Whit Americans being able to go to Cuba, how many of there old cars, are coming back? What does this do for our hobby?
[QUOTE="mcmopar, post: 10808452, member: 203365" how many of there old cars, are coming back? [/QUOTE]..........................Probably zero.
Got this in my email two days ago, thought I would share. http://georgemarks.com/Cars%20of%20Cuba/index.html Roger
i dont know why anybody would pay to move a car from cuba when we have plenty cars right here? most of those cuban cars are cobbled together with parts from russia anyway.
Hopefully none. Let them keep them, there a popular tourist attraction. Besides most are 4 doors anyway.
Early in 1960, after Castro's signed a trade treaty with the Soviet Union and at that time Eisenhower began cutbacks in trade with Cuba. The diplomatic break was put in effect in January, 1961. The American cars that are roaming the street of Cuba are highly valued by their owners and have been passed from generation to generation. The Cuban's are nothing if not creative,finding parts for old American cars has been difficult at best and many of the Chevys,fords,etc have been rebuilt many times over the years,many sport Russian automotive parts..including engines,transmissions etc. I am not knocking these resilient and resourceful people,but the cars mean more to their owners than they would be worth shipping to the states,there is still literally thousands of cars available here that have not spent the last 50 to 60 years exposed to the harsh salty environment. IMHO,the colorful & eclectic cars reflect a big part of the traditional Cuban experience. HRP
First of all every Cuban will think his car is worth many more US dollars than they really are. Second is that the Cuban government will also have their hand out levying heavy export dollars on the cars. From the articles I have read and what I have seen on TV, only a handful are desirable. Most have been cobbled together over the years with Russian parts and the salt air has taken it's toll. I laughed the other night when a TV newscaster was looking at an early '50s 4 door Dodge and called it a "million dollar classic car".
I doubt that very many come back here. What HRP is true of the Cuban people but it goes way deeper then that. You have to understand the Latino mind set (not US Latino). Anything American is worth a fortune. Even in countries where they manufacture American cars like Chevys and Fords for instance, an " American Chevy (or Ford)" is worth way more then the one's manufactured there. Even though it is the same car. Anyway I doubt that very many would return to the US is any at all and those that do will only come back to weirdoes that want them because they were in Cuba.
The cool thing for them is now they can get parts again. I've read articles on the old harley's they have been retrofitting them with car tires. Also the motorcycles would hold a higher value over all the more doors. That's how I view it anyhow.
People have been putting 16" car tires on Harleys all my life. Well not all lets say when I was young before people who owned motorcycles had money.
I've been ridding all my life from the field to the road. Having a tire that's made for a car on your bike is nuts. Money is only good to the living. From what I was reading they weren't able to get a proper tire for the old bikes. The Dunlop tire for Harleys are made for the motor company. So I guess they couldn't be shipped in. That's what I read from the Hog anyhow could be wrong lord knows I am at time to time. Just don't tell my kids that
[QUOTE shoebox, post: 10808800, member: 163216"]I noticed that as well. Every car has the same mag.[/QUOTE] They probably are made in China with our old crushed cars
We are not talking Dunlops here and I have been in the saddle 50 years ( more or less) this year. We're not talking yuppy bikers here we are talking guys to whom riding was living and if you didn't have the money to buy a bike tire and still wanted to be in the wind a used 5.00x16 from the tire shop would do until you did. My point was that "adapting" car ties to bikes is nothing new.
You don't want the cuban cars. Because "all" of them have been heavily modified and patched to stay on the road. You will mainly find, four door cars with russian engines and tons crazy bodywork. There is better stuff in your neighbors back yard, here in the US. Turkey has a lot of old US cars too, same story.
I've run a car tire on my bike for 6 or 7 years. Mostly because I'm a cheapskate. An 80 dollar Falken or a 300 dollar Avon? No choice, for me
Carl I think you are probably old enough to remember the time before you could buy 15" bike tires (or before they were common) and some of us were running 15" Americans on the backs of our bikes. Radials meant for a volkswagon were common. I used to have some friends in Tigard, OR. A friend in the Bay Area bought a knuck from a farmer up that way and bought me a bus ticket to go get it under the guise of visiting friends. I rode the knuck back, it had a genuine bike tire on the front and a 16" truck tire on the back. it was a rough riding old turd but it made the trip just fine. Oh I'll bet that Falken wears a little better then an Avon aside from being cheaper.
10-4 and I hope you weren't calling me a yuppie. Yuppies don't start in the dirt. Yuppies buy a bike for the garage to show off and ride in the sunshine.
Nope, but it is a yuppie mentality. The first bike I remember going for a ride on ( way before I rode solo) was a Henderson 4 cylinder. I remember the Ol' Man putting used car tires on it when I was really little because he had to be some place that he couldn't show up in a car and his tires were shot. it used to be more common then you would think way before people who rode were socially acceptable (hot rodders either for that matter) to use car tires on bikes. A 5.00x16 was a 5.00x16 I guess.
I don't know if it's a yuppie mentality. At my age getting tires for the old jap bike wasn't as costly as road rash. I'm only 35, I didn't grow up before the flood.
Well you aren't really old enough to know much about hardship I guess. :d I started growing up in the '50s you know happy days and all that crap. We had polio, a measles epidemic, a flue epidemic, a major recession. People were poor a lot, that is why you see primer cars being popular from the '50s, its not because flat paint was cool trust me. There was another pretty tough recession in the '70s and early '80s. You would have been very young, tough enough that in good old sunny Calif for example there were business execs living in their cars. The high dollar Avons that Carl talks about in his post could be had for anywhere from 30-70 dollars and that was a stretch for some people. You didn't see as many bikes with car tires then as you did in the '50s and '60s (no doubt before that but I really wouldn't remember) but you did see it on occasion. Los Cubanos using car tires on bikes is not a new concept is all, just new to people of your generation and those I guess after yours. Not a slam on your generation just a truth. Well I have allowed my posts to get way off base here. back to my original statement, probably won't see the export of many cars if any from Cuba.
I dig my old man is was born 1950 and was in Vietnam. Anyway I don't think those cars are coming back either with all the old iron I see in the back county riding my scooter. And the countless swaps and car shows. And the thousands of half done project I see on flebay Craig's list. We have a plenty. We need to worry more about the youth then anything. I personally am raising three future hotrodders.
The majority of the cars in Cuba seem to be setting rather high. Maybe aftermarket suspensions and related parts?
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