Classic cars of Havana: a photo essay

[José Balido]

         

Thanks to Cuba's long isolation from most international trade, the United States’ economic embargo since 1960, and a ban on Cubans buying new cars, one of the things most striking about Cuba has been that many if not most of the automobiles on the road even today are the same now-vintage cars that were plying them back in the 1950s, 1940s, and even in a few cases 1930s (estimated at some 60,000 in number).

Cubans – and my own Uncle Tito is an excellent example, whipping up mechanical fixes even for state-owned companies from his dinky little home workshop – are veritable geniuses at the art of what they term resolver, getting by by hook or by crook. And when it comes to keeping these old autos - dubbed almendrones (“big almonds”) and abuelos (granddads) – on the road, they learned to swap out engine and chassis parts from other sources, including the likes of farm tractors. This lack of original parts actually makes them not terribly coveted by collectors in the developed world except perhaps nostalgic Cuban exiles, but there’s no denying that they lend an amazing “time warp” effect to the streets of Havana and elsewhere on the island... keep reading