Back from Cuba...

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grassy

grassy

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Spent 4 days and 3 nights in Havana. Really, really enjoyed Havana. Havana is truly an emerging cosmopolitan city that is coming into it's own. Capitalism and technology have truly taken hold..the trip certainly destroyed a lot of myths that we had. There are lots of American products to be had but their retail tourest industy is still in its infancy. Not only were there new cars..but some I have never seen in Canada. It is odd to see a Dodge van beside a 55 chebby..

This is a normal view. Old with new and the buses are Yutong from China. But we saw us/can yellow school buses with "School Bus" in English as well..

View attachment car.jpg

It took us 3 days to find another Canadian(they all go straight to the resorts) ..and they found us when they read the back of my wife's t-shirt at one of our fav bars! We drank/partied/hobnobbed with folks from Russia, Germany, China, Italy, Scotland, Argentina, Brazil, Chili, and the United States. What a great mix. Americans (and there are tons of them there) are coming in from Canada and Mexico but they also now have a direct flight from Miami...go figure. Even bill Clinton has been to Cuba a few times. Since '04., it has been illegal for Cuban's to hold US currency so you only can tip with Canadian cash and convertible pesos. The Americans have to come with US or Canada cash only..the hotels / banks will not accept US cards.

Anyway, i did bring a bit of Mopar with me..this magazine traveled 3500 miles to be read in 90 degree weather :) (thanks motopsycho !!).

View attachment CUBA MOPAR.jpg

Thought you would get a hoot of some propaganda that is in the War museum .. 3 former US presidents.

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So, answer me this? If Cuba is so great, why do Cubans wanna go to Florida?

An, who' ya trannna convince, us, you, or them?
 
Why do folks from Florida come here ? And my son's girlfriend father is from Texas...

I am not trying to "convince" anyone of anything...just relating my experiences and you can take that to the bank...if you have a problem with that then you will have to deal with it...
 
Kind of surprised to see custom wheels on the 56 Chevy and 60 Buick. Got any more pics of vintage iron from the trip? Thanks for sharing.
 
4spd,

The number of old cars is mind numbing. ... and that is exactly what went through my mind...if they cannot buy parts for these cars then where the heck did the rims come from? So here is an auto parts store.

View attachment 2.jpg

I really didn't take a lot of pics of cars because there just wasn't any end of them. There were many, many old 50s cars..saw a 63 convert pontiac parisienne which was the newest of the old so to speak. No muscle cars, no old sport cars. In Havana and the resort area, most of the old cars are taxis.

I am just going through my pics now and I will post what I took pics of....one that I missed was a early 60s soviet limo..

Ian.
 
Don't they make those wheels in China?

Probably cheaper to buy them there than here.

Bet they can get all sorts of Chinese made parts for sbc motors...



My mom was visiting Cuba in '59 IIRC during the revolution.

That's a trip to think about.
 
Ian great to hear you had a great time. We/Family went 3/4 years ago. went to Cayo Cocco area. awsome time...........Lots of oldies everywhere.Love to go again but just 2 of us..wife and myself.......
 
Pretty cool pics. I had watched a special on PBS several years ago about the classic car culture in Cuba. They go to some great lengths to keep those cars on the road. Some have retrofitted old fork truck motors in them and a lot is hand made.
 
grassy said:
4spd,

The number of old cars is mind numbing. ... and that is exactly what went through my mind...if they cannot buy parts for these cars then where the heck did the rims come from? So here is an auto parts store.

View attachment 1714716238

I really didn't take a lot of pics of cars because there just wasn't any end of them. There were many, many old 50s cars..saw a 63 convert pontiac parisienne which was the newest of the old so to speak. No muscle cars, no old sport cars. In Havana and the resort area, most of the old cars are taxis.

I am just going through my pics now and I will post what I took pics of....one that I missed was a early 60s soviet limo..

Ian.
Click to expand...
Looking forward to seeing the rest of them. Thanks for sharing.
 
YY1 said:
Don't they make those wheels in China?

Probably cheaper to buy them there than here.

Bet they can get all sorts of Chinese made parts for sbc motors...



My mom was visiting Cuba in '59 IIRC during the revolution.

That's a trip to think about.
Click to expand...

Geez, talk about a front row seat...the Cubans take that time period very seriously...
 
Nite Moves said:
Ian great to hear you had a great time. We/Family went 3/4 years ago. went to Cayo Cocco area. awsome time...........Lots of oldies everywhere.Love to go again but just 2 of us..wife and myself.......
Click to expand...

When we were there, we found a resort that had only 84 rooms..no kids allowed..I hear the food was awesome...

the trip was a gift from my Mom..she and dad were booked to go there and dad came down with cancer..was told he was going to be dead by months end so they cancelled the trip..he lived for 4 more years.

Mom asked us to take lots of pics. Partway through the trip, got a call from the family that Mom had died...we couldn't book a trip out so she was cremated and everything was held for when we arrived home. So she is back with dad and I am sure she was with us part of the time..thanks mom.
 
grassy said:
When we were there, we found a resort that had only 84 rooms..no kids allowed..I hear the food was awesome...

the trip was a gift from my Mom..she and dad were booked to go there and dad came down with cancer..was told he was going to be dead by months end so they cancelled the trip..he lived for 4 more years.

Mom asked us to take lots of pics. Partway through the trip, got a call from the family that Mom had died...we couldn't book a trip out so she was cremated and everything was held for when we arrived home. So she is back with dad and I am sure she was with us part of the time..thanks mom.
Click to expand...
* Wow, I truly hope you enjoyed every moment.. Life is short my friend.. always ENJOY!
 
This was our first view of transportation once we got out of the airport. We were not expecting "modern" buses.

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-q9KZSnL/0/XL/fabo4-XL.jpg

They are Yutong, from China.

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-gV9ZFKh/0/XL/fabo3-XL.jpg

They may look like ours but are gutless wonders that need to be down geared several gears to crawl up hills. During these climbs, the air condition seem to kick off and on.

First old car at the airport.

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-ZpZ87BC/0/XL/fabo2-XL.jpg

On the road...

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-pwm8dBT/0/XL/fabo1-XL.jpg

The shear number and variety really does a mind number on you...like waking up in an old car show..on the flip side there are new Bimmers, Audies, Mercs, Toyotas, Caddies,Chevy trucks and oddly enough, Dodge mini vans plus a host of Korean, Japanise and Chinese cars..

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-R7qzhfP/0/X2/fabo5-X2.jpg

Another form of taxi..

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-4zmdrQQ/0/XL/fabo6-XL.jpg

The Ladas seem to be the official Cuban taxi but all the old cars are taxis as well...

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-GDczPKF/0/XL/fabo9-XL.jpg

..and a few more..

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-FS8bH3R/0/XL/fabo7-XL.jpg
http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-qPsVHZv/0/XL/fabo10-XL.jpg
http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-KLgnhdX/0/XL/fabo8-XL.jpg

One of the few Dodges
http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cua-1/i-gmq2wMQ/0/XL/fabo11-XL.jpg

The police station on the right..

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-NTQ9rwh/0/XL/fabo12-XL.jpg

This is a Moskvich 2140 with a fart can on back...odd, it has a VW 1.9 diesel in it...I should mention that just about all the old cars have diesels in them..

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-jv9kQC4/0/XL/fabo14-XL.jpg

Corvair ?

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-CWJwSsR/0/XL/fabo13-XL.jpg

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-Tbpg7Fx/0/XL/fabo16-XL.jpg

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-jRVGJ3w/0/XL/fabo15-XL.jpg

We tended to walk on the streets that banned cars but there was art...

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-6MmWmmp/0/XL/fabo17-XL.jpg

Didn't see any sport or muscle cars but found a couple of MGs that I don't think came to North America,,

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-6Z3GPFc/0/XL/fabo19-XL.jpg

Had an ever changing group of cars below my window starting @ 7 am and going past dark..

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-xVqQsQJ/0/XL/fabo20-XL.jpg

Another type of taxi..they were a scream!

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-64VD4FZ/0/XL/fabo36-XL.jpg

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-jrDVjwd/0/XL/fabo28-XL.jpg

_________________________

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-wdQCGS9/0/XL/fabo31-XL.jpg

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-4CmLN2m/0/XL/fabo33-XL.jpg

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-MdSBKzx/0/XL/fabo32-XL.jpg

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-8KDw8Rz/0/XL/fabo34-XL.jpg

In the back of this truck are seats..it is a taxi as well..

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-JqQJ7jQ/0/XL/fabo35-XL.jpg

This Fargo was owned by the Fast Delivery Business. It was used to carry between 42 and 50 assailants who took parts in the attack of the Presidential Palace on March 13, 1957.

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-9c3SB7S/0/XL/_IGP9342a-XL.jpg

Ok, this Pontiac was used to carry weapons from Havana to Las Villas province. The weapons were used to fight against Batiste's Regime.

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-8XNPNKm/0/X2/fabo22-X2.jpg

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-VPbXhCx/0/XL/fabo25-XL.jpg

The Willy jeep was used by Commander Bosque at the east front "Maria Munoz Monroy". It was seized from Batista's army troops..

The Toyota jeep was used by a guy named Raul Castro Ruz in '58.

Quick eyes will notice the King Fisher, Sea Fury and bits of a B-26.

http://yamigrl.smugmug.com/Cars/Cars-of-Cuba-1/i-FRqwPkt/0/XL/fabo26-XL.jpg

Hope you enjoyed this...

Ian.
 
I'd like to go there. I'm a veteran and as American as it gets.
It's a place I've never been to and would like to see.
It's a shame the countries can't get along, after all, at the height of the cold war, Americans could travel to the USSR.
 
gunbunny said:
I'd like to go there. I'm a veteran and as American as it gets.
It's a place I've never been to and would like to see.
It's a shame the countries can't get along, after all, at the height of the cold war, Americans could travel to the USSR.
Click to expand...

Times are really changing and barriers are falling. There is no animosity to Americans by the Cubans that we met..that propaganda stuff I posted earlier is from another time and should be treated as such..

The word on the streat is that the barrier between Cuba/US is going to fall soon..

On another note, I was surprised to find out that the Partagas cigar factory actually makes 10 different brands...

Ian.
 
the photos are amazing. The amount of work, dedication, and perseverance to keep those oldies running and in good shape is a testament to their owners. and in a humid climate with constant salt spray....
 
My Dad got to go there for free one time, he was on a plane that got highjacked to Cuba. He said they didn't get treated to good.
 
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