PHOTOS: Classic cars in Havana, Cuba

March 8, 2016 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

This bride and groom celebrate their wedding day from the back of a classic American car, because why drive around in Cuba in a normal car during your wedding day? Eagle photos by Rob Abruzzese

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Walking on the streets of Havana, Cuba, is like walking into a time-warp back to the 1940s and ‘50s.

Cuba is a country that, thanks to the American embargo, has been largely cut off from the rest of the world since the late 1950s and early 1960s. It makes walking on the streets of Havana seem like one is walking in a time-warp. Perhaps the most obvious evidence of this is the prevalence of classic American cars from the 1940s and 1950s.

Chevy Bel-Airs, Ford Fairlanes and classic Buicks and Pontiacs can be seen everywhere, and tourists have plenty of opportunities to go for a ride as taxi drivers offer tours for just a few Cuban convertible pesos.

Not all of the cars in Cuba are American classics. Other cars have been imported over the years, but the government has kept tight regulations on exactly what comes in, and these types of American cars often outlast newer imports.

The trick is keeping the cars running as parts are often hard to come by, so many cars are held together by duct tape and ingenuity.