Once again I’m a guest blogger on Nancy’s blog; thank you!
I couldn’t resist writing another blog post about Cuba, obviously it was one of my top vacation destinations. As a “car guy,” I was particularly thrilled to get a glimpse of the pre-embargo cars that Cuba had to offer.
And so, here is a bit of eye candy–a colorful display of all those American-made cars that the Cubans drive. I’ve separated the photographs into three areas: the clunkers I still find stunning, the mechanics who refurbish them, and the remarkable end result.
My interest in cars began in the 1950s, when I was a preteen. Nowhere in the world is there a collection of cars from the 1950s and 1960s as there is in Cuba. Not only were there no cars imported to Cuba after 1961, but there were also no American parts imported for repairs either.
Only about one out of 50 Cubans own a car and 90% of these are American-made. Imagine unrestored cars held together with “duct tape, bailing wire, and bondo”. They may have anything from a boat engine to a Chinese or Russian engine. Here you go.
I hope you plan a trip soon. It’s getting easier and easier to travel there.
There is an interesting show on Discovery called Cuban Chrome. It shows how a car club in Cuba turns one of their junkers into a completely refurbished car, without any American parts. One way or another, these artists create so many of the missing pieces.
All photographs in this guest blog post are taken by Steve Gordon, using the Canon 7D.
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