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.
In case you forgot how strangely charming and cool the Mazana II is, let’s have a quick refresher:
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.
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.
Anyway, thanks for the shirt! I’m happy to show off some Karenjy swag here in America!
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