pickers team worked on the vehicle.

They had to cut the bottom rusted panels off and lift the entire rear cargo area off the frame with a forklift. The team was able to preserve the glorious original artwork on the driver's side panel, from the sliding door (also rusted out) to the back of the van. Still, the passenger's side wall was so badly rusted it needed to be replaced entirely. They even had to cut a window into that side because the donor van didn't have the same window.

Once the cargo area was preserved, they set it down on top of the frame (via forklift) from the donor van, which also had the working engine and rear end. The whole front end — except for the grill — also came from the second donor van. In the end, they used everything they could from the original van and blended it seamlessly with donor parts to form a whole. They were even able to replicate the rust from the original. Perhaps through divine intervention, the artwork on the side somehow remained intact. Mike said, "It was almost like the dirt and grime had preserved it."

During season 20 of "American Pickers" (episode 16, which aired almost a year to the day later — on July 08, 2019), Mike and Frank personally delivered the completed International Harvester to the band in Las Vegas, but not before cruising down the Strip. The episode was filmed just before Aerosmith began their "Deuces Are Wild" residency at the Park MGM Theatre.

In a nutshell, the band was flabbergasted when they saw the preserved (not restored) van and were not afraid to show some sweet emotion. Steven Tyler (who has quite a car collection of his own) was "over the moon." The episode showed the band regaling Mike and Frank with memories of their time with the van and even included more details about Mark Lehman and the "Keep on Truckin'" image on the side.

According to drummer Joey Kramer, Lehman owned the van before ever becoming friends with the guys in the band before they all moved down to Boston. He drove, kept it in good running condition, set up their gear at gigs, and ran the sound system. When Lehman wasn't driving them to rehearsals or gigs, he drove around picking up hitchhikers and taking them where they needed to go. It wound up working as an old-fashioned precursor to social media. Effectively, Mark Lehman was a jack of all trades for the band and found his way onto the side of the van.

Aerosmith used the van as a prop in their Vegas shows and parked it in the lobby going into the show. Joe hoped it would end up someday in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. All that was a few years ago though, and the band has since gone through some turmoil.

First, the COVID-19 pandemic reared its ugly head in early 2020, forcing them to suspend shows until June 2021.  Their residency ended abruptly at the end of 2022 when Tyler became sick, and then he fractured his larynx during a show in September 2023. Finally, in August 2024, the band announced they were retiring, going on a "Permanent Vacation," if you will, after discovering that Tyler's throat would never fully heal.

Given the unfortunate circumstances the bad boys from Boston have endured recently, the van — an authentic "piece of American rock 'n' roll history" says "American Picker" Mike Wolfe — has taken a back seat. According to the most recent sources, its current location is a mystery, but it's believed that the band still owns it. Aerosmith fans hope it will eventually see the light of day again, or as Joe Perry hoped, make its way into Rock's Hall of Fame. Cars have always played a massive role in the music industry, whether as the song's subject or in the wild and crazy music videos from the 1980s.