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