Classic Cars

I didn’t realize how many classic cars I photographed. There were hundreds in every city. They are a huge matter of pride for their owners, and also money makers because many of them are used as taxis. Due to the lack of vehicles in the country, everyone takes them, not just tourists. From my understanding, there are machanics that manufacture their own parts, because they aren’t otherwise available. We rode in a couple of them. An owner of one of those said it was his Grandfather’s and he inherited it. Many are in “cherry” shape, but we also road in one that was pretty rough, a 57 Chevrolet I believe. The door windows were gone, along with the doer handles. But he told us, with pride, it was all original! And it sure was!!

The Cuban government has made it illegal to sell them outside the country. A smart move, although if they were able to sell them to foreigners they would be able to support their families for years.

They also used Ladas for taxis, older Russian cars that don’t seem to be well made, but still running at times. Others used horse and carts to get to school and jobs, or old military buses. There were a few newer cars, but not many.