1958 Karmann-Ghia Coupe

"Every flowing, graceful line  . . .  every breath-taking detail  . . .  every magic touch of luxury and comfort of the beautiful Karmann-Ghia Coupe has a truly 'Continental' accent. And with good reason: Ghia of Turin, Italy — one of Europe's most renowned designers — conceived this striking and original automobile! Karmann of Osnabrück — Germany's foremost custom-body builder, world-famous for painstaking workmanship and attention to detail — interpreted Ghia's unique, thoroughbred design! Finally, the distinctive body was mounted on a sturdy Volkswagen chassis with the rugged Volkswagen engine at its heart — the same ultra-reliable engine that's proven itself the world over in more than a million VW's! The result? Superb beauty and smartness combined with utmost comfort and dependability — the Karmann Ghia Coupe; beauty that can take abuse day-after-day, year-in-year-out — and like it!"

Here is a good example of how looks can be deceiving: for the standards of the 50s, the Karman Ghia appears to be a very sporty car, visually playing in the same league as, say, a Porsche 356. But it isn't. 30hp, compared to 60hp and more in Porsche's 1958 models, meant merely half of the Porsche's pizzazz. Yet, under their skin both cars have surprisingly much in common, as both are based on the Volkswagen Beetle.

Incidentally, the genesis of the Karmann Ghia design is linked to Chrysler's styling director Virgil Exner, who had built several showcars in collaboration with Italian coachbuilder Ghia. When Karmann approached Ghia in 1953 to design a Coupe, based on the VW Beetle, the Italians came up with a design proposal that resembled the Exner-designed Chrysler D'Elegance showcar, shown in Paris in October 1952. Of course, the proportions were utterly different, because the Karmann had a rear mounted engine and was a much smaller car. Yet, signature design elements of the Chrysler showcar such as the cabin shape and the characteristic highlight that kicks up from the rocker into the rear fender, re-appeared in almost identical form on the Karmann Ghia when it was presented to the public in 1955. As a matter of fact, it was an usual practice of Italian carozzerie to sell similar design proposals to different clients. Reportedly, Virgil Exner never expressed negative connotations to the fact that his showcar ideas lived on in a successful commercial product, even if it wasn't a Chrysler.

And successful it was: within one year, 10,000 Karmann-Ghia Coupe left the Karmann factory, and at the end of its production run in 1974, 385,803 Karmann-Ghia Coupe had been built. Adding, 81,053 convertibles and 23,557 Coupes that were assembled in Brazil, it sums up to an impressive number, considering that the Karmann-Ghia was a partially hand-built car from a coachbuilder that until then had specialized in assembling Volkswagen Beetle convertibles. Almost two thirds of the total production went to the US, where it was well received even if Volkswagen of America never run any introductory advertisement campaign. In Europe, au contraire, the car never really kicked off, because it was pricey, and generally considered an anemic "house-wife's Porsche" rather than a serious sports car. While the Porsche could boast a heavily tuned suspension and engine, the Karmann-Ghia sported standard VW underpinnings and tipped the scales at 820kg of weight, which was quite a fair bit heavier than the 740kg of a standard Beetle. The ones who bought the Karmann-Ghia, however, were more into a fashion statement and couldn't care less if the car's gorgeous look wasn't matched by an equivalent driving experience. The others would buy the Porsche, anyway.

1952 Chevrolet Styleline DeLuxe 4-door Sedan

"It's the smartest, most colorful Chevrolet you ever saw! There is new styling  . . .  a clean-lined new grille design, new wider parking lights, new trim and ornamentation front and rear. There are new exterior colors and combinations — the most beautiful choice in the low-price field — matched by completely new interiors in colors that complement the body colors! And there are new and improved features, plus solid, deep-rooted quality in every engineering detail, to make this new Chevrolet an outstandingly fine, dependable and economical performer over a long, long time  . . . the kind of proved quality that, year after year, leads more people to buy Chevrolets than any other car  . . .  the kind of proved quality that's especially important to you today!"

The Punta Gorda peninsula in Cienfuegos is the home of quite a few well-preserved vintage cars from Detroit. This one here, a 1952 Chevrolet, couldn't look much better across the Florida Straits. Keeping a car in this condition in Cuba requires not just connections and money aplenty, but also a lot of determination. Mind you, car dealers, junkyards or the internet to track down spare parts are practically non-existent here, and even the simplest restoration job can take years.

Four years after its introduction in 1949, the Chevrolet lineup still looked the part, which clearly speaks for the timeless class of its design. Under the supervision of Harley Earl, Chevrolet designers had sculpted a well-proportioned car that didn't seem to age. For that reason, all that was needed to keep Chevrolet the best selling marque in the U.S. were minor modifications and yearly trim changes.

To the casual observer, Chevrolets of this vintage seem to dominate Cuba's automotive landscape. A surprising number of them is still in a pretty good shape. Admittedly, these cars were best sellers in their time, but their basic construction and build quality were exceptional, too. Even considering various profound rebuilds and restoration jobs (as explained at Caristas), their healthy substance sure helped these Chevrolets to survive the decades in an outstanding condition.

1958 Vauxhall Victor

"You've only got to be at the wheel of a Victor for five minutes to know what superlative value you're getting for your money. In the 4-cylinder class, there's nothing to touch it!  . . .  Looks, liveliness, comfort, safety, economy — you get them all in the Victor, plus the pleasure of owning a car that wins admiration everywhere  . . .  And all over the country, Vauxhall Square Deal Service when you want it: there's none cheaper, none better. Yes, make it a Victor this time. You couldn't make a better choice."

The fact that smaller cars became increasingly popular in the U.S. since the mid-50s, did not pass unnoticed by GM's marketing department. Yet, none of the "Big Three" had any compact car in their production pipeline, until the economic recession of 1958 triggered a veritable compact car boom. GM's new compact cars wouldn't be ready to hit the road before 1960. But a solution for the dilemma was waiting across the Atlantic, as there were two GM-owned companies that built small cars: Opel in Germany and Vauxhall in England. To cope with the raising popularity of smaller cars on their home turf, GM simply began importing Opel and Vauxhall cars. Since 1958, Vauxhalls were sold here through American Pontiac dealers.

David Jones, Vauxhall's longstanding styling director between 1937 and 1971,and Harley Earl's right-hand man in England, was a frequent visitor in Detroit, from where he got his orders. Not surprisingly, Vauxhall cars used to look like puny versions of American designs. Naturally, the new Vauxhall Victor, unveiled in 1957, also showed a strong American influence: coy tailfins, a column mounted shifter, bench seats, jet-age bumper cones and a panoramic windshield were all-american ingredients. In the "old world", the Vauxhall was consequently criticized as being too big, and too American in look and feel. Despite the bad press, the cars sold well, because they offered a lot for the money.

In the new world, in contrast, the Vauxhall Victor wasn't as successful, as GM had wished for. Here, the car somehow didn't find its proper niche. You could get a fullsize Plymouth, Ford or Chevrolet for just a little more money. A V-8 powerplant came standard with all these cars, while the Vauxhall, despite its American looks, just offered an anemic four-cylinder engine with 48hp. Other compact cars were at least more lively than the Victor. On top of that, Vauxhall's build quality was a little shabby, even judged by the low American standards. With that said, as soon as GM's own compact cars were ready to hit the road, Vauxhall became superfluous on the American market, and in 1962, GM stopped selling them here.

1960 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Sport Sedan

"Radiantly Styled ... for the Rocketing Sixties. Here is the new shape of the '60 Oldsmobile  . . .  fresh, balanced, enchanting symmetry, from its crisp, trim grille to the lean contours of its clean-sweep rear deck. This Olds Original is a complete-size, complete-quality automobile — planned for those who demand the best the medium-price class has to offer. In every way, Olds for '60 is completely satisfying!"

"Linear Look" was the new conviction at Oldsmobile since Harley Earl went into retirement in 1958 and his long-time protégé Bill Mitchell stepped into Earl's shoes at the helm of GM Styling. Starting with the lineup for 1959, all GM cars became much leaner and cleaner, leaving the flamboyant styling of the "chrome and tailfins" era behind. The 1960 models would become the first designs styled solely under Bill Mitchell's direction, and unsurprisingly they would sport an even simpler, cleaner and, well, quite "Linear Look".

Our pictured Oldsmobile 98 from Havana, unlike other "late arrivals" on the island, looks pretty battered. Still, you can clearly see the horizontal lines and simple intersecting volumes that should make the car look long, low and composed. Tailfins were almost gone now, being muted to horizontal taillight extensions. Only the roof with its curvaceous A-posts is still a remainder of the 50s and shows that this car was merely a big facelift of the 1959 Oldsmobiles, rather than an all-new design. Straight A-posts that the competition already had "re-discovered" in 1960, would only arrive with Oldsmobile's 1961 models.

1959 Rambler Super Cross Country

"Rambler presents the only station wagon with the best of both: big car room  . . .  small car economy. The recognized economy leader, too. World's only station wagons with Personalized Comfort. Take your choice of Economy 6 or Rebel V-8 engines."

Don't be fooled by the looks: what appears to be a homemade conversion, is genuine Rambler station wagon design. The sloping roof with an "added" flat top that should provide space for extra luggage, held in place by the unique "Roof-Top Travel Rack", was a signature feature of Nash Rambler station wagons since 1953. The only custom modification of our pictured Rambler is its front grille, and we think it turned out quite unfortunate: when new, the Rambler front looked as cool as this.

AMC had a good run with its "compact" Rambler in the 50s, because it offered a niche product that wasn't competing with the cars of the "Big Three". The economic recession of 1958 even amplified this success story. With its restyling in 1957, the Rambler had grown up significantly. Yet, customers seemed to like this bigger appearance and honored it with sharply increasing demand.

It was apparently a real paradox: customers deserted the "Big Three" to buy compact cars, but at the end of the day, they bought the ones that were roomy and comfortable, and close to a full size car. In fact, what America really wanted was practical transportation, rather than spartan small cars. Kaiser-Frazer and Hudson had painfully discovered this dilemma earlier. The Rambler, though, hit the sweet spot of the clientele's aspirations. Aside from a better fuel economy, it was surprisingly roomy inside. There wasn't a big difference to the cabin space of full size cars.

In the U.S.,the station wagons were pretty popular among Rambler customers, accounting for almost half of the total production in 1959. Strangely enough, this 50:50 ratio isn't reflected at all on Cuban roads. Here, a Rambler station wagon is a very rare sight, while the sedan can be seen quite often. Cuban customers, apparently, bought much more conservative, and a station wagon was considered an utilitarian vehicle.