Walking down the street in Havana, you’d be forgiven for half-expecting to find a 1950s diner at the next corner where that beautiful vintage Bel Air is parked, all high-shine chrome and polished paintwork.
For many people, Cuba evokes nostalgic images of classic American cars set amidst the backdrop of colourful street scenes. I’m thinking flared tail fins, chrome fenders and more curves than a scenic railway.
This unique car scene can be attributed to thousands of American vehicles flooding into the country during the 1950s under the Batista regime, only for the practice to abruptly halt when Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. Since that time, Russian Volgas, Moskvichs and Ladas have been added to the mix, along with a liberal smattering of Chinese imports.
As a result, Cuba has morphed into a real-life museum of vintage cars literally stuck in time and kept running through the sheer determination and ingenuity of their owners.
No doubt developments over recent years to open up Cuba’s markets, including for cars, and the slow warming of US/Cuban relations, have the potential to drastically change things. Car imports may start to flow into Cuba, but it’s also possible overseas car enthusiasts might start eyeballing the country’s classic cars looking for a bargain.
We can only hope that the Cuban peoples’ enthusiasm for their beautiful vintage vehicles will ensure they stay on the road for many years to come.
We’ve put together an ‘Ode to Cuban Cars’ gallery to give you a taste of what you can expect to see – and ride in – on the roads in this fascinating island nation.
We’re no car experts, so we’d love to hear from you if you can identify, or know anything about, any of the cars in this gallery. Where appropriate, any information provided will be updated into the image caption with credits back to the helpful person who provided the details (unless of course you prefer to remain anonymous).