Vintage cars from Cuba?

[wa2ise]

Now that relations are being reestablished with Cuba, and most cars there date back to the 50's, wonder if some of those cars will get bought by car collectors. Though it must be expensive to ship the car by ship, to get it to the USA.

[Eric H]

I have heard but don't know if it's true, that most of the old cars there have been cobbled together for the last 50 years from whatever could be found so most are a mess.

[Username1]

PBS did a few stories about Cuba and the cars over the last few decades, also Aljazeera
has done a few stories about how the few entrepreneurial licenses issued there are for
individuals who can re-manufacture parts for the old cars. Brakes are relined, carbs are
rebuilt, you name it. They showed a few old cars mixed in with newer cars just the
other day on a BBC story from Cuba over the current events there... The old cars look
to be in very fine condition, and don't smoke or anything....

To me it looked like they had good equipment, and made parts at least up to,
or better than what you get from China.... I think they are doing ok with
what they have..... I guess we will see.....

.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by Username1

To me it looked like they had good equipment, and made parts at least up to,
or better than what you get from China.... I think they are doing ok with
what they have..... I guess we will see.....

If the parts were merely made to chinese standards, those cars would be long gone.

[Findm-Keepm]

The cars, if imported, would have to meet certain US safety standards regardless of when they were made. On an island where you are no more than 50 miles from the ocean, I can imagine the rust is everywhere in those cars, so a bit of removal would be needed at the minimum. I remember transiting through GITMO on my way out to the ship in 2000, and even the steel door frames at the air terminal were eaten up by rust. Humidity+salt air+temperature, and you've got all the makings.

Cheers,

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Jon A.

If the parts were merely made to chinese standards, those cars would be long gone.

It seems like all the replacement parts, available at places like Auto-Zone are Chinese made. I just bought a new front wheel bearing assembly for my Prius, that is.
I'm a little familiar with machining, working as an electrician/electronic tech in a factory, where machining operations were done. Both CNC and manual. The part looked like it was built really well.

[Username1]

Originally Posted by Findm-Keepm

The cars, if imported, would have to meet certain US safety standards regardless of when they were made. On an island where you are no more than 50 miles from the ocean, I can imagine the rust is everywhere in those cars, so a bit of removal would be needed at the minimum. I remember transiting through GITMO on my way out to the ship in 2000, and even the steel door frames at the air terminal were eaten up by rust. Humidity+salt air+temperature, and you've got all the makings.

Cheers,

No necessarily true.... When I was a kid there was 2 people in town, NY, one with
a '69 chevelle, and another with a '66 Chevy, both people washed and waxed
those cars all the time. They also drove them all winter..... A lot of, for lack of
the best term, Latin American, people do a lot of cleaning on their cars, fuss
over every inch of the car's appearance. They did another story on the news
last night, and again the old cars were in the story, they were all shiny and
clean.... Keep it waxed, and even if the paint is chipped, or imperfect, and
you can keep the rust away.... Those guys had kept those old cars up to the
late 90's when they retired and moved away.....

There are a lot of really cool secrets to the current way of life in Cuba, and
to the keeping up of those cars we are not going to know looking in from
the outside as we do now....

California has lots of good condition old cars, and they run around all the time,
and California is pretty close to the ocean, and the cars have almost no rust....
Not like in snow areas where they salt the roads....

As for Chinese parts... A lot of people may not remember the news stories of years
ago, as american parts manufacturers closed up, the machinery to make all that
stuff was sold off at really good prices to companies wiling to start up and make
the same stuff in China, and India, and a few others.....

Auto-Zone may just be the Walmart version of auto parts stores..... I have trouble
trusting them after seeing the number of electrical parts me and brother have
had with their stuff..... I went back to OEM pretty quick, brother liked the fact
that stuff was guaranteed forever, even though he had to replace it each year....


.

[zeno]

I am sure the choice stuff will be coming home if
they lift the embargo. My understanding is they do
anything to keep them going so will need lots of work.
I am sure between the mafia & Batistas minions lots
of rare high end cars were left behind. Wish I could
afford one !! As for cigars go you can get just as good
a cigar from other places, that industry has gone to hell
just like everything else in Cuba.

As far as Chincom parts go I always ask my mechanic what to
use OEM or aftermarket. Some of the China stuff is good
BUT you gotta ask & buy the higher priced stuff.

73 Zeno

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by zeno

I am sure the choice stuff will be coming home if
they lift the embargo. My understanding is they do
anything to keep them going so will need lots of work.
I am sure between the mafia & Batistas minions lots
of rare high end cars were left behind. Wish I could
afford one !! As for cigars go you can get just as good
a cigar from other places, that industry has gone to hell
just like everything else in Cuba.

As far as Chincom parts go I always ask my mechanic what to
use OEM or aftermarket. Some of the China stuff is good
BUT you gotta ask & buy the higher priced stuff.

73 Zeno

Regarding the Chinese replacement parts, I hope it stands up, as I paid $103.95, plus tax and the labor to replace it.
I think, some of our collectors are thinking that they're going to be getting a steal-deal on some of these cars. The present owners are going to have to replace these cars. How many used car lots are in Cuba?

[Gregb]

We were just in Cuba for holidays in September and there are a lot of 50's vintage American cars in really good condition from what I could see. I did not go under any hoods or roll around under any to see what was going on but they all seemed to run well and I didn't see any rust.

Gregb

[Robert Grant]

I don't think many people in Cuba are going to be willing to sell their 1950s (actually, a few from the early 1960s as well) cars, because the few that have a car really want a car, and they can't replace them with new.

I had always wondered why their streets had no Moskvitches, Ladas, Dacias or Skodas, and I found out the answer only after decades.

A Cuban law, circa 1962, banned ALL purchases of new automobiles for private use. It is not the US embargo that only stopped the export of US cars to Cuba, it's Cuba's own embargo on the import of any personal cars.

Who knows. Cubans are now permitted to sell produce they grow, and work as individuals for cash payment, so maybe someday they will open the market for new cars.

[zeno]

OK here is how you do it. Bring in 80's-90's GM B-bodies,
crown vics etc & trade them. They still get an easy to fix
car & still reasonably big. They cost nothing here for the
most part. Swap them & some US$$. Bribe the commie
scum government hacks to look the other way. Walk away
with a nice DeSoto for maybe $5000.

Now lets do our wish list. I want
1958 Packard-Hawk A.K.A. the cat fish. Blown of course...
1958 Olds rag top with J-2 motor.
1957 Rambler Rebel
PLEASE no black cars

73 Zeno

[Electronic M]

I'd be drooling most over the 40's era cars. There more are of those that I'd like to own than I care to list.
50's cars the list would be shorter.
1958 Chevy Impala, convertible preferred
1958 Olds.
56'-57' Chevy Nomad.
Any Caddy 57'-60' with the 59 and 60 being preferred.
Anything mopar 1957 till the embargo.
Maybe a Packard and maybe a Studebaker Starlite coupe.
Most I'd go for would be 2 door and the wagon body styles.

[bgadow]

From what I've read, a lot of them were re-powered with whatever engines were available, like Russian or European diesels. One story I read back in the 90s involved an American reporter getting in via Canada and smuggling in a single spark plug. He gave it to a Cuban and it was like giving him a thousand dollars.

[OvenMaster]

I've seen pix and stories of Russian Lada engines and tractor engines, etc. powering some of those huge, heavy cars. Some also run on mixes of gasoline, kerosene, diesel, propane, even vegetable oil. Many replacement parts are home-brewed or cannibalized from other vehicles.
I'd steer clear of them. They won't be worth what collectors are thinking and hoping they are.

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