How Cuba’s “Yank Tanks” Keep Rolling
It’s one thing for experts to explain why Cuba’s stash of pre-1962 American cars may not be appealing outside the country. It’s quite another to see them in action, up close, as Cubans use them in their daily lives.
As Yahoo Studios captured on a recent trip to the island, these pieces of old Detroit iron don’t get treated much better than a taxicab in any other part of the world. And between the Cuban government’s strict restrictions on private vehicle ownership, and the lack of replacement parts, most of the old vehicles around Havana have few if any original pieces; they’re more likely to be powered by coughing Russian diesels than their original V-8s.
And yet, they still manage to evoke the spirit of a pre-revolutionary Cuba, one that more American tourists will experience in the upcoming year. Check out the video to see what riding in a Cuban time capsule feels like.
