A visit to Cuba reminds us of the lost art of the skilled craftsman
Several years ago I had a great experience touring the Morgan Sports Car plant located at Great Malvern in the United Kingdom.
The buildings were not in great shape, but just watching these guys hand build vehicles left me in awe, not to mention the fact that their order books were filled for seven years.
To assemble these hand build sports cars they were still using hard wood frames to hang the sheet metal, which in itself is a real skill. Watching a superb craftsman trimming a fender with tin snips was not to be missed.
Old fashioned manufacturing
They had tin snips in one hand and a mug of tea in the other. One of the more amusing stories was that they had to purchase their hardwood supply from Belgium and on occasions the band saws would hit pieces of shrapnel that had been embedded in the trees during the First World War. At times this had caused the bandsaw blades to shatter, which was less than desirable.
I have often asked the question, where else in the world could you find this quality of craftsman, or have they all died out?
Back to the future
The answer was Cuba! Necessity really is the mother of invention. How this country has managed to keep so many 1950s era vehicles on the road is nothing short of amazing.
Irrespective of the original vehicle manufacturer, looking under the hood you often find a Lader engine which currently still appear to be in ample supply. The way they re-engineer engine mounts and other hardware to make up a non-original engine is hard to figure out as everything looks like it was built that way by the factory.
What’s under the hood?
I have found traveling around the world that enthusiastic car guys have a genuine camaraderie and love to share their experiences. So when asking a guy driving a 1950 Ford Fairlane if it still had the original engine, he laughed and was delighted to lift the hood. I have no idea where he got it or how he managed to install it, but the engine was a shiny new Toyota six cylinder diesel which had been installed perfectly.
We were lucky enough to meet one of the city’s top mechanics and he was happy to show us around. It has been a long time since I had seen copper and asbestos cylinder head gaskets, but they were still using them and on occasions more than once!
There was a mechanic busy refurbishing a cylinder head and installing spark plug inserts by hand. They were also forging steel to make steering linkages and drop arms. It is amazing what you can produce if the part is not available.
Just how long the supply of Lader engines will be available they had no idea, but these engines are still very much in demand. I never thought that this was a good engine when brand new, but I was obviously wrong as they are reliably powering so many different makes of vehicles in Cuba.
If you are one of those people who like auto body shops, you would love to watch the local people doing amazing work with the very basic equipment.
On one afternoon, we watched two guys with a flat sheet of steel, hand making a hood for a Willys Jeep. Their tools were varied sized sandbags, blocks of wood, two bottle jacks and a couple of old hammers. When they had finished, the hood fit perfectly and even had the Jeep emblem stamped on the front. True it took two people over a week to finish the work, but the quality was superb.
We also saw a 1954 Ford Victoria body being totally re-skinned. It was fascinating seeing a door being rebuilt by a guy working on the side of the road, using what could only be described as basic hand tools.
Chinese vehicles arriving
As a wise man once said nothing ever stays the same. So how long it will be before you see McDonald’s on every street corner in Cuba and only shiny new vehicles is anybody’s guess. Currently most new vehicles are Hyundai, Kia, Skoda and Peugeot which was a surprise. You also see a rapidly growing assortment of Chinese vehicles often made by Geely.
One of my favourite things about visiting Cuba is when you think you have seen just about everything, you turn a corner you see a brand new Audi being used as a Taxi. But when you see an A6 Audi parked next to a horse and cart, also being used as a taxi, it blows your mind.
For sure Cuba is changing and many more new vehicles are appearing on the roads, but I personally would take a Chevy Bel Air, Chrysler New Yorker or a Ford Fairlane over a brand new Geely any day of the week.
With our ever rapidly evolving world, one of the things that never appears to change is the Cuban people. They are a joy to spend time with and exhibit a sense of humor that is second to none, along with friendliness and hospitality we could all learn from.
