These Old Jalopies

In Cuba, if you were to ask for a ride to the nearest town, don't plan on waiting for the bus.

Thousands of 1950's era American Cars have been pushed into service as taxis, to ferry people around to where they need to get to. Since Castro took over the country in 1959ish the country has seen a steady decrease in public transportation. So, enterprising Cubans busted out the old American muscle cars, replaced all piping of the car with the 21st century stuff, and replaced the engine with the Soviet era type. Now walk out of the airport and you are likely to see an American car body being pushed by the Soviets (if you catch the pun). Some have said it's like a time warp walking onto the street and seeing all these old cars, that in America are more or less destined for the museum.

However Cuba's dictator complains that these taxi services charge too high of prices, so he bought $1 billion worth of Chinese buses and trucks. The Chinese type are airconditioned.

It's pretty neat, that the Cubans, not only got these cars working without the help of the government, but that they are still working!!! One driver remarked about these cars still being able to move "The makers must have made a mistake."

The original article is from CNN.

Technorati tags: Cuba American Cars Public Transportation CNN