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Monday, June 3, 2013
a gullwing Mercedes found in Cuba, severely rusted and basically junk. Once a wonderful car... until a part broke and it was scavenged to keep others on the road I suppose
Posted by Unknown at 9:08 PM
found on http://caristas.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-gullwing-watch-it-and-weep.html
for a full article on it: http://caristas.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-young-man-and-300sl.html
awaiting that dream day when it will emerge better than new, this man's trophies are a Hispano-Suiza race car, a Fiat Abarth 750 Zagato "Double Bubble" coupe, even a Chrysler Special by Ghia show car.
And, of course, that Gullwing, a Mercedes-Benz 300SL, engine-less, rust creeping up its sides, lies beached amidst debris in a yard near Havana.
In the photos Miguel took of that very car in Nov 2012, the rust has spread everywhere: door sills, window frames, the roof. Worse, the car bends up at either end, its trademark doors jammed open. Because it was transported and stored poorly, Miguel writes at This European Life, "it's almost broken in half."
Also in Cuba are other very rare and incredible cars like a 1926 Rolls Royce Phantom I. Its coachwork has been recognized as the handiwork of Letourneur and Marchand of Paris. http://caristas.blogspot.com/2012/11/rich-relics.html
farther into the archives of Caristas.blogspot I found
farther into the archives of Caristas.blogspot I found
and among other Vettes, this 1954:
and inside it are :
1905 Cadillac
1926 Rolls-Royce Phantom I
1953 MG TD
1920s Fiat Alfa Romeo roadster
1970s Daimler
1980s Chevy replica of a 1957 Maserati used by Juan Manuel Fangio
Cadillac V16 1930
1959 Oldsmobile, owned by Commander Camilo Cienfuegos
1918 Ford T
1930 Baby Lincoln
funeral carriage
1977 Ducati 900SS owned by Fidel Castro
1915 Mack AC. Chain drive
the personal cars of Fidel and Raul Castro, as well as the Chevrolet Impala of Che Guevara, Mr. Maestre said he would like to secure what is perhaps Cuba's most important car: Ernest Hemingway's Chrysler.
The best online photo gallery is http://www.flickr.com/photos/riveranotario/sets/72157633360600664/with/8683984605/
Eduardo Mesejo Maestre, curator of the Depósito del Automóvil, the country’s official antique car museum arranged Treasury Department permission for Tom Cotter to travel directly to Havana from Miami on cultural exchange visas. Call it spark plug diplomacy.
We were told of the country’s dire economy, where street sweepers and doctors make the same wages. So auto repair for the island’s vintage cars becomes a creative endeavor: shampoo is used for brake fluid; iron pipes are cut up for piston rings; Coca-Cola is used to loosen rusty bolts; and cars are painted with sponges, then buffed with toothpaste.
“We call it the Cuban way,” Abel Contreras de la Guardia, our translator and tour guide, said. “We do anything to keep our cars running.”
Depósito del Automóvil is at Oficios No. 13, Habana Vieja, C.P. 10100, La Habana, Cuba. Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/automobiles/03cuba.html?_r=0
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