I am not going to lie to you. When I heard that the U.S and Cuba were going to begin diplomatic relations again, I did a literal spit take. After cleaning my screen and remembering I could’ve always bought Cuban cigars, something dawned on me: A lot of cars have just run out of a stay of execution.
Far be it from me to suggest that everyone will begin to buy new cars immediately after they become available. The two gigantic hurdles of extremely low wages and extremely high prices remain untouched and will take a while to clear them. Let’s not forget that as of this writing Havana is charging $262,000 for a new Peugeot 508 (I’m assuming that’s the price before options) and the average income is around $20/month, gaps this big take a while to reduce. Nonetheless, Cuba is about to experience an increase in living standards that can only be described as unprecedented since “La Revolución”.
It’ll also more than likely mean the end for a large amount of the old ‘50s iron that has been romanticized through endless photoshoots and videos. But let’s not kid ourselves here, they have been subject to more than half a century of abuse and neglect. Even if the owners really did want to care for them and enjoyed the designs and the interiors and all the things we see in them, it’s very hard to do when you can’t get spares for them. These cars survived out of necessity rather than preference. You’d also keep whatever car you had running whichever way you could if you knew there was literally nothing to replace it with. Makeshift fixes were the norm rather than the exception. MacGyver solutions? Of course. Most of these cars have had their their worn-out and thirsty original powerplants replaced with with Lada diesel engines, never mind many other mechanical parts. These are Frankencars.
I don’t see them doing anything else than finally rusting in peace. Or will they be preserved locally as mementos of their time? Will there be an export market for them, given the condition most are in? Most would be very difficult or next to impossible to restore to their original condition. Will Americans and Europeans be interested in them? What about you?
My guess: the cars themselves will be gleefully abandoned, except maybe a few kept to entertain the turistas.
But I do think that the cars will have a legacy: the expertise of Cuban mechanics will be in very high demand in the US. I wouldn’t be surprised if they develop an industry of restoring US cars… or maybe the mechanics will just emigrate to the land of opportunity.
Maybe. It would be like stepping out of the Stone Age onto the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. Mechanic work on the latest 2016 Econobox is not for the faint of heart, or one who is not skilled in the latest in mechanics and electronics.
Oh, I meant that they would find work in the US as classic car restorers…. I agree, they would probably be at a disadvantage with today’s computerized electro-eggs.
David,
I very much doubt Cuban mechanics will be able to restore cars to the exacting standards expected today. There is a world of difference between patching a car just to keep it alive and restoring it. We had the same fool’s gold here in the EU when the iron curtain fell; people were tempted by low rates charged by Polish, Czech and Hungarian mechanics to send their cars for restoration there. Results were mixed (and I am being charitable). Same here. It will take them years to catch up.
I’d like to see a book written by all the backstreet Cuban mechanics, offering up all there shadetree communist tips and tricks about keeping cars going.
My first experience on a bicycle trip in Cuba in 2009 was finding a way to transport me and my boxed bike to a hotel in Holguin at 2 in the morning. It didn’t help that the flight had arrived after midnight on January 1, the 50th anniversary of the revolution :). But someone we met in the town square knew someone who knew someone, and this ancient Chevy appeared.
Even in 2009 there were a lot of newer cars in Cuba, including rental cars available to tourists. I’m not sure that diplomatic recognition alone will change things too quickly, given that the embargo is unlikely to be lifted soon. But change is definitely coming. Go soon, if you can.
Another European – no idea what. Cuba is especially atmospheric after dark.
British Ford? Anglia/Popular/something like that?
Roger will know 🙂
Definitely a postwar Ford. I’d guess a Popular.
I think you’re right. The big Ford logo on the windshield is a helpful clue….lol….I haven’t looked at these pictures for several years.
Google would suggest that it’s a rare pre-war Prefect model, or maybe more precisely a ‘Model 7W’, from 1937 or ’38. This is one that may go back to England.
http://www.fsoc.co.uk/the-cars.html
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/85336015
Bring ’em back!
If that Gullwing could talk! I would think that if there’s anything rare there, someone will snatch it, but unless the economics of bringing a car out of Cuba is a slam dunk, there won’t be any reason to do so while you can get the same thing locally. Maybe somebody buys a bunch of them and opens an “Old Havana” Theme park with a genuine pre- embargo lift main street.
That Gullwing is right up there with the two-seat T-Bird that’s still sitting in Baghdad somewhere, in terms of incongruity. A shame, in both cases.
BTW, if you haven’t seen “Yank Tanks”, a documentary about this very topic, it’s worth seeking out. (Complete with a look at how to make brake linings in your backyard!)
With what a fully restored Gullwing sells for today (north of seven figures), I can guarantee that that roadside wreck will not be long for Cuban soil once the Americans start showing up. Even in that condition, as long as the VIN can be traced, its worth restoring.
The ’57 Ford, et. al. Its best hope is a collector cars sub-market in Miami, where they’ll be valued by the Cuban immigrant community. And eventually restored well beyond what their daily use condition was.
My first thought was about the cars. I remember reading about them having to use shampoo for brake fluid because parts and supplies are made of unobtanium. And a Buick that had a tractor motor transplanted into because agricultural implements made it thru the embargo. There is probably still a Cuban who does nothing but re-line brake shoes with some local material…
Hmmm, a possible poetic outcome might be if they are bought by enterprising Americans, imported and sold on eBay for profit to… the bourgeoisie! YAAAAY!
I think some will get junked, but some will be put away to be restored in the future. The owners of these cars love and respect their machines and I think it will be hard for many to just “throw them away”. There are actually some hard-core craftsmen in Cuba who can fabricate and restore many pieces on these old cars. Imagine what they could do if the market opens up and they can get their hands on modern tools and materials!
I imagine this is spot on. Lots of the most worn-out ones will end up scrapped, but I’m sure some folks have a sentimental connection to these faithful servants, having been rebuilt by their own hands many times over. So some will probably be preserved. And I’m sure some will even stay taxis, as folks who visit would want a ride in an authentic Cuban Classic (I know I would). If there are any good enough to restore, those might find their way out of the country.
I’d love to go while the streets are still filled with these wonderful, if well-used and well-flawed, machines. That era will certainly end. But I’m certain some will live on.
I think the Cuban definition of “worn-out” would differ somewhat from ours!
I agree, these cars are part of Cuban pride and heritage. Some have been in the family for decades. They will not be thrown away like garbage.
Almost had a heart attack after seeing that Gullwing next to that plantain tree
FWIW ;
A Friend of mine , Miguel , was the young man who actually found that Mercedes Gullwing and wrote about it , then these newer , fancier photos began popping up ~ they found it by following his OnLine article about it and never said ‘ thanx Miguel ‘ nor credited him for the hard work of actually finding it after hearing the rumors .
That’s shameful and sad .
He found a buncha rare old cars and shared with everyone , asked nothing and now others have taken his work and made $ off it .
-Nate
I think some of the further gone examples might be used as parts to keep better specimens on the road or be sold to collectors in the USA to be used as parts for restorations.
Some will be sold intact to collectors in order to be restored and some will probably still continue roll around Cuba like they have for 50-60 years so far doing all the daily work they have done for all those years. Still others will be for tourists(sort of like the horse drawn carriages that are around a lot of US cities) . Remember Cuba tried to bring in Russian and Chinese made cars to add some diversity and in the end the old Yank Tanks still outnumber them.
it should be interesting to see what transpires over the next few months.
+1 to Al S. I’d love to see a book-or a documentary film on how the shade tree mechanics in Cuba keep their old iron running. I bet it would be fascinating.
there was a documentary about all this on PBS awhile ago. it might even be on youtube in bits and pieces now. It was fascinating!
I recall reading that the old cars in Cuba are considered “historic artifacts” by the government and cannot be sold. No way they will allow them to be exported. Also, Cuba already has access to European vehicles, but they are expensive and in short supply, so most Cubans could not afford one. That’s unlikely to change anytime soon.
Interesting anecdote: My dad used to be a machinist at a Canadian company that rebuilds auto parts (starters, alternators, steering boxes, etc). Word came down from the office to overhaul all the old cores collecting dust on the shelves for 50’s cars and crate them up. Cuba had made a deal to buy everything. This would’ve been sometime in the 1980s.
Everyone is assuming that things are going to change. This isn’t like knocking down the Berlin Wall. The people live in a totally separate economy from the government and the tourists. An enforced maximum monthly wage of $20 per person. The government collects all the tourist tips and hotel wages, doles out $20 per person per month, and keeps the rest for itself. I am fairly certain the arrangement will not change soon. Why would the wealthy few in the Cuban government want to change it?
If the Cuban people could afford brake fluid, they would buy it now from the rest of the world.
The peculiar car culture will remain, by and large.
My first thought upon hearing about the end of the embargo…wonder if the Detroit 3 will offer loyalty rewards to trade up to a new ride?
I don’t think they’re going to go anywhere. Most Cubans know what their cars are worth. They’re probably sick of driving a clapped-out 60 year old car daily. I’m sure some people might end up getting modern cars if they become affordable, but I can’t imagine anyone outright getting rid of their classics. Most of these cars are passed down through families from before the revolution. the Cuban government considers the cars national treasures, and they know many tourists come specifically to see the cars. My prediction is that the old yank tanks are still going to remain, but the diversity of vehicles will increase if the US starts sending new and used cars over to Cuba
My sentiments too. They’ll become even more important tourist attractions when the Americans start arriving in large numbers. They’ll want to see them and ride in them. And the Cubans will keep them going for that reason.
Read an article a while back in Classic American magazine that most owners had a very over inflated value of their cars. An American dealer just laughed and walked away.
Will make it easier for David Soul to get parts for Hemmingways car!
While a Yank Tank was not on my list of vehicles to collect until recently I would love to find one I like in decent condition then bring it to Oregon (where it might leak) and replace the Asbestos brakes. Putting them in a plastic bag, taping it shut, and placing it all in the waste bin should be sufficient enough or I could just toss them in the brush pile to be burned later. Even in its unrestored state a Yank Tank would look better than several similar vintage vehicles in Portland. I hear there are a few Corvairs and Falcons in Cuba, but a Chrysler product is what I really have my eyes on. Maybe, a 58 Chevy Delray, 59 Caddy, or an early-mid 1950s Pontiac though.
*note the above post has humor within*
Hopefully many of the Yank Tanks and yes even those Ladas are saved from the scrappers’ torches. I bet the surviving cars will achieve cult status like the Trabbies of the U.S.S.R. Considering Cuba is surrounded by water I assume the air is pretty clean.
Trabant was the D.D.R. car.
They’ll be kept by the people who feel a cultural connection because of their decades being a central part of their lives. If and when newer, used powertrains become available, some will be updated just to keep them going as the legendary Cuban Classics, an integral part of the tourist business.
A handful of the most desirable and valuable will be exported for dollar exchange, the ordinary remainder stay there. After all, we haven’t yet run out of ’49-’52 four door Chevys here yet……..!
Those Cuban backyard mechanics are going to get a rude awakening. Our mechanics progressed from 1960 to now year by year. They will at some point have to make a gigantic leap. A 2015 Ford sedan is worlds removed from a 1960 model.
If you’ve ever been to Cuba and looked at these cars closely, you’d be amazed at the lengths some of the owners have gone to in order to keep their wheels on the road. If you show an interest and ask your questions respectfully many owners love to show you what they’ve done and how. Most of them would also trade for a decent 10 year old Toyota or Honda in the blink of an eye. Ownership of any vehicle is an unattainable dream for most Cubans, and that won’t change anytime soon.
I suspect those “Cuban Classics” will simply get passed down the line as (if) their current owners manage to get their hands on newer vehicles. It’s fun to see them but there is an ugly reality behind their reason for still being on the road.
It will be a long time before the Cuban people will be able to afford many consumer goods, specially cars. The outlook for agricultural products, and heavy equipment, to help rebuild infrastructure, is more likely.
The idea of importing an old american car from Cuba doesn’t make sense. First these cars are “frankensteins” and there is still a large supply of them here in the US. WHy bother? Second: The Cuban government controls the sale of these cars and sets the price at absurd levels.
The charm of these cars is not to be found in an individual car but collectively as rolling art parade that is an intricate part of the country.
They’ll be on the road for a long time yet, though with a new source of fresh parts to keep them going. The old cars of Cuba are legendary, and tourists will come to see them…and spend money on other things while they’re around.
Cuba remains a totalitarian Communist state. You can be sure that any economic gain from the sale of collectible cars will go into the pockets of the billionaire Castro brothers.
Yeah, even if things open up tomorrow, the citizens will not have the wherewithal to replace their vintage cars.
My first thought upon hearing of the thaw was that those poor mechanics will finally be able to get some spare parts. Instead of the end for classic cars, this could give them a new lease on life. Like the fleet of Things in Indonesia, Cuba’s fleet of 50’s iron could be maintained indefinitely with access to the US aftermarket.
Hell, I can imagine hundreds of people who would kill (proverbially) for just one order from Jegs.
Seems less of them have kept their original factory configurations. The majority went through improvised Lada kinda garage transplantations. Some of these could end in diorama corners of museums as kinds of historical mementos… Most of them probably shall rusted in peace and/or ended as recyclables.
My prediction, based on what I saw here in Europe after the iron curtain fell, is that most will be gotten rid of in the same way as was the case for Trabants, Skoda Estelles, Ladas and Polski Fiats. Most people are not like us and only use cars as a necessity – they would trade up as soon as possible for that nice Chinese or Korean econobox. However, there will always be a small number remaining for tourist work and kept by the odd enthusiast. Or perhaps – as happened in Israel, where US made cars were also kept longer alive on account of their luxury and robustness (perhaps not by using extreme measures as in Cuba, but nevertheless) – once the country’s economic situation sufficiently improves, people will become nostalgic and start to import similar cars (in much better condition) from the US.
Well even IF Cuba would become a US economic colony once more – chances of which are still quite slim in the near future if you ask me – that wouldn’t automatically make every Cuban citizen happy and rich (most likely quite the contrary, based on the experience). So, yes, I doubt there would be any immediate changes other then a handful of brand new luxury cars for the upper class and “slightly used” not-so-luxurious cars for the middle class. The vast majority of the population would be largely unaffected, except for greatly reduced social security and class hatred acute.
And yes, there would be many, many cases of classic car fraud (collectors from abroad buying up everything minimally valuable for minuscule sums of money, with a lot of help from interested locals, scouring the country side in search for such artifacts; you can’t even imagine what unmolested examples might still be sitting in old barns – just as excellent condition pre-WW II Horchs, Maybachs etc. being bought up for foreign collections cheap as scrap (compared to their market value in the West) in late 1980s – early 2000s in the former USSR).
Is your name really Russian, or are you just pining for Lenin’s return?
Cuba is no workers’ paradise, and it’s not the US’ fault. Has it ever occurred to you that there must be something wrong in a country that kills citizens attempting to flee?
Cuba is the only socialist state that has worked, even under the american embargo. Cubans love Castro. That is why he has lasted nearly 60 years and not because of fear. America fears Cuba because they do not want a socialist revolution as the establishment have to much to lose. Could be heading that way. Look at all the police killings in the last few months?.
Save for the technical curiosity of learning how they kept them on the road, I vote pancake them, send them to China and “recycle” them into dishwashers.
Seriously, there must be a whole lot of better iron in the US. In some cases, there are brand new bodies in a crate (ala tri-5 Chevy).
It will be a great tragedy if most of them do not survive.
The rest of the world has been trading with Cuba all along. It isn’t the US that has kept the Cuban serfs from new car ownership; it is the Castro regime that Obama will now prop up in place of the previous statist benefactors that have already bankrupted their own countries. Nothing will get better for the Cuban people, although perhaps their teenage prostitutes and the police that pimp for them will have more customers. Car parts will still be more affordable than new cars taxed in the socialist manner, only now the parts might actually be designed for the cars on which they’ll be used.
Parts can be got easily from US if they go through an intermediary. I rather think the Cubans will be hanging on to those cars.
The big question is when will the rules change for Cubans as to what kind of cars can they own, and particularly when will the channels open up for importing USED cars into Cuba in quantity. The minute that some enterprising person can load ships full of 10-15 year old used cars in Miami and sail over to Cuba AND sell them freely, it will be game over for most of these lovely relics. If and when it becomes legal for American collectors to buy them, I think it will be a little like the phenomenon seen with the Lambrecht cars. People will pay far in excess of what the cars are actually worth based on condition, so they can say they have one.
So true my man.The only way most Cubans can afford a “newer” car. Problem is with gas prices the same as the UK can they afford to run them?.