Has Castro thought it through?

[DSdriver]

The BBC this morning informs me that President Castro of Cuba is considering the legalisation of buying and selling new cars in Cuba. I would have thought that a great deal of the charm of the country for tourists (it's main industry) was the old world feel of the place with a lot the cars being pre 1959 yankmobiles. He needs to be very careful that any new legislation preserves the heritage of Cuba's motoring otherwise every ship that arrives there full of shiny new Chinese cars is going to be making the return trip full of classic cars to feed China's insatiable desire for scrap steel and the world will be a sadder place.

Could be a feeding frenzy for collectors in USA and elsewhere though.

[ashmicro]

All valid points, however some Cubans have already realised the potential value of some of their old motors. There was an absolute wreck of an Aston Martin DB2/4 for sale on US eBay, and I recall it being sold for huge money. I'd wager that only the unsavable or utterly worthless stuff ends up going for baked beans cans. Also, the price of scrap is taking a shoeing at the minute, as China has a biblical supply already, and is cutting drastically what it's buying.

[autofive]

theres still an embargo with the US though, (as far as remember it) its illegal to trade with cuba.

 

im off to find 'motorworld' cuba episode to watch again

[gtd2000]

Sitting here in Florida, I'd love to be able to just nip down to Cuba but unfortunately it's not that simple.

 

When the day comes that the USA does remove all barriers the place will be fucked up - if you want to go - do it now before that changes.

 

Years ago, these was a chap in the UK that shipped all the unwanted Lada cars to Cuba from what I remember.

 

You find in most developing nations that the cars might look familiar on the surface but underneath they are just cobbled together with bits of whatever will work...

[eddyramrod]

I'd wager that only the unsavable or utterly worthless stuff ends up going for baked beans cans.

 

Erm, wasn't that what people said about the scrappage scam before it happened? And look, all those prefectly viable old cars, destroyed for no good reason, and many of them classics.

[andrew e]

http://www.stratosilver.com/La_Habana_LIVE%21.php

 

They won't dissapear, Cuba is like India, I think you can't export anything. I can reccomend the view from the Parque central in Havana too. I went last year, and didn't pay an outrageous price. The best secret of Cuba is the Old school fizzy canned drinks - think pre '86 Coke - excellent!

[myglaren]

That looks rather sedate for rush hour. Newcastle and Sunderland are worse that that.

[gtd2000]

http://www.stratosilver.com/La_Habana_LIVE%21.php

 

They won't dissapear, Cuba is like India, I think you can't export anything. I can reccomend the view from the Parque central in Havana too. I went last year, and didn't pay an outrageous price. The best secret of Cuba is the Old school fizzy canned drinks - think pre '86 Coke - excellent!

 

Was that a white Ford Thames van that pulls up in front of the camera?

 

There seems to be quite a bit of modern stuff flying around though - noticed a few Peugeot 106/Saxo type cars as well as some Chinese style citroens and Daewoo Matiz/Chery QQ's.

[morris_ital_lover]

I think it is the front of a ford thames grafted onto something newer, I could be wrong though! But it does highlight that there is a suprising amount of Brit chod out there as well as the american kit.

 

There does seem to be an encroachment of the Chinese built tat in this, it won't challenge the American kit for long if the pretty new Chinese vans I saw in Gibraltar were anything to go by... about two years old utterly FUBAR in everyway and abandoned!

[gtd2000]

The BBC this morning informs me that President Castro of Cuba is considering the legalisation of buying and selling new cars in Cuba. I would have thought that a great deal of the charm of the country for tourists (it's main industry) was the old world feel of the place with a lot the cars being pre 1959 yankmobiles. He needs to be very careful that any new legislation preserves the heritage of Cuba's motoring otherwise every ship that arrives there full of shiny new Chinese cars is going to be making the return trip full of classic cars to feed China's insatiable desire for scrap steel and the world will be a sadder place.

Could be a feeding frenzy for collectors in USA and elsewhere though.

 

Seems this news is old - here's a very interesting video taken in Cuba and there are two presumably new Hyundai i10's driving through the poor crabs at around the 2:20 point...

 

Crab migration is an unusual occurrence, and unforgettable spectacle. Accrued every year in the Bay of Pigs, Zapata Peninsula, Cuba. La migración de Cangrejos.

 

Million years ago, crabs lived in the sea, today millions of crabs move to the shore every spring. They release the eggs into the sea, where they hatch.

 

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Sitting here in Florida, I'd love to be able to just nip down to Cuba but unfortunately it's not that simple.

 

Isn't it just a case of changing planes in Panama/Mexico City/Cancun?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I imagine preserving the fleet of wrinkly old wob-filled Toyota-diesel-powered Ladas held together with cable ties, cheese and newspaper is pretty low down Castro’s priority list... Its interesting enough for us to look at but I think to most eyes those cars will be a sign of the general shaftedness of the Cuban economy.

[DSdriver]

Seems this news is old...

That's the problem with the BBC, very little NEWS, mainly speculation and propaganda.

[gtd2000]

Sitting here in Florida, I'd love to be able to just nip down to Cuba but unfortunately it's not that simple.

 

Isn't it just a case of changing planes in Panama/Mexico City/Cancun?

 

Yeah you can do that - the other way is to go up to Canada - but that's a long trek for a place just over the water....god knows what the border control would think when you came back in and saw Cuba on the immigration form

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

It's no different from here, really. No matter where you want to go, you have to change planes and spent ages sitting in airports...unless there's a Ryanair flight to your destination, in which case you just lose the will to live.

 

You don't have to tell them you were in Cuba. You just write "Mexico".

[gtd2000]

Seems this news is old...

That's the problem with the BBC, very little NEWS, mainly speculation and propaganda.

 

Mind you compared to the US news stations the BBC is a breath of fresh air.

 

Try watching the comedy show known as Fox News...

[gtd2000]

I hear what you are saying but the close proximity of Florida to Cuba is such that any connecting flights makes the journey probably at least 2 or perhaps 3 times the original distance.