As Cubans head out to the beach to escape the summer heat of crowded cities, many are making the drive in relics from another era.
Tens of thousands of vintage American cars remain scattered throughout the country, manufactured before the revolution and subsequent US embargo in 1960. In the summers and at classic car shows, the old American models end up on display.
With no automobile imports coming in, the cars are preserved by Cuban mechanics and improvised fixes by the owners themselves.
Take a look at somes photos below:
In this photo taken Feb. 5, 2010, Fernando Guedez cleans his 1957 Ford in Havana. Cuba’s color-coding of license plates goes back decades and is another way authorities have kept tabs on people, their vehicles and the cargo they carry, as the the government owns most cars and determines who can drive, when, where and for how long. (AP Photo/Photo Franklin Reyes)
A driver races his 1956 Chevrolet classic car in a quarter mile race in Artemisa, Cuba, Saturday Jan. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano)
An old American classic Buick from the 50s is seen in October 2003 on Havana’s coastal avenue “Malecon” in Cuba. (AP Photo/Jose Goitia)
A 1955 Pontiac is seen among several other old American cars at a square in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2005. (AP Photo/Jorge Rey)
A tourist looks at the interior of a 1957 Ford Fairlane at a square in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2005. (AP Photo/Jorge Rey)
A 1955 Chevrolet Bel-Air is seen between other old American cars at a square of the Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2005. (AP Photo/Jorge Rey)
A 1950s era Studebaker is available as a taxi at a plaza in Bayamo, Cuba, Friday, April 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
A bride is driven to her wedding ceremony in a classic American car in Havana, Cuba on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A man drives a classic American car that serves as a taxi past a poster that reads in Spanish; “Embargo, the longest genocide of the history” in Havana, Cuba on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)
An American classic car drives past the Russian warship the Viktor Leonov CCB-175, docked in Havana’s harbor in Havana, Cuba on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)
A couple takes a tour in a classic American car after their wedding in Havana, Friday on April 25, 2008. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A man sleeps next to his car in the Guanabo beach parking lot, in the outskirts of Havana, Cuba on Aug. 17, 2014. Many families squeeze into 1950’s classic American sedans to make it to the beach in Guanabo, east of the capital. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Look, it’s your father’s Oldsmobile!
Cool!
Eventually that embargo is going to end and whatever is good about Cuba now is going to get ruined.
The car labeled as a 1955 Pontiac is actually an Oldsmobile, and the yellow Buick above it is a 1959.
One of em looks like Christine.
Well let’s see
we had the eh Fairlane
then the u-joints went out on that
and the bushings
and then your mother wanted
to trade it in on the Toronado
so we got the Toronado
god I hated the color of that son of a bitch
the dog destroyed the upholstery
on the Ford
boy that was long before you were born
we called it the yellowbird
two-door three on the tree
tight little mother
threw a rod
sold it to Jacobs
for a hundred dollars
now the special eh
four-holer
you’ve never seen body panels
line up like that
overhead cam
dual exhaust
you know I had
let’s see I had
four Buicks
loved 'em all
now your Uncle Emmet
well he drives a Thunderbird
it used to belong to your Aunt Evelyn
well she ruined it
drove it to Indiana
with no gear oil
that was the end of that
sold that Cadillac to your mom
your mom loved that Caddy
independent rear suspension
landau top
good tires
gas hog
I swear it had the power
to repair itself
I loved the Olds
Dan Steele used to give 'em to me at a discount
showroom models and that
and then there was the Pontiac and
god I loved that Pontiac
Well it was kind of an oxblood god
but It handled so beautifully
yeah I miss that car
well that was a long time ago
a long time ago
-Tom Waits The Pontiac
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F9AoKJGWis