When one considers Cuba and motor racing, the 1958 Cuban Grand Prix tends to come to mind. Just prior to the running of the race, Juan Manuel Fangio, the previous year's victor, was abducted at gunpoint by the revolutionary 26th of July Movement. Fangio spent the race hanging out with his captors, even finding himself sympathetic to the rebels and their cause.
President Fulgencio Batista fled Cuba as '58 became '59. The Grand Prix didn't happen during the first year of Castro's rule, but returned in 1960. After that, automobile racing, derided as frivolous and bourgeois—an activity with no place in a worker's state—was banned.
But the old American cars on the island since Batista's reign still stand. Repaired, refurbished, sometimes converted to boats meant for time-to-escape missions to Florida. Others find themselves equipped with Soviet-sourced diesel powerplants to stay on the road.
Lack of supply has kept Cubans obsessed with motion no choice but to become backyard engineers. And what speed parts they can't make, they import by means of questionable legality.
In the U.S., the early-aughts Subaru WRX is often referred to as "the new Fox Mustang." Used Fox Mustangs themselves were known fifteen years ago as "the new '55 Chevy." They're easily upgradeable, relatively bulletproof cars, affordable and cheap to turn into track-ready machines. But in Cuba, the new '55 Chevy is still the original '55 Chevy.
But this ain't no Goodguys. This ain't no cruise-in. This ain't no foolin' around. Armed with archaic machinery, a group of Cubans aren't interested in a show 'n' shine and a sock hop. They want to lift the ban on racing. They engage in informal motorsport anyway; on the city streets, on the back roads. They're not looking to host the likes of Vettel and Hamilton, they'd just like to get out and have a legitimate competition of their own.
Filmmaker Bent-Jorgen Perlmutter traveled to Cuba to tell the story of a group of guys who don't seem too different from American gearheads; they've done more with less. We could ramble endlessly about purity of spirit, universal commonality woven via the ethereal stank of internal combustion, accomplishment in the face of adversity, etc. But really, a bunch of dudes just wanna race old '50s Yank-tank hot rods? That's reason enough to want to scope Perlmutter's documentary, Havana Motor Club. The film's in post-production at the moment; a lengthy trailer is live now. It's absolutely worth checking out.
Havana Motor Club Trailer from Gloss Studio on Vimeo.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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