The Covid-19 pandemic has seen many of us spend much of 2020 in full or partial lockdown, this has of course led to an increased interested in adventures and road trips once this is all over.
With the surge in interest around “van life” (living out of a converted van while you travel), a lot of people have been searching through online classifieds for suitable vans and busses. I think today we may have discovered the greatest bus in modern human history – the original tour bus used by Prince for his Purple Rain Tour that ran from late 1984 into 1985.
The bus is a heavily modified Eagle Model 10 Motorcoach with a full custom interior that makes heavy use of purple – as you would expect. Inside the bus you’ll find sleeping accomodation for up to six people, there’s a main ensuite master bedroom in the back of the bus with a double bed and its own private stereo and air-conditioning systems.
The fit out was completed to the highest standards that the 1980s had on offer, it includes captain’s chairs sourced from a private jet, a fully equipped bathroom and kitchen, purple curtains, carpeting, and lighting, and a couch that pulls out into a double bed.
The Purple Rain album was released on June the 25th 1984, it became the first Prince album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 charts, it stayed at number one for an astonishing 24 weeks and it was in the charts for 122 weeks. Purple Rain is remembered today as one of the most important albums of the 1980s, and as one of the most influential.
The Eagle Model 10 was introduced in 1980 as an update to the outgoing Model 05. Eagle motor coaches were used extensively by companies like Greyhound for cross-country trips in the United States, and they were a common sight on American highways for decades before the rise of inexpensive domestic air travel.
The bus has remained in private hands after it was owned by Prince and it’s never been used commercially. It has been given some discreet upgrades over the years and it now has flat screen TVs and an onboard wifi system that has both interior and exterior capabilities.
Power is provided by a Detroit Diesel 6V92 turbocharged engine producing 737 lb ft of torque at 1,400 rpm and 270 hp.
There’s an onboard PowerTech 20KW diesel generator that feeds off the primary fuel tank and provides power for all the onboard systems, there’s also an array of three deep cycle house batteries with a Magnum power inverter/charger.
The bus is also equipped with a large capacity Aqua Heat system that runs off diesel and shore power, it has three-zone low profile air conditioning system, a separate refrigerator/freezer, a GE convection oven/microwave, a porcelain air-driven commode, a 150 psi air compressor with a 50 foot hose, custom outdoor patio sting lights and stands, a twin tank air brake system, and it comes with the original service manuals, books, records, and receipts.
If you’d like to read more about the bus you can click here to visit the listing on Mecum, it’s due to cross the auction block in early December.
Images courtesy of Mecum
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
