| Havana is a potent mixture of the old and the | | | | |
| new. Modern office buildings punctuate the | | | | Cuba holiday makers feel they have stepped |
| skyline alongside deteriorating Eastern | | | | into a time warp to that perhaps more |
| European residential towers. Ancient | | | | innocent age, when Americans sported prim and |
| vehicles, some with more rust than paint, | | | | proper outfits and drove shiny, |
| share the road with newer, shinier models, | | | | sparkly-wheeled cars in brilliant colours |
| while horse-drawn carts mingle with | | | | with fins and chrome bumpers. The cars made |
| motorcycles. Flea markets display Cuba | | | | driving feel special. The size of them and |
| holiday mementos - wooden models of cars | | | | the comfort gave a calm feeling for a time |
| built in the 1950s, which are still seen on | | | | when people were able to take their time and |
| Cuban streets. | | | | enjoy the good things in life. |
| | | | |
| 'Yank tank', 'máquina' 'cacharro' and | | | | Care & Attention |
| 'bartavia' are all words used to describe the | | | | |
| American classic cars in Cuba. It is the only | | | | While classic cars are still used for daily |
| place where history and circumstance have | | | | transportation, often as taxis, they have |
| combined to enable a whole society to | | | | also become cherished heirlooms handed down |
| preserve these amazing vehicles and turn them | | | | from generation to generation within |
| into a national treasure. | | | | families, in some cases going all the way |
| | | | back to the 30s. |
| About 150,000 classic cars existed at the | | | | |
| time of the 1959 Cuban Revolution when the | | | | Most owners of classic cars spend hours |
| U.S. imposed a trade embargo on Cuba. After | | | | applying waxes and polishes and basking in |
| this, international trade was made very | | | | the praise and admiration of passers-by. Some |
| difficult, so the cars that were present at | | | | even reminisce about a time when their cars |
| the time have been nurtured and cared for | | | | were new, and life itself seemed brighter and |
| ever since. | | | | as inviting as an open highway. |
| | | | |
| Of the 60,000 classic cars in Cuba, about | | | | To own one of these vintages defines who you |
| half are from the 50s, another 25 percent | | | | are, how you spend your time and how you wish |
| from the 40s and a similar number from the | | | | to be known, and Cubans will go to incredible |
| 30s. Brands include Chevrolet, Ford, | | | | lengths to keep their classic cars running. |
| Cadillac, Buick, Plymouth, Chrysler, Dodge, | | | | 1950's bumpers and tailpipes are recreated |
| Willy's, Oldsmobile and De Soto - vintage | | | | and myriad other parts are adapted. Steering |
| models of all of these can be seen on Cuba's | | | | wheels carved from wood, hub cabs made from |
| roads today. | | | | aluminium cans and plastic sheets for windows |
| | | | are common. While such shortcuts would be |
| Nostalgia | | | | frowned upon in the United States, classic |
| | | | car lovers admire the Cubans' ingenuity and |
| As a clash of cultures and ideologies, few | | | | their ability to keep the cars running. |
| experiences compare with that of rounding a | | | | |
| corner in the heart of Old Havana with its | | | | The Future for Classic Cars in Cuba |
| crumbling baroque buildings and coming face | | | | |
| to face with a gleaming 1955 Thunderbird that | | | | Each day these cars get closer to extinction. |
| looks as if it had just been driven off the | | | | They are now outnumbered by boxy Russian |
| lot. | | | | Ladas, Volga sedans and more recent Eastern |
| | | | European and Japanese imports. But the |
| Cubans are increasingly aware of the value of | | | | biggest threats to Cuba's classic cars are |
| classic cars, particularly when visiting | | | | the scarcity of parts and lack of original |
| Americans become nostalgic about them. They | | | | factory literature to maintain them with |
| realise that there is business to be made | | | | uniform standards. |
| from hiring them out, and it is therefore | | | | |
| possible for those on holiday to Cuba to hire | | | | Hopefully they will still be preserved for |
| out a classic car for the duration of their | | | | years to come, even if they become |
| stay. Although there are more classic cars in | | | | increasingly temperamental with all the |
| the US overall, an American would have to go | | | | alterations they go through. If you're |
| to Cuba to see a concentration of the cars | | | | thinking of hiring a classic car on your Cuba |
| filling the streets like a snapshot of 50s | | | | holiday make sure to make a ceremonial splash |
| USA come to life. | | | | of rum on the car's floorboard for good luck! |