The Good Old America (6)

Buena Vista Social Club and the City of Classic American Cars

Have you ever heard of Buena Vista Social Club? The name comes from an album created in 1997 through a collaboration between American musician Ry Cooder and a group of elderly Cuban musicians who had previously been unknown outside Cuba. In 1999, a documentary film was released, capturing their story. These musicians were active from the pre-war era through the 1940s at Cuba’s live music venue “Buena Vista Social Club.” Following the establishment of the socialist regime in 1959, Cuba became isolated from the United States, and these musicians continued their craft in secrecy.

A Film That Captures a “Frozen-in-Time” Havana

In the final scenes of this near-documentary film, the musicians travel to New York, where they perform live at Carnegie Hall to a thunderous ovation — a deeply moving moment that brings tears to the eyes. Equally memorable is the opening sequence, where Ry Cooder rides a motorcycle along Havana’s desolate-looking seaside road, vividly illustrating a city seemingly suspended in time.

Although Cuba was often described as the world’s only truly self-sustaining socialist nation, free from Western influence, the sight of the city — as if it had time-traveled back to the 1940s — was spine-chilling. Surrounding Ry Cooder as he stops his motorcycle were classic American cars. Until the 1960s, Dodge, Chevrolet, Ford, and Cadillac were known for their oversized bodies and powerful engines. Amazingly, these very cars were still running and serving as everyday transportation for Cuban citizens.

A “Time Gap” Scene on the Streets of Greece

Several years after experiencing this scene — around 2008 — I attended an international conference for my former global company in Greece. To my surprise, on the outskirts of a downtown area, I saw those very same types of American cars, once still active in Cuba, abandoned and left to rust on the roadside. I couldn’t quite understand how such massive cars had ended up in Greek streets in such numbers, but it was fascinating — and humbling — to reflect on how the passage of 50 to 60 years had shaped such different destinies for the same machines in different countries.