1949 Chevrolet Styleline DeLuxe Sport Coupe

"Idle along a country lane made smooth as asphalt by the magic of Chevrolet's new ride. Sweep down a broad highway while Panoramic Visibility unfolds a fuller, safer view all about you. Answer the invitation of any road and enjoy all the extra values exclusive to Chevrolet in its field. From Push-Button Door Handles to Center Point Steering, from Body by Fisher to Valve-in-Head engine, Chevrolet is first for quality at lowest cost!"

This is how an original "Full Vista" windscreen looks like after more than six decades: starting from the edges, the safety glass became "blind" over the years, which makes for an truly interesting look. Most windscreens of vintage Detroit Iron in Cuba have long been replaced, simply because you couldn't see through anymore. The amazing thing is, that new windscreens are available despite a non-existent supply of original spare parts. They get shaped in various clandestine workshops throughout the country. Safety glass? No, señor! Accidents and breaking glass will have dreadful consequences, but at least you'll have a windscreen at all. Considering that producing the panoramic screens of the latter 50s with their extreme curvature was a highly demanding industrial process, we marvel at the skills and artistry of cuban craftsmen who achieve similar results without elaborate tools.

Most cars of Chevrolet's first all-new postwar generation you see in Cuba, have four doors, and some are fancy hardtops or convertibles. Since the economic conditions in Cuba continue going downhill, various vintage cars, deemed being too impractical not too long ago, are awaken from their sleep in gloomy garages. This Chevy Styleline DeLuxe Sport Coupe is one of these rather uncommon sights. Although having just two doors and a tight cabin, it is being revitalized and soon will serve as a particular (read: privately operated) airport shuttle, explains its owner. Any business idea is welcome in Cuba, as long as it lets you make a living. And certainly, the idea of cruising along in Chevrolet's first all-new postwar design sounds very appealing to us.

1956 Mercury Custom Hardtop Coupe

"This long, luxurious coupe carries Mercury's famous low-silhouette styling into the Custom line. There's the promise of agile going and peak performance in every line plus traditional Mercury operating economy and stamina (9 out of 10 Mercurys ever built are still going strong)."

Being "the lowest-silhouette 4-door hardtop ever built" (as an contemporary ad proclaimed), made the Montclair Phaeton certainly the undisputed star in Mercury's lineup for 1956. But when you could omit two doors and fifteen horsepower, you also could opt for the entry-level Custom Coupe and buy similar looks for much less money. The 1956 Mercurys shared their body with Ford, but rode on a four-inch longer wheelbase. This longer wheelbase, together with the horizontal two-tone color split (not exactly pictured here) and the tunneled headlights visually stretched the cars and made the Mercurys look decidedly more modern than their Ford counterparts.

1939 Chevrolet Master DeLuxe

"Lucky the man, or the lady, who owns a new 1939 Chevrolet! They are driving today's performance leader – the liveliest of all low-priced cars – with a mighty supply of quick, eager, reserve power packed into its famous valve-in-head engine. When traffic has started moving, and every driver steps on he accelerator with the thought of 'going places,' it's the Chevrolet driver who safely takes the lead! And when the scene changes to open country, and high hills loom ahead, it's the Chevrolet driver again who goes over the top with the greatest of ease! First in acceleration! First in hill-climbing! First in all-round efficiency with economy! That's the story of this fleet, safe motor car, and, incidentally, that's why it is first in sales among all cars in the nation! Drive the winner! Place your order now for a new Chevrolet!"

The painted front grille of this Chevrolet Master DeLuxe makes for a quite mousy look, but don't be fooled: this was a surprisingly glamorous looking car when presented in 1939. One of Harley Earl's occasional tricks was to use similar styling elements on two marques throughout the GM portfolio to valorize the downmarket brand. With the 1939 Chevrolet, for example, you could buy the looks of a 1939 Cadillac, but for a much smaller budget. Two years later, the front grille of the Chevrolet resembled the much pricier Buick. Thus, Harley Earl brought some class into the low-priced field, and customers honored Chevrolet's "upscale" look with an impressive demand.

One battle that Harley Earl couldn't win for years, though, was the integration of the headlights into the front fenders. It was an inevitable step towards the fully mono-volume shapes that would characterize automobiles after the mid-40s. Harley Earl's designers had proposed integrated headlamps since the early 30s, but GM's top management and engineering were reluctant to bring them into production, because they feared that any fender bender would inevitably lead to misaligned headlights. Usually the man of industry-firsts, Harley Earl had to leave this design innovation to the competition: arch-rival Ford had introduced integrated headlights in 1936 and Chrysler already in 1934. Mounted atop of the fenders, the headlights of the 1939 and 1940 Chevrolets were an intermediate compromise, before they finally moved completely into the fenders in 1941.

1954 Oldsmobile 88 4-door Sedan

"We call them the newest new Oldsmobiles in fifty-seven years! Each one bears the unmistakable mark of Tomorrow in the breathtaking sweep of longer, lower lines. Each one offers you a veritable rainbow of color harmony. Each one has the flashing power of a new, livelier edition of the famous 'Rocket' engine! In every way they're cars of tomorrow, as you'll see the first time you drive one."

"The Dream that Couldn't Wait" is waiting for its driver on this peaceful evening in Moron. Since the introduction of the powerful "Rocket" V-8 engine in 1949, Oldsmobiles were respected as innovative, although conservative cars in the public opinion. The 1954 overhaul of the lineup brought very elegant cars: big and with impressive, but not yet exaggerated styling. Despite their huge dimensions, Oldsmobiles were always easy to drive. The "88", pictured here, was the entry-level car in Oldsmobile's lineup, but already well-dotated. The only visible difference to the fancier "Super 88" was a tiny badge on the rear fender.

Enjoy another quote from the sales-brochure in a very snazzy 50s language: "Shaped on Oldsmobile's drawing board many years ago . . . sheduled for completion in 1955 . . . perfected a full year in advance! This is Oldsmobile for 1954 – breath-taking beauty and record-braking performance translated into reality! The fresh, original concept of this Oldsmobile finds brilliant expression in its new lower, longer, lovelier styling. In the daring new slant of its sweep-around panoramic windshield . . . the modern magnificence of its Custom-Lounge interiors . . . the hundreds of dramatic innovations from new 'World' crest to contoured tail-light! And, to match Oldsmobile's dream-car design with power – a new 185-horsepower 'Rocket' Engine!"

1971-1988 Lada 2101

"More and more people are discovering the special qualities and excellent value for money of the Lada. No other car in its class offers anywhere near as much..."

A common stereotype of Cuba contains sandy beaches, happy people, cigars and big american cars. But sure not everything is what it seems to be. Cuba's automotive landscape, for instance, is clearly dominated by other, newer cars, mainly from Russia, Korea, and recently China. But somehow, the elated visitor's brain manages the trick to completely exclude these vehicles from the picture and leave us with the cliché. It's an interesting phenomenon...

While most foreigners embrace the vintage Detroit Iron, some cuban choferes seem to prefer anything that was built on the other side of the Iron Curtain, when they can get ahold of these russian cars. There's a myriad of Moskovichs and Ladas populating the island, most of them used by government owned agencies or being granted to the most merited revolutionaries. But from time to time, some of these cars somehow find their way to the private market. Contrary to the American cacharros, spare parts are very easy to find in case something breaks, which makes the russian cars a smart choice for choferes that must rely on their cars. Well, this situation might change soon, because the famous Lada faces the end of it's production run. Lada spokesman Igor Burenko recently has stated: "Demand for the Classic has dropped a lot. It is time to say goodbye." And the end of spare parts supply will cause the same dilemma to the Ladas as to their big brothers from America.

But now say hello to the Lada 2101. Our pictured car, save for its bumper, looks pretty much the same as its "mother", the Fiat 124. Unveiled in 1966, the Fiat started a very successful career on European roads by being awarded "European Car of the Year" in 1967. For the time, the Fiat was quite advanced: compact outside but very roomy inside. Technically simple, the car was agile, economic and (untypical for a Fiat) pretty reliable. The soviet government soon choose the Fiat 124 for licensed production in the new established AutoVAZ factory. As usual in socialist countries, all economic decisions are politically triggered. Part of the decision for Fiat was the strong presence of Italy's communist party within Fiat. Even Stavropol-Wolschskij, the place of the new joint-venture factory, was renamed into Togliatti in honor of the former leader of the Italian Communist Party who had died in 1964.

Fiat invested in building the factory and the first "Shiguli" and "Lada" cars left Togliatti in 1971. Except for the different names (Shiguli for domestic and Lada for the export market), the cars were identical, but slightly differed from the original Fiat 124: the adaption to rough russian driving conditions included slightly thicker sheet metal for the body panels, a revised suspension and an updated engine with overhead camshaft, plus an auxiliary manual fuel pump and a starter crank in case the battery was drained in the cold. The Lada 2101, produced in the look of our pictured car through 1988, soon was exported in different versions to western countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain and eventually even found its way to Canada.

To pay back the Lada's licensing costs, Russia supplied Fiat with steel, which was the base for all Fiats and some Alfa Romeo cars that were built from 1971. Soon, this agreement backfired on Fiat: the high amount of copper in the Russian steel caused an intergranular electro-chemical reaction (in other words: severe corrosion) on Fiats and Alfas, and thus, eventually on Fiat's brand image, too...

1958-1961 Austin-Healey Sprite Mark I

"The new Sprite is a very pretty little car, with a lot of clever ideas under its sleek body. Unitary construction is used, resulting in a great saving of weight and an overall smoothness of line to bring joy to the eyes of a connoisseur. And it's as practical as pretty. The whole bonnet and wings assembly of the Sprite lifts up to give quick accessibility to the engine and front suspension. This should make home maintenance delightfully easy. There's fresh thought, too, in the rear suspension. Trailing links are used for improved road-holding and to reduce unsprung weight. The Sprite engine is the brilliant BMC 'A' series 948cc. engine. Twin S.U. carburettors lift its maximum output to 43 BHP at 5,200 rpm – making this great little engine an ideal power unit. Not the least of the many delightful features of this car is the price. At £668.17s, tax paid, it is the most astounding value offered to the enthusiast today. For the Sprite is everything a touring car ought to be and yet costs no more than a small saloon."

The english sales brochure from 1958 brings the advantages of the "fun" sportscar of the decade quite down to the point. Interesting, how american and english concepts of advertisement in the same era can differ: blatant superlatives there, while rather modest and explanatory here.

The concept behind the Healey Sprite was appealing: make a simple, affordable and lightweight roadster for the enthusiast driver. Already in the mid-50s, BMC boss Leonard Lord and Donald Healey had started thinking about a smaller companion car to the Austin-Healey 100 and the MG A, which were very successful on american shores. In May 1958, Austin-Healey presented the Sprite, Britain's first sports car which used an unitized construction instead of a classic body-on-frame architecture. The Sprite really was a basic car: it wasn't even delivered with a soft top, the doors were lacking inner panels, and to enhance rigidity, Donald Healey omitted even a trunk lid, forcing Sprite owners to access luggage and spare tire through the interior. The whole front end was made of one piece, and popping the hood was a spectacular procedure, because, like in a race car, the whole front swung up. To cut costs, the Sprite shared most of its mechanics with other BMC cars, and used the same engine that powered the tiny Austin A35 sedan. With 43 h.p., it wasn't the most powerful engine, and it was quite heavy, too. Hence, the Sprite was tiny and affordable, but not so lightweight after all. Still, you could throw the Sprite around at wish and go sideways in curves, or, in other words: have fun! The rudimentary design provided a pure driving pleasure which definitely attracted the enthusiast drivers it was conceived for.

Gerry Coker, who had already drawn the beautiful Austin-Healey 100, was responsible for the styling of the Sprite, and if you judge the lines and proportions, he did an awesome job, especially for such a small car. The only disturbing detail are the strangely positioned headlights, which were originally intended to be retractable. Last-minute cost cutting demanded fixed headlights, which perhaps did hurt the designer's ego, but on the other hand gave the car its unmistakable identity. The small Austin-Healey soon became nicknamed "Frogeye" in Europe and "Bugeye" in the U.S., and with 48.987 cars produced between 1958 and 1961, it was very successful on both sides of the Atlantic.

1946-1947 Packard Custom Super Clipper "8" Limousine

"'We wish we had a thousand of them!' a Packard dealer wired us. And we wish we could supply all the new 1946 Packard Clippers our dealers, and their customers, are clamoring for! Right now, all we can say to the thousands of loyal Packard friends, is this: We are doing our level best to accelerate production, and we shall continue to apportion available cars fairly among our dealers. Naturally, we, too, are eager for you to become the proud owner of this magnificent new car - for it's The Greatest Packard Ever Built!

In the brilliant flash of its performance ... and in every sweeping contour of its speed-stream styling ... it's far-and-away America's No.1 Glamour Car! And the new skills developed by Packard master craftsmen in building high-precision combat engines for planes and PT boats, now bring you, in this great car, a mechanical excellence that is little short of perfection itself! So, if you have to wait a little while for your new 1946 Packard Clipper, we hope you'll be patient. Here is a car worth waiting for, if there ever was one!"

We can't tell if the passengers of this Packard Custom Super Clipper are aware of the fact that they travel in one of the most aristocratic american automobiles of it's time. What once was reserved for a elite selection of wealthy citizens, now runs as a fixed-route taxi through Havana, cramming in as much passengers as possible on every trip. 

The Packard Clipper, aside from its stately appearance, was a milestone of american car design and engineering in its time, but in hindsight it was also the begin of Packard's downfall. Well into the 30s, Packard was the pinnacle of american status and luxury, building very expensive cars for very wealthy people. But declining sales after the Great Depression and the increasing competition by cheaper mass-production brands made the Packard directors conclude that elite luxury cars alone wouldn't keep the company afloat forever. Traditionally, Packards were built almost in a coachbuilder's fashion, involving a great deal of traditional craftsmanship. Things should change in 1938, when the upcoming rival Cadillac presented the inspired Sixty Special, a car which demonstrated that luxury buyers were much more fashion-conscious than it was believed at the time. The Sixty Special, initiated by Harley Earl, and designed in Bill Mitchell's Cadillac studio, was another landmark GM design, and it was very radical for its time. Cadillac was still far from being the "Standard of the World" by then, but this stylish design stunned the experts and customers alike. In a reaction to the commercial success of the new Cadillac, the Packard board ordered to develop a completely new, "low-priced" model: the Clipper, to compete with the Cadillac. This conclusion seems logical, but it inherited a substantial problem: the loss of brand value.

In 1941, the new Clipper line was launched and soon accounted for most of Packard's production volume. Quite unfortunately, the profit on this car was much smaller than on the older, pricier Packards, and on top of that, by moving out of the elitist niche, Packard suddenly became comparable with other brands and faced direct competition. The cheaper Packards began to erode the company's patriarchic luxury brand image. The Clipper itself was anything but a bad car, though, as it was designed with aid of illustrious names, such as George Walker (who should later be credited for the 1949 Ford and become Ford's styling chief), Packard's own Ed Mackauley and Werner Gubitz, and especially Howard "Dutch" Darrin, who provided the winning quarter scale clay model, and later styled the significant Kaiser. The new, well-proportioned Clipper simply looked stunning. It was wider than tall, which was a novelty at the time. The "fade-away" fenders beautifully extended way into the front doors, and the running boards almost disappeared, being cleverly concealed by the overlapping door panels. Despite being Packard's "budget" car (and being only half as expensive as the Cadillac Sixty Special) the Clipper had an really imposing appearance, especially the pictured long-wheelbase Limousine. The Clipper was an instant hit for Packard, and outsold the 1941 Cadillac by a margin of four to one. Too bad that the Second World War abruptly stopped the Clipper's success by stopping civil car production at all.

After the war, Packard resumed selling the prewar cars with some optical touch-ups, as it was common practice for all american car companies. Certainly, these postwar Packards look much better than the extensive facelift which debuted all too soon in June 1947. Yet, the so-called "bathtub" styling which integrated the fenders completely into the body to form one consistent overall volume, was all the rage in postwar times, as it was a really novel contribution to american car design, and something that the "Big Three" wouldn't adopt before 1949. So we can understand the urge of "independents" like Nash, Hudson and Packard to show-off a new and advanced design direction. It's upon speculation if saving the retooling costs for this facelift and continue selling the Clipper until the presentation of its successor would have brought Packard into a better financial situation. In fact, the company was more and more struggling with declining market share and low budget, which ultimately led to the merger with Studebaker in 1955, and in result an even faster demise.

1946 Mercury 4-Door Town Sedan

"You're a step ahead when you step into the new 1946 Mercury. Here's more beauty – all the way through – from massive new front grille to colorful two-tone interiors. More all-around performance: faster pick-up, power that flattens out hills, and bigger brakes that give you safe, sure stops with pressureless ease. There's more economy, too – for Mercury is surprisingly easy on gas and oil. Here's the heritage of over four decades of engineering skill . . . here is what you've been waiting for – the 1946 Mercury!"

Since the launch in 1939, Ford's beautiful sister brand was in a dilemma: being purely a Ford under the skin, but purposed to be an upmarket product, Mercury's heftier price tag had to be justified with something. For Mercury, this "something" was power and more glamour. And, surprise, the simple strategy worked pretty well. While Ford was known for a restrained, almost frugal use of any trim and equipment, Mercury followed in the footsteps of GM, adding glitter and the full set of amenities to its cars.

The prewar Mercury had a enlarged Flathead Ford V-8 engine, and 10 hp more power than the Ford, but these subtle differences between both brands were reduced merely to ornamentation when the civilian car production resumed right after the war. Mercury and Ford now even looked similar. Both brands shared the same body and had identical V-8 engines implanted. The only difference: the 1946 Mercury rode on a 2-inch longer wheelbase than the Ford, but it was barely notable, as the car just had a slightly longer hood. 

The trick to lure the affluent customers into believing that their car was worth paying so much money was in Mercury's glamour strategy: While Ford's front grille, in example, consisted of stamped metal, the beautiful "High-Style" front grille of the Mercury resembled a shiny electric razor with its multiple chromed and precisely assembled plates. Just add some more chrome trim on the side fenders and running boards and nicer interior appointments, and off you went in a pretty glamorous looking car. Mercury fared pretty well in postwar times, when the hungry car market absorbed almost everything on wheels regardless of it's premium price compared to a similar Ford.

For the next generation and right in time for the company's 10th anniversary, Mercury should finally get its own distinctive design that justified the premium price tag. Ironically, Mercury's dilemma was now passed on to Lincoln: both brands now shared the same body, and just a longer frontend ahead of the windscreen (which was necessary to accommodate the bigger engines) characterized the classier Lincoln. History repeats itself...

Unlike other postwar cars which appear identical over several model years, it's quite easy to distinguish a 1946 Mercury from a 1947 or 1948 model. The former sports a painted grille frame and a simple, straight bumper just like our pictured car, while the latter have a fully chromed front grille and vertical "winglets" added to the outer edges of the bumper.

1949 Oldsmobile 88 4-Door Town Sedan

"The city fades behind you - the straightway stretches before you - you're off on a glorious adventure! You're driving a 'Rocket' Engine Oldsmobile - discovering power and pace such as you've never known before in a motor car! Better yet - you know as you go that each thrilling mile costs you less - thanks to the 'Rocket's' remarkable gas mileage! Coupled with Oldsmobile's Hydra-Matic Drive*, the 'Rocket' gives you Futuramic economy to match its Futuramic smoothness and eagerness! Owners across the country tell us they are getting over 20 miles to the gallon ... at cruising speed! And this unbeatable Hydra-Matic-'Rocket' combination comes to you at its lowest cost in the nimble, spirited '88' Oldsmobile. See your Oldsmobile dealer - and make a lifelong date with the '88'!"

What you see here, parked behind the Iglesia del Santo Angel Custodio in La Habana Vieja, could rightfully be called the first american muscle car: for 1949, Oldsmobile  introduced the "88" Series, a combination of the rather light chassis of the 6-cylinder "76" Series and the brand-new "Rocket" V-8 engine. This combination proved to be an immediate success, especially appealing to younger and performance-hungry drivers. The customer's demand for the new "88" was so huge, that Oldsmobile dropped the "76" line already in 1950 and from now on only offered V-8 engines.

With it's groundbreaking overhead-valve "Rocket" V-8 engine, Oldsmobile declassified every other car around, including Cadillac, which had also introduced an own OHV V-8 engine in 1949. The new layout placed the valves directly above the combustion chamber. This allowed for a much higher compression ratio than the side-valve engines which were common at the time, and thus for more efficiency and (in theory) a higher fuel economy. Yet, Oldsmobile exploited the extra potential for more power rather than better mileage.

The historic significance of Oldsmobile's "Rocket" engine lies in the fact that this innovative engine design literally opened the flood gates, and by 1955, every major car manufacturer in the U.S. offered an own overhead-valve V-8. The race for horsepower was in full swing, and the basic layout of the OHV V-8 should become a standard for american cars well into the 80s.

Furthermore, the unconventional choice of mating this mighty engine with the light GM "A-body" made the "88" one of the fastest cars in America at the time, save for some imported exotics. The "88" literally would drive circles around a similar looking Chevrolet or Pontiac. With the "Rocket" engine, Oldsmobile's brand image rapidly shifted from "conservative" towards "performance", and before Fidel Castro's revolution, even the cuban police trusted in Oldsmobile as being the ideal chase-car. Throughout the 50s, other GM divisions should successfully repeat Oldsmobile's "recipe" of mounting massive engines into smaller cars and so boost their sporty image.

1954 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible

"Here is a car that's so easy to drive  . . .  so spirited  . . .  so smartly styled  . . .  that it easily doubles your traveling enjoyment. Fact is, 'most any trip is a pleasure trip in a new Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible. You'll like the vacation-size luggage compartment  . . .  the durable, washable vinyl upholstery that keeps its good looks over the miles. And, you can have any or all of the automatic power features you want as extra-cost options. See the new Bel Air Convertible at your Chevrolet dealer's soon."

We seriously doubt that you can find a much better looking Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible across the Florida Strait. Mind you: this ain't Miami, this is Cuba, where official dealerships, factory spare parts or old-car junkyards are non-existent. All the more, we marvel at the determination and stamina of the cuban motorists who keep their cars in such a good condition! But then again, good looks make for good business. Our pictured Chevy Bel Air convertible, much like others, is frequently used as a parade car for fiestas de quince, and that secures a good and steady income for its owner.

In the traditional hierarchy, convertibles were always among the best-equipped and costliest cars in the lineup of any manufacturer, and therefore you can find quite a few postwar convertibles on cuban roads, although the climatic conditions here make open driving not as exciting as one might think. Yet, to own the top model was reason enough for many choferes in Cuba's show-off society to put a convertible in their garage – or better in front of it. However, as soon as the trendy "hardtop convertibles" became fashionable, "real" convertibles gradually disappeared from the customer's wish-list.

Same car in new suit, Chevrolets lineup was completely restyled for 1953, and looked dashing. Under the skin, the cars still had the mechanics of their predecessors, but such loud two-tone colors and interior appointments were previously unseen in Chevrolet's price class and they made the competition look quite bland. Once again, Harley Earl and GM Styling were boldly setting the trend – and the whole industry followed. Especially the Bel Air convertible excelled in the style department, matching interior hues and "fashion fiesta" exterior colors. No one would like to sit on plastic seats today, but back in 1954, an all-vinyl interior was chic: "The gay, color-harmonized interior is distinctively tailored. The all-vinyl seats and sidewalls stay new-looking  . . .  wash clean in a jiffy."