Melvins Tour Van With Kurt Cobain Artwork on eBay

Here’s one for music buffs, car collectors and graffiti gurus: The 1972 Dodge Sportsman Royal van that once contained the Melvins while on tour is currently up for auction on eBay. Affectionately known as The Melvan, the van has generated interest in its inoperable state due to a unique Kiss mural drawn by Kurt Cobain “using sharpie markers shoplifted from the Thriftway grocery store in Montesano Washington”. Love that provenance!

At the moment I type this, the Melvan has been bid up to $96,666.66 (nice number) by 143 bidders with 5.5 days left to the auction. The reserve is not yet met. As with many high-ticket collectibles on eBay, extra fun can be found in the Q&A.

Someone asks about the Black Flag logo, another speculates on the price of the vehicle (with consideration given to how often it was used as a bedroom), pros and cons for selling to Courtney Love are voiced, and an “avid” hair collector requests a follicle check. Perhaps the most interesting detail to come out of the Q&A is that the Melvan still has its original plates, which expired in April of 1994. Know what else expired in April of 1994? Kurt Cobain. Spooky, isn’t it?

I’m refreshing and refreshing as I wait for the auction to crest $1K. Perhaps I’ll remember this moment just like I remember being 17 and hearing Kurt Loder deliver news of Cobain’s death on MTV…

While people smartly suggest that the Melvan belongs in the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame, I have an alternate idea. Someone should buy those Courtney Love pill bottles being sold as art by New York hipsters a few months ago AND the pill-popping portrait of Whitney Houston by Jason Mecier. Then, restore the van to functionality and drive it around as a mobile educational exhibit on pharmaceutical abuse.

Still at $96,666.66. Gonna be a long night…