1956 Studebaker Sky Hawk

"Presenting the newest, most distinguished hardtop convertible of the year."

The ad sounds pretty promising, but in 1956 the Studebaker Sky Hawk wasn't the newest anymore. How the Hawk inherited its "new" design and name, however, is an interesting story: right after the merger between Studebaker and Packard in 1954, it became evident that none of the joining companies was financially sound. New president James Nance, desperately looking for ways to cut costs, had to make some unpopular choices, such as using Studebaker bodies as the base for future Packards. Certainly a easier decision was cancelling the design contract with Raymond Loewy Associates which did cost Studebaker around $ 1 Million yearly. As a farewell gift, Nance commissioned Loewy Associates to redesign the "Loewy Coupes" one more time for 1956.

It turned out to be a challenging job, because the available budget was really, really tight. Robert Bourke, Chief designer at Loewy's Studebaker studio, decided that a redesigned bonnet with an upright front grille would have the most visual impact. Hence, the Studebaker Coupe was essentially a 1953 Loewy Coupe, with its skin ironed out. Incidentally, although the trunk was a bit more bulged on the outside too, the load volume didn't change at all, because all structural parts underneath the skin had remained the same. Yet, Studebaker's marketing people insisted on a new name, hoping that the customers would assume that the car was all-new, too.

James Nance would have been happy to ditch the Loewy coupe in his cost-saving efforts, too, as it was costly to produce. But then, it was the only body in Studebaker's lineup that technically allowed for a hardtop version in a time when hardtops a were all the rage. Thus, the beautiful Loewy Coupe finally "survived" in production until 1963, much longer than ever expected.

1949 DeSoto Custom Convertible

"The engineers and artists who designed this new De Soto knew exactly what you wanted. Here is a car with a new wide, low look. But there's more room inside  . . .  not less. There are big wide doors that you walk into  . . .  not creep into. And the steering wheel doesn't hit your knees or obstruct your view. Here's an instrument panel that curves forward to give front-seat passengers real stretch-out comfort. Here are luxurious chair-high seats that mean more real visibility through the bigger windshield and larger windows. Here's the famous De Soto 'ride' made smoother than ever. And De Soto lets you drive without shifting. Its Tip-Toe Hydraulic Shift with gyrol Fluid Drive has a record of billions of miles of effortless driving. See this new De Soto at your dealer's as soon as possible. Compare it feature by feature with any other car on the market at any price. Then decide."

One of just 3,385 produced in 1949, this DeSoto Custom Convertible from Cienfuegos is a pretty rough looking proyecto. It may need loads of perseverance, but once finished, it sure will be a looker on the road.

Certainly much more impressive than its stodgy and ornate design are the vast dimensions of this car. When you enter the driver's seat, you actually seem to step up! In 1949, customers could buy two generations of DeSotos, because the new lineup was presented pretty late in March 1949. The ones who had signed their contracts early, had bad luck and took delivery of a 1948 model, titled as a 1949 car. The all-new "second series" DeSotos for 1949 wore a modernized skin and were a bit longer, but large parts of car and engine were still based on the previous model. And with a 125.5-inch (3,19m) wheelbase and an overall length of 207 inches (5,26m), the two-door DeSoto was anything but small. Chrysler chairman K.T. Keller wanted all Chrysler cars to be practical, and demanded an upright silhouette that would let the occupants keep wearing a hat even on the backseat, which resulted in stodgy cars, nicknamed "Keller boxes".

Problem was, that the general car market began to change when Americans discovered styling at the dawn of the 50s. Beside a new, low-slung Oldsmobile or Chevrolet, the DeSotos soon looked heavy and just a bit wrong. However, in 1949, the main reasons for buying these massive cars were dependability and DeSoto's solid build quality, rather than a sharp look. Yet, change was in the air, and with the introduction of Virgil Exner's "Forward Look" designs six years later, DeSoto should become one of the most stylish looking brands on the road.

1974 Ford Falcon Standard

"Falcon Standard. Calidad en acción!"

"Quality in action!", we think, is a nice advertisement claim, although there's perhaps not too much action anymore in this battered, 6-cylinder powered Ford. Most of Cuba's large cars come from Detroit, but there are quite a few exceptions to the rule. Meet the Ford Falcon, born in Argentina, but a familiar sight in Cuba, too. Ford was a longstanding investor in Argentina, producing cars there since 1917, but the troubles of the Second World War stopped the activities for almost two decades, as it became cheaper to import Fords directly from the US.

The production of the Ford Falcon in Argentina had pretty modest beginnings: to circumvent a ban on imported cars that the country had implemented between 1961 and 1978, Ford began shipping CKD kits – completely disassembled Falcons – to Argentina, and re-assembled them locally since 1962. Soon, the Falcon became one of the best selling cars in Argentina, and gave Ford good reason to install a proper production line. 30 years later, long after the Falcon was discontinued in the U.S., Ford of Argentina still produced the Falcon in its original shape. Although almost half a million Falcons had been built before the production ceased in 1991, the annual production figures never justified an complete overhaul. Ford just modernized the car occasionally and added some optical touch-ups to keep it in tune with the time's taste. The 1974 Falcon, pictured here, was the fourth facelift since 1962, and sported a straightened body, new rectangular head- and taillights and a reworked interior. The car, its proud owner told us, still runs on its original engine.

Despite the US-embargo, Ford of Argentina sold cars to Cuba until 1975, when the regulations were tightened, and also foreign subsidiaries of U.S. corporations became subject to approval by the U.S. Commerce Department and Treasury Department. This didn't avert Ford from doing business with the communist rebels, and several times, substantial amounts of Ford vehicles were sold via Argentina to Cuba – all approved by the U.S. government.

1956 Pontiac 870 Four-door Sedan

"Wheeling this big beauty down the road you're in command of a very special kind of performance — performance reserved exclusively for the pleasure of Pontiac owners! Why so special? Well, first of all, under that broad, gleaming hood there's the industry's most advanced high-torque, high-compression engine — the brilliant new 227-h.p. Strato-Streak V-8. Most cars would be satisfied to stop right there — but not Pontiac! A new transmission was developed to refine all that power — and refined it is, with the oil-smooth Strato-Flight Hydra-Matic*, tailor-made for Strato-Streak power — and nothing else! The result? America's newest, smoothest, most modern performance team and the greatest 'go' on wheels!"

This Pontiac 870 from Sancti Spiritus wears a proper warpaint, perfectly matching the powerful image that Pontiac's advertisement liked to associate with the 1956 Pontiacs.

When petrolhead Semon E. Knudsen became boss of GM's Pontiac division in 1956, he swiftly began to trim the brand towards more sportiness and performance. Naturally, developing new cars takes quite a while, and thus, the Pontiacs for 1956 remained on steady course with their glitzy, ornamental styling. Also the engines, completely renewed in 1955 anyway, just gained some horses. But you can sense the upcoming change already in Pontiac's advertisement: when you compare the fashion-talk of the 1955 ads with the performance-talk in 1956, you wouldn't imagine that they describe essentially the same cars. Incidentally, Pontiac even modified the naming of their lineup: except the top-of-the-line "Star Chief", all models briefly lost their indian designation in 1956. The 1955 "Chieftain 870", for instance, now was simply called the "870".

The street machines to match the bold advertisement claims wouldn't arrive before 1958, but a limited fuel-injected, high-performance "Bonneville" series, and the removal of Pontiac's signature "Silver Streak" chrome stripes in 1957 were clearly hinting at the things to come.