(18 Oct 2014) Vintage American automobiles that still line Havana's streets have turned into a business opportunity for those who own them.
The 1950s Chevrolets, Fords and Cadillacs have always attracted nostalgic tourists to the streets around the National Capitol building, where the classic car owners park them.
The somewhat recent relaxations to obtain business operation licenses have allowed cabdrivers such as Juan Alvarez to independently offer chauffer service to tourists who want to enjoy a ride around Havana on one of the classic cars.
"(We want) to provide a service with more quality, to make a differentiation between this type of car with the most original version possible, even though many now have diesel engines, the majority still conserve the original engines, and we all share a special passion for this," Alvarez said.
Cuba is the country with the oldest classic cars still circulating in its streets, not because Cubans are avid collectors, but because of the effects of the US embargo on the country.
Not long after the country's 1959 revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power, the United States government imposed an economic embargo aimed at debilitating Castro's government.
Mechanics and bodywork shops have become artists when it comes to repairing old engines or rebuilding worn down bodyworks of these classics since they cannot import them from the US.
However, some car owners have found ways to get around the US embargo to keep their cars running.
"With the exception of body parts that we make here, almost everything else we bring from the United States, in an informal way, that is to say we violate that 'little' embargo that exists," Alvarez said.
Most of these cars are worth a small fortune in the United States or in Europe.
Some years ago the government declared the vehicles part of the National Heritage and they are prohibited from leaving the island.
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