1955 DeSoto Diplomat 4-door Sedan

"No other car in the class of the Diplomat four-door Sedan has ever offered so much room and style both inside and out. Its clean, flowing, low appearance accentuates the beauty of the Diplomat's lines. Its built-in value is reflected in even the smallest detail."

Here's a car from Detroit that you could never buy in the U.S.: the 1955 DeSoto Diplomat is essentially a Plymouth Savoy, wearing a bespoke DeSoto front clip. Chrysler used to sell these cheaper Plymouths, masqueraded as pricier DeSotos or Dodges in its export markets. These "Plodges" were usually built in Canada, but in 1955, Chrysler of Canada didn't export any cars, and so all DeSoto Diplomat came from Detroit.

Cuba is perhaps the only country in the world where you can find very different looking DeSotos of the same model year in peaceful coexistence. Parallel to the "official" channels, many cars, new or used, were imported to the island via ferry from Florida. The high markup at Cuban dealerships made this import a worthwhile effort. Even more so in 1955, because the U.S.-bound "Forward Look" DeSotos were based on the larger Chrysler platform, and looked so much more stunning than the Plymouth-based export models that were sold by Cuban Chrysler dealers.

1954 Chrysler Custom Imperial Sedan

"In the Imperial for 1954, Chrysler stylists and designers have combined smart styling and conservative beauty to create a car that has a distinguished appearance, quite in keeping with the distinguished performance for which the Imperial is already so well and widely known and respected. With the distinctive new grille and bumper design; the long, graceful, perfectly blended lines, from front to rear; the wide, one-piece curved windshield; the Clearbac wrap-around window; and the exclusive Diving Eagle and the Chrysler winged-V on the hood, there is little likelihood anyone would mistake the Imperial, by Chrysler, for any other car."

In the picture it doesn't look like much. Yet, in reality, it was the sheer size of this car that instantly grabbed our attention: the Imperial, Chrysler's top model for 1954, measures a whopping 223.8 inches (5685mm) from bumper to bumper. When new, it should compete with America's best: Cadillac, Lincoln and Packard. The Imperial was more expensive than any of them, but trailed them in sales numbers. Out of 5,758 Chrysler Imperial in total, just 4,324 Custom Imperial Sedan left the factory in 1954: not many compared to 96,680 Cadillac, 36,993 Lincoln and 31,291 Packard in the same year.

The reason for the customer's rejection: the Imperial looked too much like a lesser Chrysler. Yet, technically, it was a showcase of Chrysler engineering: the biggest "FirePower" Hemi V-8 engine, "PowerFlite" transmission, "Full-Time Power Steering" and "Chrysler Safe-Guard Hydraulic Brakes" all came standard. The majestic Crown Imperial 8-passenger limousine even had Lambert-Ausco disc brakes — an absolute novelty in the early 50s. On other Imperials, these brakes were available as an option, but the steep $400 price tag meant very few takers.

Juan Manuel, the owner of our pictured Imperial, is a retired pilot and a chatty man: "My career began as a military pilot, but when I became too old for the job, I became a pilot for Cubana airlines. I flew everything on Cuban skies, from Russian MiG-21, Antonovs and Iljuschins to American Cessnas. This Chrysler Imperial is mine since more than 40 years. When I got it, it had still its original Hemi-engine installed. Chico, this car was quick! But, you know, we all get older and, just like me, it drank too much. We all had to shift into a lower gear. Now, the Imperial runs with a Mercedes-Benz Diesel and I just have my occasional traguito".

1958 Chevrolet Yeoman 4-door 6-Passenger Station Wagon

"Smart good looks and rugged utility here! The economical Yeoman, with its sturdy vinyl interior and linoleum platform, welcomes hard wear. For fun, there is plenty of color and comfort! And there's traditional Chevrolet quality, too, in the craftsmanship of Body by Fisher, polished lacquer finish and fine materials."

Station wagons enjoy a steady popularity among Cuba's choferes today. Especially taxistas appreciate them because they can cram more people into the car on each trip. It wasn't always the case: in the 40s and 50s, the classic sedan was the car of choice for Cuba's prospering middle-class society. Station wagons generally were surrounded by an aura of being cheap utility vehicles. Their raising popularity among U.S. citizens, moving out into the newly built suburbs in the latter 50s, was a trend that didn't arrive in Cuba before Fidel Castro's Revolution in 1959. And then it was too late, since the new government effectively stopped the arrival of American cars and trends at Cuban shores for the next decades.

When talking of period station wagons from Chevrolet, many remember the "big" names like Nomad or Bel Air, but hardly anybody seems to know the Yeoman. With good reason, as the Yeoman was an one-time wonder and only available in 1958. New styling and new names was the name of the game at Chevrolet in this year. The short-lived lineup should become replaced by completely new models already in 1959. And so did the Yeoman nameplate.

The Yeoman was Chevrolet's entry into the station wagon world. More affluent customers could also buy a Brookwood, or a Nomad at the upper end of the lineup. Regardless of its entry-level status, the Yeoman sported abundant chrome trim and looked quite flashy — for a station wagon. Inside, it was all plastic fantastic: vinyl upholstery, rubber floor mats and a linoleum-padded trunk might sound terrible today, but, except for the linoleum, these were common interior trim materials in many cars at the time.

To make this spartan interior sound any more interesting, Chevrolet's copywriters had to be imaginative: "You can swab this deck! The Yeoman's not afraid of soapy water. Tough vinyl upholstery, rubber floor mats and linoleum platform make this station wagon interior completely washable — with water and a sponge! Ideal for sportsmen, gardeners, or folks with a fleet of small fry."

1957 Nash Ambassador Super 4-door Sedan

"If you like to get off the beaten path — away from crawling, horn-honking traffic — there's just one car for you — the 1957 Nash Ambassador. You're king of the wide open spaces when you slide into the widest 'driver's seat' in any car . . . look through the broadest windshield . . . enjoy the greatest shoulder room  and head room. At throttle touch, the all-new, all-Nash 255 Horsepower Ambassador V-8 engine can flatten out the steepest mountains. A new kind of springing floats you over the roughest roads for the finest shock-proof ride in the industry. All-new 14-inch wheels and oversize tubeless tires offer greater traction power and riding comfort. Travel-Test the new '57 Nash today. See why Nash families go more places together, have more fun and spend lots less."

The Ambassador was quite an extraordinary car when presented in late 1956. Styled by Edmund E. Anderson and his design team, this Nash had more to offer than just a fancy look: Quad headlights, vertically stacked, were a previously unseen "first" on American roads. An all-new "Ambassador" V-8 engine, and "Airliner reclining seats" which could fold down to become "Nash Twin Travel Beds" all came standard on the Ambassador. And instead of a typical body-on-frame chassis, the Ambassador was based on the "A.M.C. Double Safe Single Unit Construction", a monocoque body, that Nash had pioneered since the 40s. Other american car brands should adopt this modern construction principle much later.

Too bad that the Ambassador was Nash's swan-song: after just 3,098 Ambassadors produced in the 1957 model year, the Nash nameplate should disappear. Only the tiny Nash Metropolitan "survived" until 1962, when the last cars, built in spring 1961, finally were sold.

Anyway, the fate of Nash and Hudson was already at stake when the two companies merged in 1954 to become the American Motors Corporation (AMC). Even this bigger joint venture couldn't cope with the economies of scale that made the "Big Three" so successful. Yet, one AMC product fared well in the market because it didn't have any direct competition: the "compact" Rambler, initially offered as Nash Rambler and Hudson Rambler alike, sold well even before compact cars became en vogue in the latter 50s. Soon, Rambler became an own make. The bigger cars from Nash and Hudson, though, were shunned by the public, and after discouraging sales Nash and Hudson ceased operations in mid-1957, leaving Rambler behind as AMC's only brand.

1948 Oldsmobile Series '70' Dynamic Cruiser 4-Door Sedan

" 'Dynamic' is more than just another name as applied to these new Oldsmobiles for 1948. It's a action word that's particularly suited to the 'personality' of these action-styled, action-engineered cars. The very smoothness of their flowing lines suggests motion  . . .  driving  . . .  travel  . . .  excitement. Sparkling new colors, inside and out, heighten this effect and give an added impression of dynamic smartness — smartness that stays in style as other fashions change."

Attentive readers will notice the different tone of corporate advertisement in the same year: while Chrysler brands and Chevrolet, old-fashioned, highlight value and values, Oldsmobile's copywriters heavily promote styling as the prime reason for buying an Olds. It was a pretty new approach in advertisement, but just a few years later, all car companies would follow suit. In 1948, however, only the top-notch "Futuramic-98" series was completely redesigned and based on GMs all-new C-body, while the Oldsmobile Series "70", pictured here, was still based on a prewar design. It should still take one more year, before the whole Oldsmobile lineup really lived up to the advertisement promise.

This Oldsmobile Series "70" Sedan has lost two bars of its front grille and some trim parts, but with its full volumes and the rounded "Aero"-silhouette, there is still a lot of "classic" GM style to it.

1955 Chevrolet Two-Ten Townsman

"You can have your cake and eat it, too — with Chevrolet's spanking-new line of Station Wagons. For here is sophisticated big-city style (and the longest look of any Chevrolet)  . . .  plus pack-horse performance and astonishing new utility features. Now, both the rear seat cushion and the backrest fold flush with the floor to give almost 11 inches more cargo space. Curved rear quarter windows combine with the deep Sweep-Sight Windshield to give visibility unlimited. With this two-in-one versatility you get all of Chevrolet's great engineering advances."

The most utilitarian version in Chevrolet's passenger car lineup for 1955 is surprisingly classy and long looking, indeed. And if that car wasn't stylish enough for you, you still could choose between a similarly sized two-door version and the lavishly equipped sporty Chevrolet Nomad two-door "hardtop" wagon. Considering that Chevrolet never really fostered station wagons, this impressive array of different body versions demonstrates the economic power of GM as the biggest car company in the world.

Between 1955 and 1957, Chevrolets iconic "Tri-five" generation featured power and a glamorous styling that was previously unseen in the "economic" car segment, and the look of the station wagons benefitted from this paradigm change, too. Despite being merely "practical" cars in the public perception, Chevrolet's designers under Harley Earl took great effort to push the boundaries of contemporary design. Case in point: the curved rear quarter windows that create the nimble look were a challenging technical solution that was expensive and difficult to produce. No other company would invest in such detail on their budget car line, even if station wagons became increasingly popular throughout the 50s.

1946-1947 Packard Custom Super Clipper '8' Limousine

"'We wish we had a thousand of them!' a Packard dealer wired us. And we wish we could supply all the new 1946 Packard Clippers our dealers, and their customers, are clamoring for! Right now, all we can say to the thousands of loyal Packard friends, is this: We are doing our level best to accelerate production, and we shall continue to apportion available cars fairly among our dealers. Naturally, we, too, are eager for you to become the proud owner of this magnificent new car - for it's The Greatest Packard Ever Built!

In the brilliant flash of its performance ... and in every sweeping contour of its speed-stream styling ... it's far-and-away America's No.1 Glamour Car! And the new skills developed by Packard master craftsmen in building high-precision combat engines for planes and PT boats, now bring you, in this great car, a mechanical excellence that is little short of perfection itself! So, if you have to wait a little while for your new 1946 Packard Clipper, we hope you'll be patient. Here is a car worth waiting for, if there ever was one!"

We can't tell if the passengers of this Packard Custom Super Clipper are aware of the fact that they travel in one of the most aristocratic american automobiles of it's time. What once was reserved for a elite selection of wealthy citizens, now runs as a fixed-route taxi through Havana, cramming in as much passengers as possible on every trip.

The Packard Clipper, aside from its stately appearance, was a milestone of american car design and engineering in its time, but in hindsight it was also the begin of Packard's downfall. Well into the 30s, Packard was the pinnacle of american status and luxury, building very expensive cars for very wealthy people. But declining sales after the Great Depression and the increasing competition by cheaper mass-production brands made the Packard directors conclude that elite luxury cars alone wouldn't keep the company afloat forever. Traditionally, Packards were built almost in a coachbuilder's fashion, involving a great deal of traditional craftsmanship. Things should change in 1938, when the upcoming rival Cadillac presented the inspired Sixty Special, a car which demonstrated that luxury buyers were much less consevative and instead much more fashion conscious than it was believed at the time. The Sixty Special, initiated by Harley Earl, and designed in Bill Mitchell's Cadillac studio, was another landmark GM design, and it was very radical for its time. Cadillac was still far from being the "Standard of the World" by then, but this stylish design stunned the experts and customers alike. In a reaction to the commercial success of the new Cadillac, the Packard board ordered to develop a completely new, "low-priced" model: the Clipper, to compete with the Cadillac. This conclusion seems logical, but it inherited a substantial problem: the loss of brand value.

In 1941, the new Clipper line was launched and soon accounted for most of Packard's production volume. Quite unfortunately, the profit on this car was much smaller than on the older, pricier Packards, and on top of that, by moving out of the elitist niche, Packard suddenly became comparable with other brands and faced direct competition. The cheaper Packards began to erode the company's patriarchic luxurious brand image. The Clipper itself was anything but a bad car, though, as it was designed with aid of illustrious names, such as George Walker (who should later be credited for the 1949 Ford and become Ford's styling chief), Packard's own Ed Mackauley and Werner Gubitz, and especially Howard "Dutch" Darrin, who provided the winning quarter scale clay model, and later styled the significant Kaiser-Frazer. The new car simply looked stunning. The well-proportioned Clipper was wider than tall, which was a novelty at the time. Its "fade-away" fenders beautifully extended way into the front doors, and the running boards almost disappeared, being cleverly concealed by the overlapping door panels. Despite being Packard's "budget" car (and being only half as expensive as the Cadillac Sixty Special) the Clipper had an really imposing appearance, especially the pictured long-wheelbase Limousine. The Clipper was an instant hit for Packard, and outsold the 1941 Cadillac by a margin of four to one. Too bad that the Second World War abruptly stopped the Clipper's success by stopping civil car production at all.

After the war, Packard resumed selling the prewar cars with some optical touch-ups, as it was common practice for all american car companies. Certainly, these postwar Packards look much better than the extensive facelift which debuted way too early in June 1947. Yet, the so-called "bathtub" styling which integrated the fenders completely into the body to form one consistent overall volume, was all the rage in postwar times, as it was a really novel contribution to american car design, and something that the "Big Three" wouldn't adopt before 1949. So we can understand the urge of "independents" like Nash, Hudson and Packard to show-off a new and advanced design direction. It's upon speculation if saving the retooling costs for this facelift and continue selling the Clipper until the presentation of its successor would have brought Packard in a better financial situation. In fact, the company was more and more struggling with declining market share and low budget, which ultimately led to the merger with Studebaker in 1955, and in result an even faster demise.

1958 Opel Kapitän P1 L

"Weltklasse!"

"World class!", entitled the sales brochure Opel's flagship in 1958. Cars from Germany are admired around the world since a long time, and nowadays usually the three "premium brands", Audi, BMW and Mercedes get mentioned first. But after the Second World War, another make ruled the german Autobahn: Opel. From the 40s through the 70s, the fast and smooth Opel cars could easily take on any Mercedes. A six-cylinder Opel was the car of choice for many entrepreneurs and directors.

The reason for this was a rather simple one: Opel was a subsidiary of General Motors since the 30s, and many Opel models, although developed in Germany, looked like scaled versions of their american counterparts. And while most german car companies produced tiny vehicles with meager engines to tackle the essential transportation needs of destroyed postwar Germany, Opel's top models offered the "American Way of Drive" with their powerful engines and a refined, smooth ride.

The 1958 Opel Kapitän was not different, as it was even styled in Detroit by Harley Earl's "Art & Color Section". Clay models that echoed GMs 1957 styling, were sent to Germany, and Opel designers refined front- and rear ends, adding some "Opel-ness" to the proposals.

Upon its introduction in June 1958, the new Opel flagship earned rave reviews by the german motor press for it's handling and elegance. But all too soon, the buying public discovered that a design that looked good on large Buicks or Cadillacs didn't work so well on a much smaller car. Complaints about narrow rear doors, insufficient headroom and bad rearview visibility through the low rear screen spread around, and sales plummeted seriously. After just one year and 34.282 cars, Opel presented the modernized Kapitän P2, with an updated design that addressed the shortcomings of the Kapitän P1.

In Cuba, you can find quite a few Opel cars from the 50s, most of them being the smaller Opel Record: when "compact" cars became more and more popular in the late 50s, GM began to import german Opel and british Vauxhall cars, to get a share of this growing market without spending money on the development of an own "compact" car. All Opel models were sold though Buick dealers, and GMs cuban dealer network supplied the island with a fair amount of cars. The Opel Kapitän found its way across the Atlantic in two versions: the standard version was topped by the better equipped Kapitän "L" (read: "Luxury"), which is pictured here.

1961-1964 Škoda Felicia Super Cabriolet

"The successful man knows what he wants — his sports car must be a thoroughbred of first class performance coupled with comfort and elegance. Choose the best for your money. Make trial runs and select the car that will not only serve you dependably, but will also represent you well and be a source of permanent pleasure to you. ŠKODA Felicia is a fast, elegant car of high performance, and a happy union of the sporting motorist's demands with the requirements of a comfortable passenger car. It is equipped with every important feature of modern technical development. An elegant body, equipped with all modern comfort, including a safety steering wheel, adjustable seats, perfect air-conditioning with a very effective heater, and an extra large  luggage boot."

Here's proof that socialist car companies occasionally could do beautiful, too. The czech Škoda Felicia sure is one of the most dashing cars that were ever produced behind the Iron Curtain. No surprise, we think, as Škoda, founded in 1895 as Laurin & Klement and building automobiles since 1905, is one of the world's oldest car manufacturers. And who could produce elegant limousines and license-built Hispano-Suiza in prewar times, certainly still knew how to make a good looking car in Cold War times, even if the company increasingly lost track with the technical advances of the western automotive world.

The design of the Škoda Felicia convertible stems from the postwar Škoda 440 sedan, built between 1950 and 1959. In 1957, the convertible was launched as the Škoda 450, and two years later renamed Felicia. However, by political order, this model should be only an interim solution before a "true" people's car from Škoda would hit the road.

In 1961, the Felicia became the Felicia Super. This facelift, pictured here, received trendy tailfins, a larger 1,200cc engine and a floor mounted shifter that was quite oddly implemented: the shifter pattern was a familiar "H" pattern, but with first gear at the upper right and fourth gear at the lower left. Another odd detail is the indicator stalk that protrudes directly from the dashboard instead of the steering column. Pushing it up activates the left turn signal, switching down the right one.

Despite these oddities, the Škoda Felicia was a handsome car that enjoyed a loyal fan base even in the western world. But after seven years and 16,000 Felicia convertibles produced, the Škoda factory in Mlada Boleslav had to make room for a true socialist "people's car". The beauty finally got replaced by the beast, as the new Škoda 1000 MB was a typical creation of the Eastern Block: practical and cheap to produce, but severely lacking any gracefulness.