Our Touring Van (Never Bought)
We’ve been a band 12 some-odd years now. Well, actually, 12 all-odd years. Over that time we’ve played hundreds (if not thousands) (or millions) of shows, yet we’ve never owned an official Sinch Tour Van ™. For a long time we used a minivan that I inherited from my parents but I wouldn’t exactly call it a “tour” van. As far as I know, rock and roll tour vans are prohibited from having wood paneling on the side (unless its a conversion van, in which case the presence of a TV and PS2 overrides any such rules). We’ve also rented, borrowed and otherwise acquired transportation to shows and for longer tours. For whatever reason, we’ve just never made the leap of faith into band van ownership.
Well, I think the time has come. Up for auction at this very moment is a one-of-a-kind van that I don’t think we can afford to pass up:
From the auction desctiption:
1986 SPY GHOST HUNTING SURVEILLANCE PARAPSYCHOLOGY VAN
One of a Kind. Originally used on Miami Vice and Nash Bridges TV shows. Purchased by the American Institute of Parapsychology for investigations of allegedly haunted locations! I purchased it a few years ago and have only driven it a few hundred miles. Diesel Van has less than 60K miles. Comes with working pan/tilt mounted on roof (camera removed), deep cycle battery bank-(all hold full charge), a 250gig 4 channel DVR which also records 4 channel audio and acts as a quad.You could record audio and video remotely for a month. Huge power inverter to run everything you need on 120v AC. Like new Samsung 17″ Flat Screen monitor. 2 smaller swivel LCD Monitors. Pan Tilt Controller, dash mount flip out LCD monitor and rear mount infrared camera for backing up easily. I also have the 20 watt low frequency tx/rx set which is like new,used with the van and already mounted antenna. You can recieve and record clear audio and video for many miles with this setup. Integrated sound system in the back along with a video effects board. All equipment works very well. Four swing out chairs and a practical work area in the back. Even has a huge xray flourescent light table viewer mounted to wall. Windows are mirror tinted. Has a very solid tow bar section for towing another vehicle(see pic). Van has been in everything from childrens books on ghosts to above mentioned tv shows.
Now, I don’t know how much ghost hunting we’d be doing, but it would be nice to have the option. Regardless, this thing is just begging to turned into the Ocular Noise Machine ON WHEELS. Roof mounted camera! Read-mounted infrared camera! Integrated sound system with video effects board! 250GB DVR! Sold tow bar (for our trailer)!
Just add a couple laptops, some more cameras, maybe an external video screen (so we can have video running on the outside of the van 24/7, and a viditar or two and we’d be off to the goddamn races. I guess they’d be some kind of video van races (which might not exist yet), but races nonetheless would be gone off to… by us.
The bidding currently stands at $3,000, but the reserve hasn’t been met yet so who knows what they actually want for this thing. We’ll gladly accept any donations, and in return everyone who donates will have their name and likeness featured on the outboard video screen at least once a day for all to see, for the rest of time (which might not actually be that long, but I think it’s still worth it.
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