Cuba legalizes general purchase and sale of cars

[Bacchus39]

Source: AP

Tue, Sep 27, 2011See latest photos »HAVANA (AP) — Cuba legalized the sale and purchase of automobiles for all citizens on Wednesday, another major step in the communist run island's economic transformation and one that the public has been clamoring for during decades.
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The new law will allow the sale of cars from all models and years, and it legalizes ownership of more than one car, although tax rates go up slightly.

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The purchase of new cars will be easier than in the past, but still extremely limited. Buyers will have to go to a small number of state-owned dealerships and demonstrate they made the money to buy the car through salary earned in an approved field, as opposed to from remittances sent from relatives abroad.

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While most car sales have been illegal without government permission since the early 1960s, used automobiles have been widely traded in a booming black market for years. Buyers would hand over large amounts of cash under what amounted to handshake agreements, with title not changing hands.




Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/cuba-legalizes-general-purchase-sale-cars-181121522.html

[dipsydoodle]

1. Its thought

that all that pre-1959 US stock is still running in some shape or form not that any of it can currently be exported to the best of my knowledge.

One day the government will make a huge bundle selling all those Willys Jeeps they've got into the European market where they could fetch up to £20,000 each.

[Old Troop]

12. I had the same thought. What would a well maintained '59 Buick go for in the US?

[saras]

2. Stupid idea, but I suppose the pressure is irresistible

They lost a chance to leave cars behind and move forward, but I don't imagine they could either afford it, or that it would be tolerated by the US.

[naaman fletcher]

4. huh?

why is it a dumb idea? how do you want people to get around?

[KamaAina]

13. Buses? Trains?

It is an island, after all.

[naaman fletcher]

14. It's a pretty big island.

I presume you don't have a car?

[KamaAina]

19. No, I do not.

But at 700 miles, the entire island is less than twice the length of our own Northeast Corridor (Boston-NYC-DC).

[Gregorian]

11. Cheers! Someone else get's it.

And to answer the "huh" above, one should not forget that humans did in fact survive without cars, for all of their existence. Does one have to spell out the connections that have led up to just why we're in such trouble?

[naaman fletcher]

15. I suppose you don't have a car? nt

[Gregorian]

17. I ride a bike 3000 miles per year.

I drive only when I have to. But that's not the point. Americans are flagrant in their driving habits. The car is a luxury. Not a necessity. Most people find that threatening.

For brevity's sake, I'll omit what could be a rather large volume of information and just say that cars are killing us.

[naaman fletcher]

18. You are a hypocrite then.

If you want to deprive other people of cars, you should first get rid of your own.

[Gregorian]

20. Yes, I'm a hypocrite.

But there is a difference between the way Americans live their lives now, and careful frugal living, even if it is modern. I'm not against modern lifestyles. I am against what almost inevitably happens when people are given the choice to an easy lifestyle versus a more difficult one. Try commuting by bike in the rain versus a car.

It's hard to explain how drinking too much is unhealthy, to a drunk. Drinking a little can be beneficial.

There is a big difference between having a car, and being a flagrant driving fool. I believe it is best to resist the temptation to proliferate the car. Not to eliminate the car. I was once one of those who commuted by car. One day a friend told me I should give up the car and try the bike. It was against my will, but I followed his example. And like a drunk who sees a better life, I realized what a better world we would have if more people resisted the weak way of living we have bought in to.

[secondwind]

3. We were in Havana in April, and those cars from the 1950's still look in pretty good shape.

[dipsydoodle]

7. You may not have looked under the hoods / bonnets

:)

They've been kept looking good by the use of good fashioned old panel beating and sometimes sheer inventiveness. Example here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4oFIFxUFG0

Must confess I didn't like the tacky alloys on a lot of the oldies there. Mixed batch of cars here but I've got loads of stills myself : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ0uT5vcTy4&feature=related

I was there 3 weeks last October and will be back for another 3 next April.

:hi:

[Vogon_Glory]

9. Externals Don't Necessarily Tell The Whole Story

Cuba might have been a classic car collector's happy hunting ground as late as the 1980's, but it isn't now. I've seen a couple too many of those old cars' hoods opened to believe that very many of them come even close to being stock.

Many, if not most, of those old cars have engine and transmission parts from decidedly non-standard parts these days. The motors are as likely as not from some defunct donor Isuzu or Lada, some of the parts are machined or came from other sources, in short, these cars ain't what they seem to be.

I'm sad to say it, but while the pre-revolutionary cars of Cuba look wonderful (and some of the post-1959 cars on the island are becoming antiques in their own right), they aren't anywhere NEAR factory stock. You want to look at restored, genuine old cars, go to a collectible car show or a automobile museum in the US or in Canada.

[The Northerner]

5. Cuba eases ban on sales of cars

Source: Agence France-Presse

HAVANA — Cuba authorized auto sales among individuals on Wednesday, easing a 50-year-old ban that has helped make the communist-ruled island a living museum of vintage cars.

Until now, Cubans have only been permitted to sell each other vehicles built before the country's 1959 revolution, which has given long life to the chrome and fintail antiques that swarmed pre-revolutionary Havana.

The new regulations, published in the Official Gazette, had been expected as part of a series of reforms being undertaken by President Raul Castro to ease state controls on the economy and encourage some forms of small-scale private enterprise.

The regulations provide for "the transfer of ownership of vehicles for purchase-sale or donation among Cubans living on the island or foreigners who are residents of Cuba."

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gpR2mF559V-qY6iuwTA277OvNhJg?docId=CNG.c533ceaa1889d9e0230368db0bb1b454.391

[dipsydoodle]

6. Duplicate LBN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=5009639&mesg_id=5009639

[Vogon_Glory]

8. The Best Sorts Of Laws Are The Ones Likely To Be Obeyed

The best sorts of laws are the ones most likely to be obeyed by the majority of the population. It looks like someone in Raul Castro's government decided to inch Cuban government policy a bit towards reality.

[joshcryer]

16. Here's more on how they plan to update the economic model:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=405&topic_id=55473&mesg_id=55473

They're basically taking a bit from Russia and a bit from China in the way that they're going.

[flamingdem]

10. It has always been legal to buy/sell pre-1950 vehicles - the Japanese have

been buying for a while. Cubans were/are able to own these without special paperwork