Miami Herald

An urban planner from Philadelphia says Cuban owners of antique autos would represent a good market for U.S. spare parts if U.S. firms were free to do business with Cuba.

PASSING THE PAST: A 1932 Chevrolet encounters a horse-drawn carriage in Camaguey, Cuba. LARRY LUXNER/FOR THE HERALD

HAVANA - Barely a travel article about Cuba is published without a mention of the vintage 1950s Chevrolets, Fords, Plymouths and Buicks that add so much color and tourist appeal to the island.
But few Americans have thought of the old gas-guzzlers as a business opportunity.

Rick Shnitzler, founder of TailLight Diplomacy (TLD), says Cuban owners of antique autos would represent a good market for U.S. spare parts, both originals and reproductions, if U.S. firms were free to do business with Cuba.

For now, however, the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba remains and all Shnitzler can do is dream, and occasionally help out his like-minded counterparts in Havana.

’‘Recently, we were able to deliver copies of original factory-issued sales brochures which will enable Cuba to restore its oldest car, a 1905 Cadillac Model F Touring, to factory specifications,’‘ he said.

Since its formation in 2000, the nonprofit TLD has pushed hard for lifting of the U.S. ban on travel to Cuba,

’‘TLD seeks to create the conditions for Americans to meet their Cuban peers face-to-face,’‘ a fact sheet about the organization says. “TLD advocates that Cubans conserve and maintain their existing fleet of pre-1960s American cars, trucks and motorcycles, and that Americans join with Cubans to restore this . . . patrimony as an economic asset and Cuba’s contribution to worldwide 20th century culture.’‘

Except for a handful of newer automobiles belonging to diplomats, no American cars have been shipped to Cuba since 1960, when the Eisenhower administration imposed a ban on all U.S. exports to the island following Fidel Castro’s rise to power.

Shnitzler, a 60-year-old urban planner from Philadelphia who visited Cuba twice before the 1959 revolution and once in 2000, said his organization has sent letters to at least 70 members of Congress in hopes of making it easier for U.S. antique-auto enthusiasts to visit the island before too many of their dream cars disappear.

He said that Cuba’s Ministry of Interior reported in 2003 that 31,760 pre-1959 American passenger cars were registered, down sharply from the 37,680 vintage cars registered in 2001. The total of passengers cars was about 192,000, he said.

About half of the old American vehicles on Cuba’s streets are from the 1950s, with Chevrolets more numerous than any other make. Another 25 percent are from the 1940s, with the remainder from the 1930s.

Shnitzler figures about 75 percent of the American antiques are worth restoring, and figures there’s also a significant number of antique trucks and motorcycles.

Using 2004 retail prices, Shnitzler calculates Cuba’s market for U.S. restoration parts at $47 million to $81 million.

’‘That’s a substantial opportunity,’‘ said Jim Spoonhower, vice president of market research at the California-based Specialty Equipment Market Association, whose members include manufacturers, wholesalers and installers of auto parts.

’‘But a lot will depend on the level of restoration the owner wants to do. If the cars have been pampered, but in maintaining them they’ve had to custom-fabricate or take parts from other vehicles, then replacing those with real reproductions or original equipment could involve substantial expense,’‘ he added.

’‘some of the original molds have been bought by restoration companies and they’ll make the equivalent of a restoration part. You can also get original parts from salvage yards, but probably the larger percentage would come from current-day reproductions,’‘ Spoonhower said.

Doug Drake, president emeritus of the 63,000-member Antique Automobile Club of America, says TLD’s goals are admirable. Cuban antique-car owners “have done a great job of improvising and making their own parts, but they need spare parts.’‘

Eduardo Mesejo, director of the government-run Automobile Warehouse in Old Havana and the island’s official vintage car expert, said the prevalence of old American cars in Cuba was natural.

’‘Our economic conditions favored trade with the United States. It was cheaper to import cars from the U.S. than from Europe,’‘ Mesejo said.

Mesejo also criticized a government program in the 1990s that encouraged Cubans to trade in their antique cars in exchange for a new Soviet-built Lada. The program, known as Classic Cars, was administered by state agency Cubalse, which sold some of the antiques abroad.

’‘That program was a mistake because it bled our national patrimony,’‘ Mesejo said. “Many important cars left Cuba and were taken to many countries including the United States and Puerto Rico.’‘

Mesejo, a mechanical engineer, has been in charge since 1996 of the Automobile Deposit, an Old Havana museum where some 40,000 tourists a year pay $1 each to see 34 gems of Cuba’s antique fleet.

They include a 1930 Cadillac V-16, a 1956 Mercedes-Benz, a 1924 Packard sedan, a 1926 Willys Overland Whippet Model 96 touring car, a 1980 Daimler limousine donated by the British Embassy and a 1926 Rolls-Royce.

When it comes to the vintage cars in Cuba, I hope people have an understanding that for the most part these are cabs: especially in dumpier parts like La Habana Vieja. That’ why the license plate is yellow.

Last year on NPR I heard a report on man who went to Cuba with duffel bag of gaskets and spare parts and worked his way around the city with these parts.What about motorcycle parts?I own a 1960 Harley and have a garage full of spare parts as I have upgraded my bike to more modern specs.I have always day-dreamed about going to Cuba with a suitcase full of old parts and rebuild kits,gasket kits,etc and trade these for transportation,housing and food.Let me know if anyone has done this or attempted it,thanks,Patrick

Why can’t parts be sent to Cuba from Canada, course politically it’ no problem, but has anyone actually thought of that? A lot of Cucharros are actually of Canadian manufacture anyway, the 1959 6 cylinder Powerglide Pontiac Parisienne that Fidel did his victory cruise in is a perfect example. A Bonneville lookalike with a Chev Chassis and drive train. Most of GM, Chrysler, and Ford export models, worldwide, especially 55-68, were sourced from Canada. It was easier for the smaller prodution runs that could have such on line mods as Kilometre speedos, right hand drive, that would have disrupted the cookie cutter US line with a much bigger market that needed no deviations to fulfill quota.Also the smaller engines normally ordered by frugal Canadians made more sense in other countries who never had 25 cent gallons.

Hi, Anybody have any experience in exporting cars from Cuba (to Europe)??? Any info would be great, thanx

Hi Publisher

Thanx, buy you get me all puzzled here; I hear that the older cars are all privately owned and change hands freely (well, at least among the locals); never heard of the classics being government owned?
Working on this for a client who wish to pursue this commercially, and yes, we do know that most of these cars are pretty tired )

Thx

Phew, thanks, not sure what I am getting myself involved in here Will dig into this and post any news ...

You are probably right; everything will be a lot easier sometime in the future ...
Thanks for feedback - and no; I am not american; makes it slightly easier

I have connections with a car club in Canada and am heading to Cuba with a group. I’m interested in getting in contact with someone in Havana who could set up a little car show for me in exchange for bringing over some parts.. curious as to what parts would be in highest demand also… Anyone got a # for a club in Havana?

i have a buisness plan, and know my way around many of the obstacles. intend to get the car bodies into the U.S. via a secret loophole i discovered. totally legal. looking for investors.  interested parties contact me.

I knew a machinist from Cuba, we called him Henry. The only way he was able to have a car there at all was because he could make the parts he needed, and trade those parts for the ones he couldn’t make. As it was, his “chevy” was a hodgepoge of many cars of many different years and companies, as well as more than a few russian and czech parts. In other words, it was a piece of shit. The climate of Cuba is wretched for cars; muddy unpaved roads, damp salt air, torrential rain and blistering heat. The only reason they have “Yank Tanks” there is because it takes a lot for three tons of iron to rust away completely. Eastern Bloc (think Yugo, Trabant) cars have not fared so well.

Henry was very proud of his car: It was and is a remarkable achievement to keep anything running under such conditions. It was a real source of pride and status for him.

There are plenty of cheap, not rusty classic cars in the southern and western US. But I do think we could sell a lotta parts to Cuba… G.W., you listenin?....(echo.)

I was in Cuba over New Years to celebrate the 50th Anniversary (not mine, the Revolutions)  I asked the driver of a 1958 Chev Impala Convertible (red, of course) if he would be interested in selling his car.  he qwuoted me a price of $2500 USD for the car.  I understand from the discussion here htat the Cuban gov’t, which I support, wouls not let ANY of these autos out of the country.  I can’t say I can blame them; these cars are unique.

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Are there Yugo cars from the old Yugoslavia in Cuba?