1962 Pontiac Bonneville Convertible Coupe

"If you look for the best of everything a car can be, you can rest your eyes right here. Sweeping beauty and an appetite for action make Bonneville the most provocative word in the language of driving. Just say the word. Make '62 your year for a Bonneville. The most luxurious way to go Wide-Tracking!"

It's safe to bet that our pictured  1962 Pontiac Bonneville is the only one of its kind in Cuba. We wouldn't bet, however, that the original "Tri-Power" engine is still mounted under the Bonneville's bonnet. Yet, there must be at least some kind of V-8 installed: the deep eight-cylinder growl and a rapid "lift-off" at every traffic light signal abundant power and bragging rights for the proud driver.

Smartly named after the famous salt flats in Utah, which are known to every petrol head for the many land speed records that were attempted and accomplished there, Bonneville soon became the synonym for one of the most powerful performance cars in America.

Pontiac launched the first production Bonneville in 1957. In an urge to establish the brand as an engineering leader, Chief engineers Pete Estes and John DeLorean simply mated an insanely powerful fuel-injected 347 cubic-inch (5.7 l) V-8 engine to a run-of-the-mill convertible chassis. The result was breathtaking, especially when looking at its astronomic price tag: at that time, the $5,782 sticker price would almost buy you an equally powerful Buick Century, and a standard Pontiac Chieftain on top!

Pontiac, anyway, never intended to sell the new Bonneville in big numbers. Instead, the 630 cars produced in 1957 were meant as an image builder, and the trick worked well. Pontiac's brand image swiftly began changing from being a stuffy old man's brand towards becoming a young racedriver's icon.

Fast-forward half a decade, Pontiac had established the Bonneville as one of the best selling performance cars in the US. Bonneville was now Pontiac's top trim level, but buyers still got the spiciest V-8 engines available, plus a lot of nice performance options such as "Tri-Power" (three two-barrel carburetors), or novel Alloy-wheels with integrated brake drums to ensure adequate stops.

The design was typical of the Bill Mitchell era at GM, with angular shapes and an emphasis on horizontal lines to visually stretch the car. The "Twin-Scoop Grille" was a Pontiac trademark since 1959, and should be kept as an identifier until the demise of the brand in 2005. All in all, however, the Bonneville actually looked quite restrained for being such a powerful car.

Even if not everyone was buying a Bonneville, customers clearly wanted the new Pontiacs, and the strong sales lifted the division to the third place in the annual production statistics in 1962.

1955 Oldsmobile Super '88' 4-door Sedan

"In the Oldsmobile Super '88' are the marks of motion  . . .  vigorous lines that set the stage for masterful 'Rocket' performance. It's the new 'Go-Ahead' look! See it in the panoramic windshield, new hooded headlights — in the sweep-cut lines of fender and body, in pure-luxury interiors  . . .  in fact, everywhere!"

Argentina-built Peugeot 405, to the right, was imported to Cuba in considerable numbers and is very popular among the few that can afford a "modern" private car in Cuba. Here, it's regarded as a luxurious, roomy automobile, perfectly suited to cover long distances between Havana and the provinces. Yet, beside a mighty 1955 Oldsmobile, it looks pretty small.

Oldsmobile had become GM's "performance division" with the introduction of the "Rocket" V-8 engine in 1949. This modern powerplant completely changed the game and was triggering the competition for ever more horsepower among America's car manufacturers. Ahead of the times, especially the Super "88" was truly a blueprint for early muscle cars: it combined the big engine of Oldsmobile's top model "98" with the lighter body of the base model. Others should get inspired by the success of this recipe: within the GM organization, notably Buick's Century, and Pontiac's Bonneville became successful copycats.

Interestingly though, Oldsmobile's styling never truly embodied the brand's focus on superior mechanical performance. Instead, it remained rather ostentatious throughout the 1950s. Loads of chrome and voluptuous shapes were typical earmarks of an Oldsmobile of that time.

1959 Rambler American Station Wagon

„America demanded it! Rambler built it! The top-economy American-built station wagon. Seats 5 big people in roomy comfort  . . .  has lots of cargo space for their gear and luggage. You get more miles per gallon in a car that parks anywhere, has the shortest turning radius in America. The Rambler American is available with either fully automatic, standard or overdrive transmissions.“

It was truly opportune timing when AMC chairman George W. Romney decided to launch the retired Nash Rambler again as an „all-new“ car for 1958. We covered the development of the Rambler American here.

With the new Rambler American, AMC had a befitting answer to the changing demands of customers, who turned their attention to thrifty and economic cars in response to the recession of 1957-1958. The new breed of compact cars, offered by the "independents", soon sold like hotcakes and caught the "Big Three" and their prevalent "bigger-is-better" strategy completely by surprise.

While AMC's Rambler was positioned to offer customers an alternative to the American fullsize cars, the Rambler American should compete in the lowest price range against the increasing number of small import cars, and thus had to be really cheap. Yet, despite being poorly equipped, it sold well. Earlier spartan compact cars had failed miserably in the market, but austerity obviously wasn't an issue for Rambler American buyers. 30,640 Rambler American were sold in 1958. The sales numbers nearly tripled in 1959, when the station wagon was added to the lineup. This body style quickly became popular, accounting for more than a third of Rambler American sales. In Cuba, however, the station wagon remains a rare sight: here, the customers apparently thought and bought much more conservative.

1952 Mercury Monterey Special Custom Convertible

"Here's the car that flings the hottest challenge on the American Road — shows 'em all what the word 'new' really means! No mere face-lift here. This 1952 Mercury is new in beauty, new in every way that counts. Take the driver seat, and look around. Eyes front — the new Interceptor Instrument Panel! Eyes forward — a sure view down front, to the corners of the fenders! Eyes down — new Floor-Free brake pedal. And all around you, Space-Planned Interiors with up to 17% more visibility. Sound easy to take? Wait 'til you hear the muted music of Mercury's advanced V-8 engine. And see what this great car can do! You've got a heap of pleasure coming up!"

One of just 5,261 built, this Mercury Monterey convertible sports a nice yellow hue, reminiscent of the factory "Vassar Yellow" paint, while whitewall tires add a touch of 1950s glamour to it.

With these 1952 models arrived a completely new styling at Mercury. The cars looked much leaner than their predecessors, and albeit now being based on an elongated Ford bodyshell, they fortunately kept their visual likeness to Lincoln, thus offering justification for their price difference to a common Ford.

Our pictured Mercury and its owner, Gerardo, are members of Havana's renown "Escudería A lo Cubano". This association of vintage car enthusiasts exists since 2003, but just recently, the club receives the deserved attention and necessary international sponsorship. Gerardo explains the membership implications: "Authenticity of our cars is very important to us. But a lo cubano, in a Cuban way, of course, as we don't have easy access to spare parts. We try to keep our cars as original as we can afford to. My Mercury, like many of the club's cars, runs with its factory V-8 engine, which is pretty expensive. Hence, I try to get more economy out of the V-8 by making the carburetor and fuel tubes smaller."

"Keeping this car in an authentic shape is very costly", adds Gerardo. "One whitewall tire, for example, sets me back 150 convertible Pesos, which equals the same amount in Yanquí Dollars. That's not counting the import duties at Cuban customs, as these wheels come from Miami. At the other hand, I do good business with the the nostalgia of tourists, by offering them tours around the city. One hour in my Mercury costs 35 Dollars, a decent price for them, but very good money here in Cuba."