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Countless melodious songs have long spread the story of Havana to every corner of the world.
With 1.5 ounces of white rum, 1 ounce of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 6 mint leaves and 1 cup of soda, we tried to blend the purest taste of Cuba, but in this cup of mojito, there was still less Latin American sea breeze and the classic car running in the wind. Take a sip of wine from your glass, turn on the electric fan you just wiped, and squint your eyes slightly to listen to "Havana" playing on the stereo. Well, havana is really just that thin steering wheel.
If there really is a story of immortality in this world, then the American classic cars running on the streets of Cuba must be included. Walking the streets of Havana is like being in the Hollywood films of the 1950s, mixed with Rada and Korean cars, the Ford Firstline in 1952, the Chevrolet Impala in 1958, the Plymouth Fury in 1957 and so on.
Many people may think that Cuba's American classic cars are just a means to increase the added value of their tourism, but in fact, this "out of date" car culture actually stems from the ECONOMIC BLOCKADE IMPOSED BY THE UNITED STATES AGAINST CUBA SINCE 1962.
Before the United States issued a ban on the economic blockade of Cuba, Cuban American cars accounted for a large proportion, which means "near the water tower first to get the moon". However, a revolutionary victory in Cuba has made it a thorn in the side of the United States, and in the large list of economic sanctions imposed by the United States on Cuba, automobiles are naturally indispensable for consumer goods.
Although Cuba, which was lagging behind in the automobile industry, has not been able to import American cars since 1962, Cuban technicians who have rejuvenated their skills have always been able to make these old guys run on the road like new cars. There are no well-decorated construction workshops and high-tech equipment, and the scattered steel plates, nuts, bolts, rusted jacks and various smuggled parts have created a "craftsman spirit" with Cuban characteristics.
For example, this Chevrolet Bel Air parked under the "waste shed", who would have thought that it would be faster than the straight-line acceleration car built by many major modification manufacturers? In Cuba, where the machinery industry is not developed, technicians are forced to adopt an operation model similar to "AMG one person, one machine" - the environment is a little simple, but the ingenuity is a dead end. After strengthening the cylinder block and equipped with a powerful supercharger, the maximum power of the Bel Air has exceeded 1,000 horsepower.
Since the original car had been damaged in many places and there were no substitute parts on the mainland, these "witty" Cubans had to smuggle parts from Costa Rica to repair them. Of course, these parts are not exactly the original parts, such as its instrument trim is removed from an Acura Integra Type-R to fill.
For cubans who are not very wealthy, the huge cost of raising a car will eventually be earned back by the car. In downtown Havana, classic cars pulling jobs on the road abound. According to local car owners, it's easy to get tourists around hotels in Havana, and some of them are willing to charter a car to visit downtown Havana, making $100 in an hour.
By early 2014, the door to imported cars had finally opened to Cubans, but there were still no American cars in the models available to purchase, and buying new cars was not realistic for most Cubans. First, buying a new car in Cuba requires the approval of the relevant qualifications; second, the price of a new car is also quite high in Cuba, a Kia Rio in the United States is sold for 14,800 US dollars, and the price in Cuba is directly tripled. As for the Peugeot 508, the price in Cuba has reached 270,000 US dollars, which is enough for us to buy a Porsche 911 in China.
So to this day, classic cars still occupy an irreplaceable position in the transportation of Cubans. Even behind these "shiny" cars, there is an underground illegal business of modification and smuggling. Everyone in Cuba understands that prosperity here is inseparable from the active black market of cars, so much so that they themselves can't tell whether it's a deformed car culture or a beautiful hymn to classic cars.
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