Cars of Cuba

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The Truth about Cars in Cuba

If you ever wanted to know why there are so many old cars in Cuba, it goes like this:

1. After the Revolution, the Castro regime legislated that any car bought before then could continue to be owned, sold, or passed down the family.

2. Any car bought after that could not be disposed of in any way (other than giving back to the state)

So, 1950's cars are worth taking care of, worth repairing, and carry a high value in one of Cuba's only free markets.
Any post-1960 car, beyond a certain point, is not worth spending money on since it has no re-sale or inheritance value.

Even the state is bound by this, so there are fields full of rusting 1990's cars bought by state rental car companies that are not worth repairing and too old for re-export even to other third-world countries.

It is hard to imagine a more succinct example of why free markets work, and capricious centrally planned markets do not. Next ➤ ➤

“The Cuban people refuse to be forced into consumerism, and for that we are the most democratic nation on

the planet”

Fidel Castro

Howard's Cars of Cuba Gallery at PBase

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