The mark of Cuba.
The prevalence of vintage US and Soviet cars here in Havana gives the city a stamp of recognition like no place in the world. If you’re seeing Russian-made Ladas chase 1950s Cadillacs down the boulevard, there’s only one place you can be.
A product of the 50-year embargo on US goods in Cuba, the cars are evidence that distinctive features of place need not be static pieces of infrastructure. London may well be known for the London Eye; Paris for the Eiffel Tower; but for Havana, it is the roar of the gas-guzzling engines as they cruise through the city that makes the place immediately knowable.
