Every year around this time, we here at The Autopian reveal our annual member shirt. If you’re a renewing member, this is the t-shirt you’re going to get later this year or next year. If you are a member who renews pre-December 7th, don’t worry, you’ll still get last year’s shirt.
One of the biggest and most important decisions we made around membership was that if we’re asking someone for money, we’re going to make sure we’re going to earn it. And not just with our delightful posts. If you’re a Cloth-level member or above, you’re getting an ad-free experience, special access within our Discord, and special member newsletters. If you’re Vinyl or above, you’ll get a t-shirt and a sticker.
But it’s not just enough to send someone one shirt. Our goal is to send someone a new shirt every year as a thank you for renewing (and some other fun surprises, which I can’t wait to show you). We had the Black Shirt, the Red Shirt, the Orange Shirt, and now it’s time for the Yellow Shirt.
Here’s our own Jason Torchinsky, the shirt’s designer, describing it:
This year’s member shirt started because of a visual rhyme I noticed one day while obsessing over my new Citroën 2CV. Mine is the yellow/black Charleston edition (well, a fake one, but still) and has a distinct yellow and black curvy motif on the sides.
There’s an edition of the Bugatti Chiron that’s available in a similar yellow-and-black livery; in fact, that bumblebee-like color combo was one of Ettore Bugatti’s personal favorites. The two cars, in profile, look oddly related, with the yellow Art Deco-ish curved part intersecting the black at the rear, and despite their massive differences in proportion and design, they fit together visually. But they really couldn’t be any more different as cars.
They’re from the polar opposite sides of the automotive spectrum, one a no-limits engineering fantasy of speed, power, and luxury, the other a wildly minimalistic tool designed to carry eggs and replace French mules and carts. The 2CV makes 29 horsepower. The Chiron makes a mere 1450 more horses. And they’re both welcome here at the Autopian. The point of this shirt is that no matter what you drive, no matter how niche or mainstream your automotive fetishes are, you’re welcome here. You’re one of us.
A lovely sentiment to be sure.
As a sort of FAQ, and since we’ve had a lot of new members this last month, let me explain a bit about how membership works (full info and how to sign up here).
Cloth Members ($5 a month/$50 a year):
Somewhat ironically, the Cloth Level doesn’t come with any actual cloth. This is our purely digital option, though not without its perks:
- No display ads
- Special Discord access
- Member newsletters
- Member-only articles
The major perk that comes with renewing is if you were at the $7 or $70 level, because now it’s $50 and $5.
Vinyl Members ($10 a month/$100 a year):
Vinyl initially comes with:
- All of Cloth, plus
- A sticker
- A T-Shirt
The switchover date is approximately December 7th. If you just signed up, or you signed up after December 7th last year, you’ll get the shirt above, and then, if you renew, you’ll get the Yellow Shirt approximately a year after your initial purchase date. With upgrades, this sometimes gets a little squidgy, but if you just upgraded in the last few weeks, you’ll probably get the Orange Shirt.
Velour Members ($25 a month/$250 a year):
Velour initially comes with:
- All of Cloth, plus
- All of Vinyl, Plus
- A sweet member badge
This year, if you renew, it’s much the same as Vinyl, although with one extra surprise.
Rich Corinthian Leather ($1000 a year):
RCL comes with:
- All of the above, Plus
- An extra member badge
- A private tour of the Galpin Collection if you’re in LA.
- Examples of merch as we make new merch.
We have made this a little complicated, so happy to answer your questions in the comments below. Because we have to print another round of orange t-shirts, we’re going to see how many orders we get this month and start shipping those in December, with a goal of getting them delivered before the holidays.
Thank you to everyone who became a member, and thank you for your patience as we figure all this out!
I hope the brand of shirt stays the same. I love the fit and feel of both the red and orange.
In that font the 2 looks like a Z so I read it as “Zee 9 HP!” in an outrageous French accent to a silly English king about two French cars.
I happen to be wearing the pink (mauve?) Autopian t-shirt right now as I type this. The one with the Legoish vehicle.
That yellow one looks fantastic… especially since I so agree with the sentiment: a vehicle’s appeal is never solely determined by its specs.
I can’t wait to wear it! 🙂
Wow. You guys really want me in bright colors it seems. Challenge accepted but, as a former punk rocker, the black shirt is obviously my favorite and gets the most wear.
I don’t think I ever got my orange shirt from last year. Is that something that I should expect with my membership re-up this year?
Love it! While I appreciate the weirdness of last year’s shirt, it was just a bit too out there for 99.9 % of the population to get. This “joke” would almost definitely land better and invite questions and possible interest in the site (I suspect this is the secondary motive for the member shirts, which I’m all for).
EDIT: I’m loving all the new Member tags. Congratulations to everyone on creating such a loyal online community!
Agreed. I’m more casual-weird than detailed-weird.
Being a general purpose geek (sci-fi, comics, tech stuff, car stuff, pop culture, etc.), I appreciate and have more than a few really esoteric tee shirts. Even for me, last year’s shirt was a touch out there…
My favorite shirt (owned) is the Autobahn Unrestricted sign with ‘Yeet’ underneath. It’s obscure for most, but easy enough for laymen to understand.
Is there a way to get a poster made of this??? Maybe a membership tier?
Woot! New shirt time! The shirts are excellent quality. Definitely in the daily wear category.
Please, for us the poor no member followers, you should sell previous years member merch!
Are the grill medallions still a thing?
they are!
I bet in a race across a freshly plowed field the 2CV would win.
Did you ask Bugatti’s and Citroën’s permission to use the image of the Chiron and 2CV?
hey be cool come on
Just asking for a friend.
Those are the Chinese market copy versions. No IP was harmed.
You are fully bonded and licensed by the city right Mr Plow?
What! Are you a cop?
I am not. I am an independent designer and just come across IP stuff myself developing toy cars. It is a PITA.
I was joking!
I’ve known artists that have done a lot of book covers.
It can be a complicated interaction.
100% fair use as a derivative work of art.
Test . . . cucumbers are better pickled
so I’ve been told.
Is that when they are pickled or the consumer is pickled? I can go either way or both.
Dealer’s choice.
Depends on context. Cucumber > pickle in a salad, cucumber <= pickle in a sandwich
All <<< picked as kimchee
Very much so to someone with a food allergy to raw cucumber
Yall, this is so good! Great design – can’t wait to get mine!
Microphone check, one, two.
It’s, mic check, testes, one two, one two…
I thought it was “Check testes, one two, one two, THREE?!”
“Yeah, I’m going to refer you to a specialist . . . “
I wore the orange one the other day strolling through San Francisco and a fellow Autopian recognized it and shouted out!
I’ve gotten sadly few recognitions, if any, out in the world. I save them for special occasions, admittedly. Maybe it’s just that everyone in my sphere is terrible and has no taste in websites.
I only wear mine for car-centric events to try to stack the deck. Sadly, I’ve had zero recognition…
Getting any in 3XL? I have all the prior shirts but can’t wear them!!
Wear them? I just collect them so that, eventually, I can just turn them into an awesome blanket!
Love the new shirt design!
I have no idea when my membership renews. Is there a way to see this information on the member dashboard thing, or do I have to wait for my credit card to hit? And will the merch store be auctioning off Tracy’s cars too?
Go to your account, open the menu (top right), and select subscriptions. It’ll tell you when you’ll be charged next
Thank you. Any word on the auction?
Any auction involving David’s cars might have to include an option to pay people to take them….
Don’t forget the pins!! This year was the Aztek, the prior was David’s cat infested Jeep.
As the abject slave of a ginger cat, the Jeep Kitten pin is my favorite swag so far. It lives on my lunch box/bag thingy and I smile every time I see it.
I have a ginger that turns the lights on and off!
Why do people think they’re dumb?
Not all gingers are equal. I had one that was hands down the best smartest cat ever. He could open doors (handles, not knobs), he would play attack without using claws, and he was just the most amiable character. He passed three years ago. My current ginger a right bastard. He’s a good cat, but uses claws way too much, can’t figure out how to get out of the cupboard (all he has to do is push), and hides when he hears a strange car in the driveway.
MIne is an incredibly smart animal whose intelligence leads him to do incredibly dumb things. Example? He once decided to open the towel cabinet in my bathroom to nap on some nice fluffy towels. Except the towels all fell out, which opened the cabinet door all the way, causing the bathroom door to shut. This all happened while I was at work, and I had to kind of piece it all together from the floor towels and the bathroom door wedged shut by the cabinet door. It also must have happened pretty soon after I left for work, as he decided to poop in the bathtub at some point. Somehow it was all my fault, as I got yelled at for about an hour after I rescued his ungrateful ass.
“I have a ginger that turns the lights on and off!
Why do people think they’re dumb?”
What you got there might be a daywalker:
https://youtu.be/JpEZUlD-5XI
Honestly, I hope you offer reprints of older shirts sometime. The Lego car shirt is one of my favorites and I know I’ll wear it out.
If there’s enough demand, we can probably figure out a way to do that!
Put up a group buy page?
Yes, please! Both of my shirts are too small; I’d love the opportunity to size up
DFTBA logistics/warehousing and pre-order only sales, just a couple ideas
My Lego car shirt kills it with the 5 to 70 year old male demographic, probably my most comment on piece of clothing.
No mention of “member” on the shirt this time?
Hah, I guess not. But it’s Member’s Only. IYKYK I guess.
A lot of people didn’t want it to say member anywhere, and it also makes it kind of weird if they hand out leftovers to non-members later, or offer a reprint. It’s easier this way.
What level gets a license plate frame? It’s in the Vinyl image but not mentioned in the text. I’d love to have one.
I bought a frame from them under the old merch site. They didn’t have the one pictured above
That was a Velour renewal gift last year. We may do a license plate from as just pure merch soon if that’s something you want. Our merch store, finally, is coming any day now.
Yeah! I am down for some plate frames. I just bought my wife some jewelry so now its time to buy something for the cars so they don’t get too jealous or anything.
Reminds me of this.
Holy crap I thought that was just a bit he did. I didn’t realize he wrote a whole book!
SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!
“There’s an edition of the Bugatti Chiron that’s available in a similar yellow-and-black livery”
Like the Bijan Bugatti which was frequently parked on Rodeo Drive?
Oh wait – that was a Veyron, and it was Black-and-Yellow – Not Yellow-and-Black…
A friend of mine had a Bugatti parked in neighbour’s front drive.
He’s an academic and not really a car guy, but even he was, what the fricking frack?
I suppose it’s an okay neighbourhood, but really!
Make RCL level a monthly payment option and I know I would go for it. I just can’t do the 1K at once. In fact I would do 1200 a year at 100/month. I enjoy the content you all create, help me give you money. 🙂
That’s my cue to suggest you have a “donate” button in the merch store. I don’t see myself upgrading to Corinthian, but at times, when you make membership appeals, I might send some extra bucks of support if there was an easy way to do that.
Really they should just sell shares like the green bay packers. No rights, no financial value, but you can be a Shareholder!!!
There is at least one right:
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/06/green-bay-packers-stock-ownership-team-valuation.html
“Shareholders get to attend the team’s annual meeting and vote for a board of directors”
Which still doesn’t help that “stock” be anything but a suckers bet.
So you get in to the ultra exclusive shareholder party at SEMA or Goodwood or Monterrey. Cool
Pretty sure those ultra exclusive shareholder meetings are held at the abandoned Howard Johnson’s on Ashland Ave.
Matt said donations are tricky. You know, taxes and all that. Hopefully the overhead on the merch is minimal so you can just buy a bunch of shirts instead!
Thank you, hadn’t thought about that.
You could always buy a gift membership if you want to throw extra cash at them.