On 160th Street in La Lisa municipality, Havana, two almendrones stand motionless, holding over half a century of urban history. These mid-20th-century U.S. automobiles arrived in Cuba in the late 1940s and 1950s, during a time of intense vehicle imports. Their current abandonment marks the end of a mechanical survival model that endured for decades.
The almendrones, likely manufactured between the late 1940s and 1950s, were part of Cuba's national automotive fleet expansion. Before 1959, the country boasted one of Latin America's highest per capita rates of U.S. automobiles. Havana modernized in step with the car boom, featuring new avenues, gas stations, and repair shops. Models from Chevrolet, Ford, Plymouth, and Dodge blended into the daily landscape.
The trade cutoff with the United States in the early 1960s turned these vehicles into non-renewable assets. A unique mechanical culture emerged, centered on preservation, repair, and adaptation through part reuse, engine modifications, and generational knowledge transfer. Each almendrón evolved into a bespoke solution, driven by necessity and ingenuity.
For decades, they were vital to urban and suburban transport, operating as shared taxis, family vehicles, and workhorses. In outlying neighborhoods like La Lisa, they handled school runs, goods delivery, and links between residential, industrial, and commercial zones.
Now on 160th Street, their faded paint, spreading rust, and missing parts signal they can no longer serve their purpose. This stillness stems from gradual wear, not abrupt neglect. Yet they hold historical significance as tangible relics of a long urban era, mirroring the nation's economic, social, and technical shifts. They do not block traffic; they simply persist, quiet witnesses to an era that still lingers over the city.
