Models from the 1950s still delight tourists. But Washington authorizes the export of new vehicles. Reserved for a privileged few or foreigners.
Havana
On the border of the Plaza de la Revolucion and Vedado neighborhoods in Havana, a convoy of candy pink convertibles leads tourists, overjoyed, bareheaded under a blazing sun. The fare: about forty dollars. A Havana family watches them, with a disillusioned eye, as they climb into a « Yipi » red, an antique 1945 Willys Jeep converted into a ten-passenger collective taxi, salsa blasting in the cabin. The fare to Old Havana is on another level: 100 pesos, or $0.28.
The « Yipi » Red is one of the 50,000 or 70,000 old American cars from the 1940s and 1950s, dear to tourists, which are part of the Cuban postcard. Pontiacs and Plymouths, with rounded shapes that would have given them their nickname ofalmond trees (almonds), patched together a thousand times, modified with Toyota engines and Opel steering wheels.
Also read“There is nothing left to eat in the country”: three years after the July 11 revolts, Cuba is an island adrift
For several months now, in the…
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