This Volvo painted by Banksy is expected to sell for over £1m

Yep, you read that headline correctly. This old Volvo FL6 box lorry has been painted by Banksy, and as such is now expected to fetch between £1-1.5million when it goes under the hammer at the Bonhams Goodwood Revival sale in September. Crikey.

Unsurprisingly, the Volvo is Banksy’s largest-ever piece of work thanks to its surface area of 80 square metres. However, it was also painted way back in 2000 – a good six years before the street-artist really became a household name.

The story goes that Banksy – whomever he may be – was celebrating the turn of the millennium at a party on a Spanish hillside when he was presented with the FL6. The commissioner was Mojo - the co-founder of an international circus known as Turbozone – who wanted some slightly more conspicuous transport for his show. Apparently, Banksy set to work that same night, eventually finishing the job after a couple of weeks.   

We can see why it took so long - there’s a whole lot going on in his artwork. Most prominently, there’s a man swinging a big hammer, lots of flying monkeys, some soldiers running away from a cannon and what looks like a broken road sign with a cow on it. We can only apologise to the art correspondents of the world – we don’t usually do stuff like this.

Still, when it goes up for sale the Volvo will be accompanied by a Certificate of Authentication issued by Pest Control, Banksy’s studio, so at least you’ll know it was £1m well spent. Or is it? You tell us, Internet…