Cuba is one of the most colorful countries I have ever visited. Much of this color comes from the numerous classic cars that you can see in every corner of Havana and other cities. But what is the story?
American cars were imported to Cuba for a period of more than 50 years. Cuba’s dependence on American cars started by the annexation of the island by USA in 1985. Up until the end of the 50s tens of thousands of American cars were imported to the country.
In fact, according to some sources Cuba was used by American car companies as a testbed for new models, which appeared in Havana’s streets before they were sold to Americans. During this period Cuba was one of the countries in the whole world with the highest density of cars per capita.
After Castro came to power a ban on American car and parts was erected, which started the internal car repair and maintenance market in Cuba (actually I always thought the ban was the other way around as it is normally USA who puts ban on countries).
The cars we see in the streets in Cuba are often put together from parts from Soviet cars (which were freely imported and were always in abondance). Most of the cars have engines from Soviet cars, and their exterior and interior are handmade from scrap metal. The Cuban car repair community does indeed a lot of reuse!
I have selected some of the photos that I took in Cuba that showcase some of the most typical models. I am not familiar with which brand and model each car has, but they are all beautiful and look like they came out of the factory just yesterday!
