3 weeks ago
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You could spend up to $100,000 on a Tesla and look like an entitled chump. Or you could own a literal piece of East Bay punk history and buy Jello Biafra’s car. The choice is yours!
The Dead Kennedys legend is currently auctioning (via Hemmings.com) his 1989 Toyota Celica GT Convertible. His daily driver since since 1995, the car does “[display] its battle scars proudly,” but it still “runs, rides, starts, and stops top notch.” Additionally, its stereo system (with only one currently functional speaker) was used to “listen to a great many punk band hopefuls from around the world who sent in demo tapes.”
If you’re a big car person or whatever, you also may be happy to know that the transmission “shifts gears as smooth as sliding in the next power chord.” Or, that the 1,998-cc engine “purrs like a Marshall stack turned up to 11.” But all we care about is that the car was “left to accumulate a natural punk rock patina that can only be gained on the streets of the San Francisco Bay Area.” That, and it can pass the treacherous California smog test!
Proceeds for the auction will go to benefit Alternative Tentacles, Biafra’s “long-running but always struggling” record label. If the pot wasn’t already sweetened enough, folks in/around the San Francisco area can take personal delivery from Biafra, and which point they’ll go for a “cruise around some of his favorite historic sites.” You had us at “1989 Toyota,” yo.
The auction ends Saturday, December 20th, and already has 22 23 and a current asking price of over $13,000. For more info, pics galore, and/or to make yourself the happiest driver in the known world, head here.
Below, peep Biafra discussing the car and the auction. If this punk rock thing doesn’t work out, he’s got a career as a used car salesman, that’s for sure!
English (US) · 