Punk Rocker Mike Watt Loves Ford Vans
Ford truck enthusiasts come from a wide variety of backgrounds. They aren’t all cowboys, construction workers, or journalists like me. Mike Watt is a prime example – he’s a highly influential punk rocker who loves his Ford Econoline.
Mike Watt plays bass guitar and is a founding member of punk rock band, “The Minutemen,” perhaps best known for the song “Corona,” which was later used as the theme song for the Jackass TV show. After the unfortunate and untimely passing of their guitarist, Mike started up “FIREHOSE,” which had many great tracks of their own. Here are two of my favorites, “Brave Captain” and “Sometimes.”
Mike’s owned a long line of Econolines, which he lovingly refers to as “boats,” using nautical terms interchangeably with automotive ones to describe his vans and their travels throughout the country. He’s spent several decades touring in them (check out the video below at the 2:00 mark), which means he’s probably spent more time than many of us have driving, eating, sleeping, and otherwise living in Ford vans. After you spend that much time with something, it has a way of endearing itself to you.
At this point, Mike is an expert on outfitting vans for maximum comfort, utility, and security for touring, and in this video from Kelly Blue Book, he shows us all of the changes he’s made to his van to carry a combination of people and gear from gig to gig, even telling a story about building bunks to sleep members of Black Flag inside the van!
Even if you aren’t a fan of punk rock music, there’s a documentary about the Minutemen, appropriately titled “We Jam Econo,” that’s well worth watching.
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