New life begins for Cuba’s classic cars

The half-century-old embargo on most U.S. exports has turned Cubans into some of the most inventive mechanics in the world, technicians capable of engineering feats long lost to the modern world of electronic ignitions and computerized engine calibration.

President Barack Obama’s announcement that he is loosening the embargo through executive action has Cubans dreaming of an end to the era of cannibalizing train springs for suspensions and cutting tire patches by hand. One of the measures announced by Obama last week would allow U.S. exports to Cuba’s small class of private business owners, which includes thousands of mechanics and taxi drivers who shuttle both Cubans in battered sedans for about 50 cents a ride and tourists in shiny, restored vintage vehicles for $25 an hour.

While the details of Obama’s reforms remain uncertain, Cubans are hopeful that their publication in the coming weeks will be the announcement of the end of a five-decade drought of cars and parts.

“Maybe it will be possible to get parts faster, at better prices,” said a hopeful Raul Arabi, 58, who spoke with The Associated Press while seated behind the wheel of a cherry-red 1952 Chevy convertible that still runs on its original 6-cylinder engine. “If they opened a specific store for this, even better.”

Cuba long restricted car ownership almost entirely to prominent bureaucrats, high achievers in their fields and professionals who completed government service abroad. That limit was dropped last year but replaced by markups drove prices as high as $262,000 for a Peugeot listed for the equivalent of about $53,000 outside Cuba. That leaves classic cars as still one of the only options for Cubans needed private transportation for themselves or a...