Old cars in cuba

[hb32]

I know this is taboo for the Ford forum...
http://caristas.blogspot.ca/2012/09/...n-cuba_12.html

[Clem Clement]

It will be just like that Model A junk that used to come from Argentina. Keep yer $$ in your pockets. No repro parts will fit. There is lots of bondo, gum, beer can engineering. If you get one, leave it as it is and run it.

[Tinker]

I'm not entirely sure, but I believe they are part of a cuban national treasure and are protected and there is no plan to sell or export them. But you never know.

To me the cars are not considered a new source for pristine parts or something you would want to restore to our standards or idea of a old car, but the cars are a time capsule and a part of history unto themselves.

[DavidG]

The ambient environment in Cuba is murder on cars (high humidity and high temperatures year round). You ever hear of the Florida Keys being a good place to look for old cars, even 40 or 50 years ago? Many of the Cuban survivors also have had their powertrains seriously altered (Lada engines and transmissions, for example) for lack of service parts.

With respect, Clem, Argentina was/is an entirely different situation. Apart from a much friendlier ambient climate, a lot a very good cars survived there with a very high percentage of them being open cars. While the fenders on the survivors were almost always scrap from being repaired over and over (Argentine drivers were not especially mindful of lane discipline) and the chassis pretty tired on cars who spent their lives out in the provinces, the bodies were more rust-free on average than on average for North American survivors. My experience is hands on as I brought back thirty cabriolets, convertible sedans, phaetons, and roadsters from Argentina, southern Brazil, and Uruguay during the mid-70s and mid-90s, all of which were good or better. It all depended on having the right "pickers".

[Shu47]

I heard that most of the old cars have had the engines replaced with Russian diesel engines and the bodies are patched with whatever scrap metal they have. Look nice on the outside but if you look past the surface you see the real story. No first hand experience so I could be wrong.

[al pa.]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

I read an article in a car mag,about an enterprising gentleman,who researched steel composition,found appropriate matching pipe,and machined piston rings to sell.

[mhsprecher]

I have a photo of a Model A in Cuba I got from a friend who went there last year. As many others have shared, what I understand is that most have been repowered with diesel tractor engines. Again echoing others, it amazing what they have been able to do to keep rolling.

[BILL WZOREK]

I Have always said I would love to get a mechanic from Cuba
Heck they kept a lot of stuff running with nothing to work with ~~

[Clem Clement]

DavidG,
Thanks for the input. I have seen some that came back restored and the new owners had tough times getting repro parts to fit. I tired to by one that was partly restored for a State Dept. guy. It was mega junk and had apparently rolled down a hill. Pages used to have several. We used to see many for sale in Hemming's from a DR Kaplan(Sp?).
I stand corrected. Thanks.
Clem

[Royal Ryser]

I was there with the Seabees when Fidel raided the Army barracks at Santiago de Cuba in 1953. That got us all restricted to base. Thanks a lot, Fidel!

[tamnalan]

What's going to happen to their cigar prices?

[V8COOPMAN]

I'm sure they'll be "gratis" for the cigar box-fulls now headed for Penn. Ave. DD

[oldskool]

i watched a documentary on how they keep old cars running,theres one guy that relines brakes with asbestos ,got to hand it to them

[Kube]

Originally Posted by John S

The question is, how many "good" cars were put away 30 or 40 years ago for lack of parts or money to keep them on the road?

Very, very few.
Think of it from a different perspective. If a person lacked the funds to repair a vehicle what makes one think they had the funds to store it? Nope, it got sold and used up.
A number of years ago my doctor (personal friend) and I had looked in to importing cars from Cuba realizing the potential for profit.
He traveled there quite often and had the proper connections to make the importation process fairly smooth.
He, like myself is quite car savvy.
Bottom line? Nearly all the cars down there are so far "gone" as to be near worthless. No doubt there are a few squirreled away but very, very few.

[RalphG]

I don't know but they look a darn sight better than the Merc I dragged out of the bush a while back. Plus they run and drive. Can't be all that bad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7bhyaiJG_I

[PeteVS]

My wife and I flew over Cuba about 20 years ago (on our way to the Cayman Islands) and I was amazed at all the roads and air fields and not a car or plane to be seen from the air.

(I'm wondering if they'll all be offered $5000 AND a new Chevy to have them all crushed.)

[paleot]

I saw a film clip that showed Ernest Hemingways 55 Chrysler Convertible down there. some radio station was supposed to help restore it.

[38 Ford Pickup]

Hello Forum Members

I spend 4-5 weeks a year in Cuba. I have been taking Chevy and Ford parts for over 20 years. Years ago we finished a 55 Chevy and just did a 56 chevy.

We put a 5 litre Mercedes engine in the 56. it has 5 on the tree. We are now working on a 59 Impala as well as a 52 Chevy

I am very good friends with the head of Customs so I do not have problems taking parts. I also work with 2 orphanages in Matanzas Cuba. 99% of all the cars have Toyota, Lada, Yuskovich, Kia, Etc....... They Look like Ford's and Chevy's inside and out but most of the parts are of another vehicle.

They are now reproducing Tri-Chevy bumpers. you can get a complete set for under $300 US. the quality is amazing.

Remember Havana has a HUGE Black Market............. My best friend traded his Pig for 4 Bf Goodrich Tires.......brand new for his 1960 Corvair. 99% of all cars are 4 doors.

I have been taking Belair badging for over 15 years now.........as all the Cubans want their cars to be Chevy Belairs.

headed back in the New year to finish the 52 Chevy as well as get a few of my parts Chromed for my 57 Wagon... My best friends brother works for Cohiba so most of my friends get nice Cohiba's for any car parts.

I remember 10 years ago I took an under-dash blower out of a T-Bird........Customs thought is was a home air conditioner.......it was seized for over 6 months...... It is now in the 56 Chevy which is used as a Taxi in Veradero.

One of my best friends who is a mechanic in Santa Marta does a booming business.

I Love the Cuban people and hope to retire their soon as my best friend Jose built the second floor of his new home for me and my wife.

Low grade diesel is about 40 cents a gallon on the black market.

[Ralphee]

It's sad but true: most of the vintage Detroit Iron in Cuba is terribly worn out and perhaps not worth a restoration, should the time come to get these cars over to the US. Yet, there are some nice exceptions to the rule. Featured over at CUBANCLASSICS, an almost impeccable 1931 Ford Model A : http://cubanclassics.blogspot.com/20...e-phaeton.html

More Fords on the site:
1938
1940
1946
1947
1949

[1952henry]

Originally Posted by V8COOPMAN

You really need to read-up on how truly-depressed and repressed the daily life of the common person in Cuba really is. They ain't got no damned computers, much less internet or DirectV. They don't have the pleasure of running down to Auto Zone for parts, either. DD

True that. Hard for some to image true poverty in other countries. "Poverty" in the US is hardly a basis for comparison. We have the richest poor people in the world.