Kurt Cobain original, one-of-a-kind, memorabilia item: The hand-signed cigarette lighter from Kurt’s own ‘86 Volvo 240! This piece belonged to Cobain himself and which he used on a near daily basis.

The silver ‘86 Volvo (see this exact car parked in the garage of Cobain’s Lake Washington Blvd, Seattle, residence) was Kurt’s ride of choice that he drove all the time, and as a regular smoker, Kurt presumably used the lighter frequently. You can judge this for yourself by the burn/ash marks on the lighter’s coils, and the partially rubbed-off-by fingers, white lit-cigarette logo on its black plastic push/pull top.

According to his friends and family, Kurt was fixated on driving safely—and slowly—earning him a “granny driver” moniker. He considered the Volvo 240 “the safest car in the world,” and it was his preferred, most-driven vehicle for years.

When wife Courtney Love persuaded Kurt to buy a new Lexus following his Nirvana’s smash-hit albums and sold-out tours, Kurt returned the car to the dealership the very next day, “embarrassed” by what he saw as a flashy, ostentatious, and overly-priced luxury vehicle (Kurt was famously unpretentious, in part due to his beyond-humble beginnings in the downtrodden logging town of Aberdeen, Wash.). After returning the Lexus, Kurt went right back to driving (and smoking in) his prized Volvo!

THE STORY
The lighter was obtained by a Nirvana roadie/acquaintance of Kurt’s: While in Kurt’s Volvo, the roadie asked the grunge icon for an autograph, but he had nothing for Kurt to sign. In true impulsive Cobain fashion, Kurt yanked the cigarette lighter from the dash of his car, signed it with the Sharpie, and handed the lighter over to his buddy (Google cigarette lighters for ‘86 Volvo 240 series to verify the accuracy of the part). The roadie kept it for awhile and later sold this extraordinarily unique item to a dealer of authentic Kurt Cobain and Nirvana memorabilia (COA w/seal included and pictured). Our seller later purchased it in an auction.