I just watched this movie on Sundance called Yank Tanks. All I can say is fucking amazing! It's the incredible story of all those American classic cars stuck in Cuba and how the Cuban people manage to keep them on the road. The ingenuity is amazing. Here's a link... If you have Comcast digital cable, you can watch the movie for free through On Demand. Go to the cable favorites section and find the Sundance channel. http://homepage.mac.com/yanktanks/ I can't say enough good things about this movie. Stacey
Yank Tank is a term that Aussies use to describe Americas large cars of the 70's and earlier.Also Cuba being a Carribian country why didn't the cars rot to pieces from the salt air?Its also funny to see that all the Commie Cars there are slim to none as most ended up in the junkyard LOL
[ QUOTE ] apparently Turkey has agood amount of 60's Impala taxi's and the like too amoungst other places. [/ QUOTE ] Also Iraq has loads of old American Iron i'm sure thier cheap to own as most are bombed out or bullet riddled LOL
[ QUOTE ] .Also Cuba being a Carribian country why didn't the cars rot to pieces from the salt air? [/ QUOTE ] In the film, they show a mid 50's chevy being pulled into the garage. Well, the camera view inside the house shows the garage area like another room, aka a sunken living room. You could sit at the dining table and see the car in plain view. That particular chevy was handed down through generations to keep it in the family. Talk about taking care of their cars. Action Girl, I agree, a great film. Killer early R & B, rock n roll sound track too.
[ QUOTE ] i gotta tell ya,i'm disappointed that we can't trade with cuba.they need parts,and i need cigars! [/ QUOTE ] Yorg....I've had dozens of Cuban cigars, from my days living near Canada, and I've never been impressed. I've always prefered most Dominicans. I'm also a HUGE fan of La Gloria Cubana, from Florida. I heard about this movie a year ago and I've never been able to find it anywhere. Does anyone have a copy of it, or could someone with Comcast cable tape it. Sure, you never see advertisements when cool stuff like this is on, but they NEVER get tired of showing what will be on "Simple Life II" this week.
a friend of mine was working as a bookie off-shore in the caribbean,came back with some authentic Cohibas,WOW! yes,i've had a bad cuban cigar myself...
[ QUOTE ] They take such good care of them because they are status symbols over there... [/ QUOTE ] Sounds like our culture could learn alot from them.
[ QUOTE ] They take such good care of them because they are status symbols over there... [/ QUOTE ] ....and because they know that they're not going to get any more for a while
They sell it on Amazon... http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001LYFRC/qid=1090496254/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/103-0203455-0790261?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846 The coolest thing about this movie is how the lack of parts leads to true innovation. They have all sorts of crazy "work arounds" just to keep the cars on the road. Things like russian engines in chevys, adapted carbs, plastic bottles for gas tanks, etc. When the film opens it says that there are 150,000 50's era cars in Cuba and MOST of them are still on the road today. They show this one clip of a guy who has created his own fabrication shop to make replacement trim pieces, grills etc. They make everything by hand and the only real equipment they have is stuff they've made (homemade bead roller for example) He also does chroming. Anyway... like I said, this movie is great. The stories wonderful, the people are amazing, and the cars are LOVED. Stacey
[ QUOTE ] They take such good care of them because they are status symbols over there... [/ QUOTE ] But they sure as shit didn't take care of them Commie Ladas over there LOL maan Russia made some UUUGLY rides xept them rebadged Packards
Exactly how did a U.S. film crew get into Cuba anyway? The old slip a c-note in the passport maybe....
I thought there was another thread about a Cuban Armada of American classics driving over the water...!!!! But this time they're armour plated so the Coast Gaurd can't sink them... !!!! (Why the F#@% does the Coast Gaurd keep sinking these works of art... ?) Hell..., there are museums in Europe that display all the vehicles and devices people used for escaping Berlin..., Why can't we have a museum for the Cuban efforts... ????? Scheeeze..., at least we could get some of our old cars back... !!!! Lets start a Museum..., Cuban Cars & Cigars....!
roadster, from what I understand, journalists were/are allowed to go over under certain circumstances, I think they needed some kind of special Visa or something.
I watched this last night, Netflix has it. Very interesting. Will make you feel guilty complaining about not being able to find parts. These are resourcefull people. OSHA, ha ha ha. One fella was re-lining brake shoes with a home-made press, mixing in the raw asbestos with his bare hands, no respirator! During the end credits, you see him opening up a new respirsator and trying it on, maybe the producers gave it to him as a gift?
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