Captivating Cuba

If there's one thing which I particularly love about Cuba then it has to be all the classic cars. But my passion for these vehicles is nothing on the Cuban's who see car owning as very much a status symbol, having a car provides them with the best-paid job and therefore vehicles are often passed down from family members. With such an important role it's of no wonder that Cubans place such high regard on their vehicle and keep them glistening clean.

American cars were imported into Cuba up until the 1960s, which is why you rarely see any modern cars in Cuba. On my last trip to Cuba I was lucky enough to take a trip in a vintage motor and for car aficionados, like me, I would highly recommend it on your Cuba holidays.

My tour began in the morning when I was greeted by a gleaming blue Cadillac, polished to perfection. The car was owned by a Cuban called Raul, who explained that it had been his father's first car at the age of seventeen. He remembered the elation he felt when his father first entrusted him with his prized vehicle and vowed to keep it in tip-top condition, which it's clear that he has done since.

Our tour begin along the Havana Seafront and as Raul reached over and stuck some 'Little Richard' on the stereo it felt as if I'd travelled back in time to the halcyon days of the 1950s. With the roof up we whizzed past the seafront and to the automobile museum to see some even older Cuban cars. I was in my element looking at Chevrolets and Corvettes and could have probably spent the day at the museum, if it weren't for the fact that I was aching to get back in my Cadillac and explore some of the sights and sounds of old Cuba. Raul drove us around some of the old neighbourhoods of 1940s and 1950s Cuba, and like the car it appeared that little had changed since.

The next part of the tour brought out my inner mechanic, as Raul explained all the mechanics and inner workings of the Cad and I was allowed to spend some tinkling around with the carburettor, before posing for a series of photographs inside, outside and around the car.

After much posing, I jumped back into the car where Raul drove me to 'La Bodeguita Del Medio', a 1950's bar, which Ernest Hemingway used to frequent for the Mojitos. I can honestly say that sipping those deliciously refreshing cocktails, was the only time during my car tour that I was thankful not to be the one driving.

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