Chariots of Chrome

Classic American Cars of Cuba

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by Simon Bell

Firefly Books Ltd

Due/Published September 2003, 144 pages, cloth

ISBN 1550463942

A photographic cruise of the vintage cars still in use in Cuba.

Cuba is a vintage car lover's paradise. Until the 1960s, Cuba was the world's leading importer of American automobiles. It is estimated that as many as ten thousand mid-century American cars still exist in Cuba, making this country perhaps the world's largest living automotive museum.

Vintage Cadillacs, Chevys, Fords, Pontiacs, Ramblers, Packards, Studebakers and Hudsons spice up the streets of Cuba's cities and its coastal highways with hot primary colors, dazzlingly ornate chrome, sinfully luxurious interiors and defiantly large girth. Each car has been lovingly maintained by generations of inventive Cuban mechanics. Some cars are restored to their former glory, others have been elaborately improvised into working condition from Soviet truck engines and hand-forged parts.

Chariots of Chrome is a pictorial tribute to those generously proportioned American automobiles enjoying a vibrant old age in Cuba. These historic cars are captured in action and at rest on the island's plantations and backroads, along Marina Hemingway, and at such diverse landmarks as Havana's Tropicana nightclub and Capiltolio, Santiago's El Cobre Cathedral and Vedado's El Rapido burger palace.