Home » I Was Sent A T-Shirt From Madagascar’s Best And Only Carmaker: Cold Start

I Was Sent A T-Shirt From Madagascar’s Best And Only Carmaker: Cold Start

Cs Karenjy Shirt Top
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Yesterday I got a package in the mail from a reader who goes by Dogapult, and inside was something genuinely unexpected: a T-shirt from Madagascar’s only carmaker, Karenjy, makers of the fantastic and plucky Mazana II, a car I wrote about last year, on the occasion of them producing their 74th car! What a kind gift! And, more excitingly, I think it’s very possible that at this moment I am the only American who has a Karenjy Mazana II shirt? That seems likely, right?

The shirt itself may look a bit familiar; that’s because Karenjy used that well-known all-new-cars-look-alike meme (that I debunked a while back) as the concept for the shirt, which highlights just how different the Mazana II looks. And, in this context, I think that concept works, and may be the only context where I think that meme should be shared and seen.

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In case you forgot how strangely charming and cool the Mazana II is, let’s have a quick refresher:

Mazana Acces

Look at these guys! They’re rugged and cute and plucky and made of lots of easy-to-replace off-the-shelf parts, all the glass is flat and easy to replace, and all powered by Peugeot DV6CM 1.6-liter diesel. I’m really taken by these things, and the fact that they’re all built in Madagascar by a little upstart company hand-building these things just makes it all even better.

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Mazana2 Diag

The shirt itself is also a product of Madagascar, possibly the first piece of provably-Madagascar-made clothing I’ve had. The shirt has a tag with a QR code on it, and when scanned, it takes you to this video:

I don’t speak French, partially because I think I was banned from the uttering the language after getting a D in my college French class, but I’m sure this is all a wonderful uplifting message that will make all of us want to give a big middle finger to the established, huge automakers of the world and instead buy some brightly-colored $16,000 Mazana IIs.

Also interesting: if you’re buying any T-shirts from Madagascar, you should know that a Madagascar large seems to be an American medium.

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Anyway, thanks for the shirt! I’m happy to show off some Karenjy swag here in America!

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SonOfLP500
SonOfLP500
6 months ago

Possibly the only car with a Hofmeister kink and a retsiemfoH kink?

Bleeder
Bleeder
6 months ago

Also interesting: if you’re buying any T-shirts from Madagascar, you should know that a Madagascar large seems to be an American medium.

Most obvious statement ever made lol

Vetatur Fumare
Vetatur Fumare
6 months ago
Reply to  Bleeder

I have a shirt I bought in Indonesia which is marked “5XL” and fits me perfectly. In the US I am either medium or large, depending on the whims of the manufacturers.

Rapgomi
Rapgomi
6 months ago

I am incredibly jealous!! Of both your shirt and whoever who owns that yellow Mazana II with a topper, pusher bar, and snorkel. Its like a exploration fever dream come true.

Fuzzyweis
Fuzzyweis
6 months ago

On this topic, in your sparetime could you add some more merch options in the store? Was thinking of getting like a t-shirt or a decal but there’s just the Kei truck Texas one in there now.

Guido Sarducci
Guido Sarducci
6 months ago
Reply to  Fuzzyweis

I agree with Fuzzy, add some options to what is available in the store. A month or so back, I wanted to purchase an Autopian Tee shirt like the one I have, for my 5 year old grandson. He is really into cars and trucks, and loved the Lego depiction on my Autopian Tee shirt. Alas, I had to disappoint him as the shirt was not available.

Bobblehead
Bobblehead
6 months ago
Reply to  Fuzzyweis

I agree.
We need more ways to display Autopianism.
Maybe a caricature of a blown aorta?
Nothing keeps an Autopian down.
Nulla tenaci invia est via.

Last edited 6 months ago by Bobblehead
Fuzzyweis
Fuzzyweis
6 months ago
Reply to  Bobblehead

I was hoping for a nice Autopian decal to add to my rear truck window(just where the seat backs already are, not obstructing!) Already got a Radwood one. But whatever they can muster, some hats or t-shirts or what not.

Jonee Eisen
Jonee Eisen
6 months ago

Wow! That’s awesome. Having been to Madagascar, this warms my heart. It’s a beautiful country with some of the nicest people on earth. I’ve been following Karenjy’s progress since the relaunch of the company. It’s such a great story. Thanks for making this side of the globe aware of them. 74 cars might not sound like much, but for a country that has long struggled to build a sustainable independent economy, it’s a hell of an achievement.

Cayde-6
Cayde-6
6 months ago

Is it just me, or does it look like a mad scientist tried to teleport a Jeep Wrangler, but not before a VW Thing snuck its way into the teleporter pod?

Colin Greening
Colin Greening
6 months ago
Reply to  Cayde-6

Cronenberg’s “The Thingler”

MrLM002
MrLM002
6 months ago

Nice!

Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
6 months ago

I hear they use lemur labor to produce these at night.

10001010
10001010
6 months ago
Reply to  Canopysaurus

Sometimes I feel like I’m working with a bunch of lemurs at night.

Balloondoggle
Balloondoggle
6 months ago
Reply to  10001010

Lucky. I’m stuck with lemmings all day.

David Fernandez
David Fernandez
6 months ago

I get your complaint about the well-known all-new-cars-look-alike meme, but in this case they actually use the silhouette of the actual vehicles vs just a washed out blob.

Barring the fact that they are all white and have the same wheels.

Dogapult
Dogapult
6 months ago

I’m glad you like it. I figured a shirt from an obscure Malagasy automaker would go perfectly in the Torch clothing rotation.
Also, you’re one of two Americans with a Karenjy shirt…

Last edited 6 months ago by Dogapult
Rippstik
Rippstik
6 months ago
Reply to  Dogapult

COTD ^^^

Guido Sarducci
Guido Sarducci
6 months ago
Reply to  Dogapult

Please get these into the Autopian Store, in various sizes. I get what Bleeder is saying, so size them properly for corpulent American subscribers, or plump subscribers elsewhere.

Vetatur Fumare
Vetatur Fumare
6 months ago
Reply to  Guido Sarducci

I’d love to shove a few bucks into the Malagasy economy.

Christian Harberts
Christian Harberts
6 months ago

“You roll up your sleeves and you sweat in silence”

They say that the Malgache (those of Madagascar) are good for nothing
That everything, including their mentality, is rotten, eroded, rusted
It is said that the Malgache can never make anything really great

So you see,
there’s nothing left that can be done for him
So stop dreaming. That’s what they pound into you
Because why bother…
…dreaming.

Huh. Hell yeah.
Let them say what they want to say
Let them come with their discouraging words
Leave them their sayings, with their never-ending criticisms
Those nay-sayers,
They pretend to change things…
…nah
Because the dreamers,
They rock the World, they deliver the Beautiful
And you, dreamer,
You think, you plan, you do,
You too are a doer,
You roll up your sleeves and you sweat in silence
So…
Starting now,
Dream!
Dream!
Act!
Because you’ve got this,
Malgache, modern, who dreams, who acts, who does
The era of the nay-sayers is at an end
Make way for the era of maker-dreamers
karenjy.mg

Madagascar is a former French colony, a period marked by the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of inhabitants by French military forces. The island has struggled to build up a working government and economy since declared independence in 1958. Since organizing a government in the 1970s Madagascar has struggled to improve its society, but corruption and poverty remain endemic.

StillNotATony
StillNotATony
6 months ago

Okay, best idea ever: Mazana II racing series.

MATTinMKE
MATTinMKE
6 months ago
Reply to  StillNotATony

Hold on a sec, need to get some popcorn.

LMCorvairFan
LMCorvairFan
6 months ago
Reply to  MATTinMKE

You’ve probably got the time to fetch the popcorn from the store, pop it, make some refreshments, go for a walk and join them as they form up the grid.

Máté Petrány
Máté Petrány
6 months ago
Reply to  StillNotATony

I see it as a rallycross thing.

LMCorvairFan
LMCorvairFan
6 months ago

Love child of a Cybertruck and and a H2. Long may it rule.

Canopysaurus
Canopysaurus
6 months ago
Reply to  LMCorvairFan

I was going to say H2 and a mail truck, but yours works, too.

Grey alien in a beige sedan
Grey alien in a beige sedan
6 months ago

Get yourself a Mazana Torch! The Changli and Pao need a new friend with which to play.

Matt Sexton
Matt Sexton
6 months ago

Torch, the thing you need to do here now is so obvious that I can’t possibly be the first one to have thought of it.

Buy a Mazana II, and import it to the U.S.

Brandon Forbes
Brandon Forbes
6 months ago
Reply to  Matt Sexton

Hard to get that legal, so slight tweak to the plan. Buy all the components of a Mazana II, have them shipped to the wrenching lair of SWG, and have an Autopian party to assemble it, then register it as a kit car!

Guido Sarducci
Guido Sarducci
6 months ago
Reply to  Brandon Forbes

Yes, This. Just let me know where and when and I’ll bring my tools, which consist of a 24″ Stillson wrench, a forceps (for wherever its needed), and a 24 pack of King Lupu’s Happy Juice IPA.

Lizardman in a human suit
Lizardman in a human suit
6 months ago
Reply to  Guido Sarducci

The 24 pack is a shop must have.

Brandon Forbes
Brandon Forbes
6 months ago
Reply to  Guido Sarducci

Haha it would be the best Autopian meet up ever!

Austin Vail
Austin Vail
6 months ago
Reply to  Brandon Forbes

Considering the company has built about 74 cars so far, that’s probably not a big ask. Maybe they’d even knock a couple grand off the price since you’re just ordering the parts and not asking for assembly, which would quickly be offset by the shipping cost.

Brandon Forbes
Brandon Forbes
6 months ago
Reply to  Austin Vail

Yeah it would probably be very possible. And the publicity they’d get from it would be incredible

Vetatur Fumare
Vetatur Fumare
6 months ago
Reply to  Brandon Forbes

Show and Display loophole is tailor made for the Mazana.

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