Cuba, and specially Havana, has become famous worldwide for its American old classic cars. But, just like their name calls, none of them are Cuban. So, how did they turned into a symbol of the Caribbean island's streets?
It all started with the great economic dependence of Cuba on the US economy at the beginning of the 20th century. Most of what was consumed here came from the northern giant, including, of course, the beautiful late-model cars of world-renowned brands such as Ford, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Cadillac, Pontiac, among others.
But then, as an old song says, "the commander arrived and ordered to stop." A popular revolution triumphed by the force of arms in Cuba and this was not well received by the United States, which quickly cut-off relations with the new communist-style government and imposed harsh sanctions to it, that, among other things, prevented the arrival of new models of those cars that one day shone through the streets of the Caribbean country.
The years passed, long years in which the Cuban economy suffered great problems, among them, the seemingly permanent absence of new cars of any brand. For this reason, Cubans had no choice but to get used to the idea that they should preserve at all costs those cars that already existed from 1959 onwards.
This is the brief history, in a tight summary, of why there are so many vintage cars in Cuba, especially in Havana. This has become typical, which is rare in the rest of the world, where modern cars have continued to arrive normally. But not so in Cuba.
