Cuban treasures

There was a show on PBS once called The Cars of Cuba. Very interesting. If a trim piece was missing, they would make one. one guy was missing a door and they made one from scratch and the craftsmanship was amazing. The old American cars there are treasured and protected by their owners.

This may be it... http://www.wliw.org/productions/travel/classic-american-cars-of-cuba/342/

 

Very interesting info and photos. Looks like it could be a natural haven for the R_ _ R_ _ coulture!!

 

X2...The Cuban vintage cars have been a recurring topic in various european car magazines for decades. I remember seeing the first magazine articles on these in the mid-´80s, and how beat-up, rusty and bondoed-up they looked. The tropical climate coupled with the salt ocean air is real hard on metals.

However, I must say I am genuinely impressed by the Cubans´ ingenuity and resourcefulness with keeping these vehicles in working order with no access to proper parts for the last 53 years.

 

Couple years ago we sold a few sets of 54-56 Ford front disc kits to a guy in Miami - he said they were going to relatives in Cuba.

I would not have minded trading for a few boxes of cigars; no substitute. We need to stop this idiotic embargo.

 

Well you bet yer ass they do not scrap them when hard up for cash.

 

A few years ago I sold my 55 Stude 2dr hardtop project to a guy in Atlanta. He hired a local car hauler to pick up the Stude. There was a pretty nice but not super 56 Chev on his trailer. I asked him where it was going he said he was delivering it to Miami where it was to be loaded on a foreign registry ship for the trip to Cuba to a wealthy government official. I doubt if you'll find many hot deals in Cuba.

 

check out "classic cars in cuba" on YouTube - aka Fins and Chrome

 

I read not long ago that when the Communist government took over in 1959 they made it illegal for private citizens to own cars ( or land, houses, basically anything but the clothes they stood up in).

The exception was, those who owned cars could hang onto them. Possibly sell them. But no new cars were allowed. The government imported some Eastern European or Russian cars and trucks for official use but not for sale.

This is why the old pre 1959 iron is patched up and kept on the road. The choice is that or nothing.

When Castro dies and the government gets with the 21st century I expect they will buy Chinese and Japanese cars like everybody else.

 

Sorry to burst your bubble, they have internet access, laptops, flatscreen TVs and all manner of stuff.
I met a guy ewho worked in the hotel where we were staying. I'm going to post my old hot rod DVDs to, that's something they may struggle to get.
I was in the hotel, surfing the HAMB on the internet when he asked if I liked old cars.....2 hours later and we're still chatting and swapping pictures.
I'm going to post my old hot rod DVDs to, that's something they may struggle to get.

I'll send him the link to this page and with any luck he may want to join the HAMB and may even dispell some of the myths surrounding life in Cuba.

 

Not only that, they've got their own version of Craigslist, called revolico.com - wanna buy an Edsel?

http://www.revolico.com/autos/carros/ford-edsel-1958-4509533.html

Or Gustavo will trade this nice '35 Ford Tudor for a Lada (attention Canadians!)

http://www.revolico.com/autos/carro...-ford-1935-gustavo-763-3271-o-al-4763133.html

 

I'll take this one:



http://concoursblog.com/lost-found-300-sl-gullwing-barn-find-in-cuba/

 

That's and interesting statement considering there may be some Cuban-American HAMBERs on here, me being one. I just joined recently and i enjoyed this thread until i got to your stupid comment. I could think of a couple of things to say, but I'll just keep it simple. You're an Asshole.

Aside from this I'm loving the pictures..thanks all.

 

Limited in 2007 and very slow, most folks can not afford such luxuries plus power & water outages were very common.

 

bravo!!!!!

 

some cuban 58 edsels:

 

http://www.facebook.com/carrosclasicos.decuba

 

I've heard that, as well.

 

I saw this car in Havana last April, and it had every identification number cut out of it. The owner of the shop said it had been left there over 40 years ago, and couldn't be sold. Also in the same yard was a 300SL Roadster with a small block Chevy in it, and a Chrysler Ghia, all never to see the light of day.

 

When I was there in 2006 and 2007 the statement about the computers and internet was what I was told from our guide that took us through the country for a week. The hotels in Havanna are very different and don't reflect the rest of the country.The people working in the hotels were the tourists stay have access to the computers and internet in the hotel but I don't think that is true in there homes. It was very interesting many of the staff in our hotel were professional people with educations that worked in the hotel because they could get tips and make more money then working in there professions.

Things might be changing now as the country opens up.

 

I think I have posted these before, but they will fit this thread. Taken 2 years ago.

 

... sorry to step aside the topic a bit, but now while reading i recall a thread, where a member listed periodically the foreign countries where new members enlisted from, t'was pretty interesting where all the H.A.M.B. folks are living and the way they got there!! anybody remember? can't recall it by now, maybe i'm gettin' older ... damn

 

A fried of me have a stabel of striptease girls
and they always love my 64 Galaxie and want
to have a ride in it
But he had this cuban girl that askt him why
i was driving that old car since it was so easy
in Sweden to buy a new one and it was obvious
that a could afford one

 

...........Hangin' with a pretty wild crowd there, Heo2. Show us some pics of that Galaxie and those "striptease girls" as well.

 

Here is a pick of the Galaxie not a stripper though
just my wife
For pics of the girls www.svenskstripp.com
and click tjejer then to the left click tjejer stocholm
göteborg....

and have to admit that i was part of some wild crowds when
i was young

 

I had a friend that told me crazy stories of how they kept those cars going all these years. Crazy engine combos and such like 4 cylinders in 4 door 57 Chevys.

 

Now I am in shit, I am supposed to be on the HAMB and the wife caught me looking at the above web site of strippers. Very Nice by the way.

 

After only reading the first page (and having seen the TV programs), THIS is a good thread, all! Yes, Cuba is sort of locked in a time loop. It is unique from an automotive/economic standpoint.

The Cuban people themselves wish for jobs and a better economy, for lots of reasons. Amazing that one man's ego and philosophical dogma can block millions of of his fellow citizens from the chance of basic improvement. There's a great article on just how the Cuban people talk about this very issue in one of the very recent National Geographic issues.

If the situation changed overnight -- as in a "Twilight Zone" episode -- I wish they could put the most representative of these cars into a massive national museum, dedicated to this bittersweet era.

 

......................Thanks. Sweet Galaxie and nice lady as well. You're a very lucky man..................Check out my albums. I had a very similar '64 Galaxie many yrs. ago.

 

That comment was posted in response to the number one asshole down in Houston who first posted about building a tunnel under the Atlantic so the Cubans could all come to Canada without touching US soil.

So lets not forget about him.

 

good man keep up the good work. personalloy a hinze 57 frankincar can be pretty cool if done tastful