Colurful cuban cars - a rolling museeum

Dear Blogreader, here are some some reflections from a recent trip to Cuba

Cuba was a large car markets in the fifties. Import stopped with the revolution. The streets of Havana is full of old American cars and more recent Lada additions. The American cars are referred to as "Machinas" and serve as cheap taxis for locals. For 10 pesos (50 cent) you can go a long distance. Each seat 5 passengers. The driver is a man in his thirties, playing salsa music on the stereo and keeping plenty of cash on the dashboard or in his hands at the steering wheel.

Follow one of the the main streets and it is easy to flag down a a car with a piece of card board with the route number you want to travel. The old cars have very little in common with the originals. Engines are changed for a Hyundai diesel or an old tractor engine. The coil suspensions are replaced by blade suspensions suiting the road qualiy with many potholes. The maintenance level vary greatly, with a few well mainted ones being the exception, and close to wrecks being the norm. The largest offense you can do to the driver is to shut the door to hard, nice and gently is requested.

The spectrum of colors is very broad. Far away from the stylish black, white, grey and darkblue being the norm for a new car in the Western world. The streets of Havana ar lit up by yellow, purple, turquoise, lightblue and pistage green cars. American cars from the fifties will remain a signum of Havana for a long time to come. Either at the current standard level or with a major facelift of the fleet of "Machinas" depending of were the future goes for this country.

There is also a fleet of 3 wheel 2 seat tourst taxis. Rolling around twon like small eggs. Quite pricy and low on value. More of a tick in the box touristing thing than a genuine travel experience