Oldtimers and other forms of transport. Cuba

Outside the big cities, public transport consists of trucks or, for example, horse and carriage, they ride when they are riding, so it is not on a time schedule. Cubans mainly use public transport to drive to and from work. Bicycles are also used.
Everywhere there are a lot of old-timers driving around or parked or being tinkered with. This tinkering is regularly necessary because most of these cars date from the fifties of the last century. Most of them are American classics that were forced to keep on driving. This is due to the trade embargo that the United States introduced in the early 1960s with the aim of forcing Cuba, which has since become communist, to renounce communism. As a result, hardly any new cars could be imported, with the exception of Russian cars such as Ladas.
For the streets of Havana (and other Cuban cities) in particular, this means that a colourful mix of classic cars, Russian cars and contemporary Asian cars has arisen, most of which were shipped to Cuba quite recently. The oldtimers are mainly used as taxis and for city tours. You have to make clear price agreements in advance, because there is no meter in these cars.
There seem to be about 50,000 oldtimers in Cuba. The question is what condition they are in. There is a chronic shortage of spare parts. A Cuban colectivo driver (a shared taxi) tells us that not a single oldtimer has the original engine anymore. The petrol engines have all been replaced by Russian and Chinese diesels. And you notice that in the city: exhaust fumes!

Oldtimers (American),Other forms of transport,Cuba,