Coin-Operated Car?

There may or may not soon be an interesting auction on eBay for Dresden Dolls fans.

Earlier this evening, Bostonist was in the process of writing about the auction Boston rocker Amanda Palmer had put into motion on the online site. We were intrigued partly because it featured a neat bit of Dolls memorabilia: the 1992 Volvo 240 station wagon that Palmer has owned since 1999 and included into various band video footage (including the "Backstabber" video in which the band battles Panic! At the Disco).

What really got us, though, was Palmer's top-notch sales pitch: the deal is: you buy it, you tow it away (and probably see my parents, who will probably be nice to you and offer you a cup of coffee, and maybe see me and get a grateful hug as i bid a sad last farewell to my beloved car).

She also made sure to note that the the radiator's great, the brake pads are new, history well-documented...also that it doesn't run at the moment, there is a broken handle, the cruise control's busted, the radio doesn't work and the glove compartment won't latch. Half the proceeds were slated to go to MoveOn.org.

When we went to checking the latest bid tally, the auction was gone. A MySpace bulletin from Palmer's account, written by a Bill H., followed shortly thereafter. Bill explained that eBay took down the auction without warning: Apparently eBay wants to screw everyone over, and remove the Volvo auction with -NO- warning whatsoever -- it was listed as "music memorabilia" and not placed in their "eBay Motors" section -- apparently they feel this was a mistake. SO...we're trying to get that worked out ASAP, and in the meantime, all of the links from earlier are dead. We're very sorry for the inconvenience and hope those of you who were bidding and watching the auction develop will continue to do so when it's put back up.

Keep an eye out to see which way the auction powers that be decide to categorize the Volvo. Whether it's considered memorabilia or mode of transportation, it was the place "Coin-Operated Boy" was conceived - and before eBay took the item out of the listings, there were 51 bids on the item and a top bid of $760.

Photo of Amanda Palmer in action from flickr user wonderferret.