I took $600 worth of parts to Cuba for my friend's 1954 Dodge. Of course he couldn't pay me anything for them, but he set me up with the wildest Cuban party-girl on the island.
Just imagine if Cuba suddenly opened up free-trade. Many of these Cubans are driving classics worth tens of thousands. It would transform their economy overnight. The embargo should have been lifted after the Cold War.
Here's the Cuban car maintenance deal. Spare motors ? Boneyard tractor/chech bus or Russian truck, mostly diesels. Shock absorber - brake fluids ? Veg cooking oil - doesn't last long but works. Filters ? - oil - fuel - refitted old ones with rags and/or cardboard. Tires ? Recaps - or re-drilled - welded bolt pattern adaptation when they come with another vehicle's rims. Fan belt's ? Braided leather, mostly home made. Duct tape ? Priceless.
It depends on what set of priorities you have... I'd rather live in a country with free healthcare, a good and fair educational system and social justice than in one with the biggest jail population in the planet, social inequality and where you are left to die if you have a long term illness!
Vast overstatement of Americans as a whole. Come out to the sticks, I'm still driving a rusty 2005 Explorer. I'd still have that 84 Chevrolet for a summer car, but it was wrecked in 2017.
@thewholeshit - unfortunately it is lost in history. Given up by Turner Broadcasting and placed in their archive somewhere. I made the special and don't have a copy myself. David Hoffman-filmmaker
does this doc go at all into the fabrication process for repairs? specifically home-brewed windshields and brake pads? I remember seeing this years ago but can't find it for the life of me.
Unfortunately it is. I have a lower quality copy which allowed me to present a portion of this documentary that I've made so long ago on my TH-cam channel but the original is long forgotten by Turner Broadcasting. David Hoffman-filmmaker
You can tell that the cabbie has already "made do" because he has a '58 Impala steering wheel on his '56 Bel Air. I wonder what they do for piston rings and such? Most foreign cars available in Cuba would have metric-measure parts.
The Embargo has at least done them a visual favor. You won't find such beautiful buildings left standing or vintage automobiles still in daily use in any rich country. I could imagine retiring there, if only they let me raise my own livestock and plant foodstuffs. Rum is cheap and the live music pleasant
@@brandonGCHACHU I just looked it up and that doesn’t sound anything like it, but thanks anyway (I didn’t really look it up because I already knew what “Sandstorm” sounds like)! Funnily enough, I just subscribed to this channel a couple years ago, and am just now realizing he uploaded this very video. Small world!
If Cubans had American TV shows, the economy picked up, that old sayin.. keeping up with the Joneses would change all this real fast. I was just telling someone about why I'm not buying a newer model car, comparing the cost, used this very video to show them exactly what I mean. I own my car and I've just spent a few hundred dollars on parts for it. It's nothing special, but atleast I can keep it on the road for $500 instead of paying another loan off to buy another one, to get some 2 second reaction from someone I'm trying to compete with. Thats the difference between most people and me in western society. I don't care what people think, if I want to have people look at me and feel above someone for 5mins, I'd call it a day. We are all equal and much to your surprise, your car don't make you better or worse than someone else.
Cubans waste time fixing those cars, and time is money, but in Cuba there is no money, time is ALL you have...but you better not complain because your neighbor will rat you out! so watch out!
@@ArisFilms Engines wore out faster in the 50s. Oil and filtration wasn't near as good then, if you even had an oil filter; oil filters weren't standard equipment until the mid 50s, IIRC.
Pretty sure they can't since Mexico is one of USA trade partners w NAFTA and it's likely apart of the agreement to not do business with Cuba . Same with Canada which is essentially apart of USA politically
They look great but there's almost nothing left of the original cars, they're 1950's shells patched with a pletora of home-made and adapted parts. Not much value for a car collector I guess.
You're right, as a classic car with make do parts, it'll be worthless. But some shops will buy it for the shell and trim alone, then put a modern day engine, plus suspension work, then flip it as a car with a classic body but new everything else.
Now that Obama has ordered full restoration of diplomatic communications with Cuba, can restoration of commerce be far behind? It will not matter to the average Cuban as he won't have the money to buy any new spare parts even if they are made available. But American collectors will be happy to try to buy up these old cars, if they're allowed to. Personally I think we should not have any relations with a country under communist control, end of story.
+johnsoncm65 Not even one which prior government you supported was a cruel dictator and you were basically using Cuba as a party house for your elites? Maybe if USA respected Cuban "democracy" more they would of never been a communist state now. USA has a lot of blame in the Cuban revolution and the group rising to power.
Cubans waste time fixing those cars, and time is money, but in Cuba there is no money, time is ALL you have...but you better not complain because your neighbor will rat you out! so watch out!
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 76 | คู่เอก "ผึ้งหลวง vs สมิงดำ"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9SBshmGQOIM/mqdefault.jpg)
The cubans knows how to keep their cars rolllin because they got pride. My heart goes out to them.
@@melvinharris7859 Shut up
This is really a great piece of Cuban History
I took $600 worth of parts to Cuba for my friend's 1954 Dodge. Of course he couldn't pay me anything for them, but he set me up with the wildest Cuban party-girl on the island.
W
w
HIV is also running wild in Cuba, so becarefull!!
NOT ONLY THE TIME HAS STUCK ON CARS, BUT ON BUILDINGS AND LIFE AS WELL.
Cubins are Masters ,to work with what they have to work with,Thumbs Up. From America
Just imagine if Cuba suddenly opened up free-trade. Many of these Cubans are driving classics worth tens of thousands. It would transform their economy overnight. The embargo should have been lifted after the Cold War.
With all the cannibalizing and gerry-rigging that's been done to them?
Here's the Cuban car maintenance deal.
Spare motors ? Boneyard tractor/chech bus or Russian truck, mostly diesels.
Shock absorber - brake fluids ? Veg cooking oil - doesn't last long but works.
Filters ? - oil - fuel - refitted old ones with rags and/or cardboard.
Tires ? Recaps - or re-drilled - welded bolt pattern adaptation when they come with another vehicle's rims.
Fan belt's ? Braided leather, mostly home made.
Duct tape ? Priceless.
in cuba everything is old, a new tv set is from the 1960s. People of cuba are so nice.
please post the rest of the documentary!
i would really appreiciate it.
i love love love old cars!!!
thank alot in advance : )
And here I'm bitching about a little rust on my 96 Crown Vic... We tend to forget just how lucky we are to live in a Free Country.
It depends on what set of priorities you have... I'd rather live in a country with free healthcare, a good and fair educational system and social justice than in one with the biggest jail population in the planet, social inequality and where you are left to die if you have a long term illness!
@@melvinharris7859 "social inequality is not a big concern for me"... well, I guess you've proven my point! Cuba scores again!
America isn’t really free…
Who woulda guessed? Darth Vader is a classic car lover.
I caught that too. James earl jones?? Is that you?
So the cars we see in Cuba in Godfather II are still there. Cool
And americans think a 1 year old car is out dated lol
My 1966 Dodge Polara has been the most reliable car I've owned.
Vast overstatement of Americans as a whole. Come out to the sticks, I'm still driving a rusty 2005 Explorer. I'd still have that 84 Chevrolet for a summer car, but it was wrecked in 2017.
I like those old Ford and Dodge cars!
@thewholeshit - unfortunately it is lost in history. Given up by Turner Broadcasting and placed in their archive somewhere. I made the special and don't have a copy myself.
David Hoffman-filmmaker
does this doc go at all into the fabrication process for repairs? specifically home-brewed windshields and brake pads? I remember seeing this years ago but can't find it for the life of me.
Whats the intro song?
Unfortunately it is. I have a lower quality copy which allowed me to present a portion of this documentary that I've made so long ago on my TH-cam channel but the original is long forgotten by Turner Broadcasting.
David Hoffman-filmmaker
You can tell that the cabbie has already "made do" because he has a '58 Impala steering wheel on his '56 Bel Air. I wonder what they do for piston rings and such? Most foreign cars available in Cuba would have metric-measure parts.
Did Cuba ever get the 1959 models with the fins?
The Embargo has at least done them a visual favor. You won't find such beautiful buildings left standing or vintage automobiles still in daily use in any rich country.
I could imagine retiring there, if only they let me raise my own livestock and plant foodstuffs. Rum is cheap and the live music pleasant
Driver 2 feeling
These cars are worth a fortune
Those are rusted fucked up cars that's not fuel efficient and TOTALLY not reliable and are dangerous on the roads
@@whitefox9 Still worth a ton of money, I'd like the 56 Bel Air shown here!
lo unico que pudo demostrarla revolucion de la castradura que USA hacia los mejores autos del mundo en la decada del 50
who here noticed the 50s ford Victoria with a Pinto badge on it
What's the intro song?
It’s by nwa
Darude Sandstorm
@@brandonGCHACHU I just looked it up and that doesn’t sound anything like it, but thanks anyway (I didn’t really look it up because I already knew what “Sandstorm” sounds like)!
Funnily enough, I just subscribed to this channel a couple years ago, and am just now realizing he uploaded this very video. Small world!
#YearOne is gonna be a big hit down there.
If Cubans had American TV shows, the economy picked up, that old sayin.. keeping up with the Joneses would change all this real fast. I was just telling someone about why I'm not buying a newer model car, comparing the cost, used this very video to show them exactly what I mean. I own my car and I've just spent a few hundred dollars on parts for it. It's nothing special, but atleast I can keep it on the road for $500 instead of paying another loan off to buy another one, to get some 2 second reaction from someone I'm trying to compete with. Thats the difference between most people and me in western society. I don't care what people think, if I want to have people look at me and feel above someone for 5mins, I'd call it a day. We are all equal and much to your surprise, your car don't make you better or worse than someone else.
@allinaday
thnks for the response, it is to bad :( seems like a really nice documentation..
greetings
where can i see the two-hour special??
they should make an American company to ship old American parts to them
Ummm…embargo.
damn i would really like to see the whole thing. is there no way you can contact them to get a copy?
You should come for Colombia there´s too some vehicles very antique still running
Cubans waste time fixing those cars, and time is money, but in Cuba there is no money, time is ALL you have...but you better not complain because your neighbor will rat you out! so watch out!
When are you going to post the complete 2 hours documentary?
This is so sad, I wonder how much of those cars are left now.
All of them, cars from back then were mostly steel and don't wear out like the plastic materials used in today's cars.
@@ArisFilms Engines wore out faster in the 50s. Oil and filtration wasn't near as good then, if you even had an oil filter; oil filters weren't standard equipment until the mid 50s, IIRC.
i wish we could send them some parts.just the working guys not the goverment.
So this amazing documentary is lost?
So they cannot replicate/ reingineer the parts and make domestic ones I imagine
Not necessarily- enough if they lift the embargo on Cuba! :)
Get the parts from Canada or Mexico
Pretty sure they can't since Mexico is one of USA trade partners w NAFTA and it's likely apart of the agreement to not do business with Cuba . Same with Canada which is essentially apart of USA politically
Dude, be glad you live in US. Actually I have a better idea: Go live in cuba for 30 days and I assure you that you WILL change your mind.
that's not so amazing you should see the dump truck station together in Miami and then send them all the way to Tampa for work
Blame castro
They look great but there's almost nothing left of the original cars, they're 1950's shells patched with a pletora of home-made and adapted parts. Not much value for a car collector I guess.
They still look amazing, though
You're right, as a classic car with make do parts, it'll be worthless. But some shops will buy it for the shell and trim alone, then put a modern day engine, plus suspension work, then flip it as a car with a classic body but new everything else.
Now that Obama has ordered full restoration of diplomatic communications with Cuba, can restoration of commerce be far behind? It will not matter to the average Cuban as he won't have the money to buy any new spare parts even if they are made available. But American collectors will be happy to try to buy up these old cars, if they're allowed to. Personally I think we should not have any relations with a country under communist control, end of story.
+johnsoncm65 Not even one which prior government you supported was a cruel dictator and you were basically using Cuba as a party house for your elites? Maybe if USA respected Cuban "democracy" more they would of never been a communist state now. USA has a lot of blame in the Cuban revolution and the group rising to power.
What? Communism is very good if it has capitalism in its mix, like China, Cuba's an exeption, they have a small population
Intro song?
Cubans waste time fixing those cars, and time is money, but in Cuba there is no money, time is ALL you have...but you better not complain because your neighbor will rat you out! so watch out!