The Restored Ford Truck That Mike Couldn't Resist Trading For On American Pickers
If you watch any amount of television, it would take some effort to never catch "American Pickers." According to IMDb, the series has aired more than 340 episodes, and it's a signature show for History, a network never afraid to drop sizable marathons of the series. Debuting in 2010, "American Pickers" follows Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, antique dealers who travel across the country looking for the very best vintage items anywhere they can find them. The 'picking' aspect of the show often means a whole lot of wheeling and dealing. In fact, much of the show focuses on smaller financial exchanges that keep the two zooming from state to state, but occasionally some enormous deals are also made.
There have been some recent major changes to the series, with Frank Fritz shockingly departing the series officially in 2021 (via Entertainment Weekly). The fallout from that departure has led to some public friction between the two stars, who once seemed incredibly tight based on the show. Despite the duo's public falling out, there is still a giant amount of classic content involving the two for fans to enjoy. In one Season 18 episode, Wolfe is suckered in by a classic car, a genre of picking that can sometimes lead the star to indulge in somewhat impulsive and expensive purchases. In this case, Wolfe contemplates dropping a massive amount of cash after driving to California in the hopes of turning a $7,200 profit.
Mike thought he'd make some money, but ended up owing
In "American Pickers" Season 18, Episode 1 ("Mike's Big Buy"), Mike and Frank take a classic Indian four-cylinder motorcycle that was picked up in Oregon all the way to Los Angeles, California, to sell it for $30,000. Mike explains that he has $22,800 invested in the bike but wants an expert to finish restoring it. In comes Bobby Green, who runs the Old Crow Speed Shop (via Instagram).
Everything is going according to plan until Green starts showing off his toys and gets to a Ford truck he's put together himself, something he mentions offhand that he's been thinking about selling. It's hard to miss the stars in Mike's eyes after this is said. "It's got the '54 Dodge Baby Hemi, Heavy 12 Bolt Rear End, paint's got the right amount of stank on it, the leather inside is amazing. this build is exactly what I would do," Mike says before putting the V8 engine to the test and taking it for a test drive.
When Frank and Mike begin mulling a $40,000 price tag thrown out by Green, he offers them a deal: the bike for the truck, plus $10,000. As Frank points out, it means they owe more than they would have made, but Mike can't help himself and makes the deal. "All of these things, we're caretakers of for a short amount of time. Right now, it's my turn," Mike says before entering his newly-bought vintage truck.