Travel Books: A cruise through Cuba’s ‘Cadillac capitalism’

“Cuba’s Car Culture: Celebrating the Island’s Automotive Love Affair” (Motorbooks, 192 pages, $35) is both a beautifully photographed documentary of a summer 2015 visit by authors and automotive enthusiasts Tom Cotter and Bill Warner, and a history of the island’s intertwined politics and passion for cars. Thanks in part to a lively underground economy, it’s estimated that more than 60,000 pre-1960 American cars still cruise the streets of Cuba, mostly in Havana and Santiago de Cuba, and about half are from the 1930s and ’40s.

Travelers who aren’t necessarily car buffs will appreciate insights on renting a car for a cross-country trip, hiring a driver for a city tour (about $35 an hour) and interacting with “parkers.” Those are red-vested workers whom everyone has to pay $1 to watch their parked vehicles outside “nearly every grocery store, hotel, and restaurant in the country,” the authors note, adding, “there is no evidence that these parkers have ever actually prevented anything from happening to the cars they watch.”

Here’s what else you might see, parked or on the road, in Cuba:

Name that car: U.S. models are not the only distinctive motors on the island: “Interspersed between the old American iron is an odd mix of 1970s Russian-built Ladas (retooled Italian Fiat 131 sedans), new Chinese Geelys (which resemble late-model Cadillacs and Chevys), and the occasional Soviet-era Volga, Wartburg or Skoda. Once in a while, you might see a late-model Mercedes-Benz or Audi negotiating the many potholes that exist on Cuban streets; these, we were told, belong to diplomats or non-American corporate executives, possibly from one of the oil companies that do business on the island.”

No love lost: While Americans typically romanticize vintage automobiles, “Cubans repair and use these old cars because that’s all they can do—there are no alternatives. It’s a necessity, not a love affair. These cars provide incomes to thousands of residents who might not have another way to scrape together a living in this failing economy … Those handy with tools will do auto repairs literally in the street, performing everything from brake jobs to engine rebuilds on the side of the road.”

Cadillac capitalism: “In the 1950s, money was so plentiful on the island that more Cadillacs were sold per capita in Cuba than anyplace else on earth. And since many of (Fulgencio) Batista’s followers owned Caddys, some of the cars seen on the road today may have a direct lineage to the controversial leader’s regime.”

— Jeanne Cooper