EVERYBODY LOVES OUR TOWN

Soundgarden’s Chevrolet Beauville van, used in 1986. (Photo: Experience Music Project; via Soundgarden’s Facebook page)

“I met the Soundgarden guys when I booked them for a show in Ellensburg, in ’86 or ’87. I remember I took this class on George Orwell in college, and his world is all about the proletarian, the worker guy, and he just describes dirt and grime and these heavy working situations. Then these guys showed up and they’re kind of these strange Orwellian creatures. Matt had a red Volkswagen van and they were all working on the clutch or something, so all of them were under this car working. They all had work pants on and boots rolled up, and Chris looked like he just got done workin’ in a steel yard. I thought they looked so cool.”

—former Soundgarden tour manager Eric Johnson, from Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge 

The world-famous Melvan, featuring artwork by Kurt Cobain, finally sold on eBay, for $24,701.00.

Read the Everybody Loves Our Town Tumblr’s past Melvan coverage here.

The world-famous Melvan returns (in poster form)!

The Melvan failed to sell on eBay again. This time around there was no reserve and a minimum starting bid of $50,000.

The Melvins’ onetime touring van, a.k.a. the Melvan, has been relisted on eBay, this time with no reserve (minimum starting bid is $50,000; the auction ends Sunday). That’s Leland Cobain posing alongside his grandson Kurt’s handiwork (the Kiss portraits). The previous auction failed to find a buyer.