1957 Ford Cars

Mark Phelan: Dream Cruise could serve as Cuban-American exchange

Could classic American cars bridge the distance between Detroit and Havana and help build relationships between Americans and Cubans?

An advocate of "people-to-people diplomacy" would like to do just that by hosting a Cuban contingent in the Woodward Dream Cruise. The idea is to showcase the innovation of Detroit's latest models in Havana while honoring Cubans' ingenuity in keeping decades-old Detroit iron running.

Countless roadblocks stand in its way, but Rick Shnitzler's idea should appeal to history buffs and car lovers. Shnitzler and Detroit native John Dowlin founded Taillight Diplomacy, a nongovernment group that's built links between Cuban and American car culture for 13 years.

Walking the streets of Cuba is like stepping back in time, says Detroit journalist John McElroy. American cars from the 1920s, '30s, '40s and '50s are still everyday transportation. McElroy is producing a report on Cuba's old cars and their owners' inventiveness. "Stuck in Time: American Classics in Cuba" is scheduled to air July 24 on "AutoLine Detroit," the program McElroy hosts on WTVS locally and other public TV stations around the country.

Cuba was the richest country in the Caribbean for decades. Cubans bought up to 100,000 new cars a year, most of them from neighboring America.

That ended with the revolution and the U.S. trade embargo, now in its sixth decade.

The rest of the world pretty much ignores the embargo, but very few Cubans can afford a new vehicle. They keep the old American cars -- some of which have been in a single family for generations -- running with baling wire and inspiration.

"I've seen a Studebaker with a diesel engine from a Russian tractor," McElroy said. "I've also seen the most painstaking, loving restorations you can imagine. I saw people laying out brochures and old magazine ads on the floor to figure out the shape of the fender for a 1928 Chevy."

One member of the Havana Car Club soaked wood from a local tree in water for two years until it became pliable enough to shape into a steering wheel. Others make their own brake fluid by mixing mineral oil with sap from an indigenous fig bush, he said.

Cuba could also provide the Dream Cruise with historic gems like Che Guevara's green 1960 Chevrolet Bel Air. The revolutionary icon was famous for using a motorbike but he learned to drive in a Willys Jeep. He drove a broken-down Studebaker until the government decided he needed something more reliable and drafted the Chevy.

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