The young and the reckless


Trim taxi: 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Beauville.
   
   THE GOING rate for a rutero trip is 10 Cuban pesos, reports Here is Havana blogger Conner Gorry. That's the equivalent of 39 Canadian cents.
    This, of course, is the fare for locals (of which Gorry, American birth notwithstanding, is most decidedly one). Hop in as an obvious visitor, and you should expect to be asked for at least one convertible peso ($1.03 Cdn.)
    Gorry, however, warns that a change in regulations has made riding in a fixed-route collective much riskier.
Where once only the owner was permitted to operate a car as a taxi, reforms aimed at encouraging more free enterprise now allow that owner to hire others to take shifts behind the wheel.
    As a consequence, "drivers are now young, restless and reckless," says Gorry. "It's plain some of them have never even driven before."
   Yeah, but hey — 39 cents?


Comments

Paul said…
Hi again,Rob--sorry it took so long for me to comment.I took a closer look at that '56 Chevy--all the station wagons I've seen photos of on your blog and CUBANCLASSICS really look used and abused.Then I noticed the dual mirrors (look like they belong)and the Matanzas license plate and it got me wondering--could this car (like "the sweetest '55" back in Jan.) be another customer of (in your words)Ralphee's Secret Chevy Workshop?
November 6, 2011 at 5:36 PM
Caristas said…
Hi Paul. As you can see, I shot that photo from a moving vehicle (the airport van), and it wasn't until I tried cleaning it up that I took a close look at that Chevy. The photo is still no prize but the wagon is! Chevrolet made 13,279 9-passenger Bel-Air Beauvilles for 1956 and this is indeed a sweet example. Very possible it came from the SCW!
November 8, 2011 at 8:46 PM
Paul said…
Rob, I just read your reply to my comment and I realized I left out a few words. I should've written "until this post" before "all the station wagons.." and "looked" instead of "look". And by the way,all your photos so far (as well as Ralphee's) are prize-winners to me. The only thing I didn't like in the photo had nothing to do with you..it was what the owner of that station wagon had done.Beige and white? I think yellow and white or all yellow would have been better suited for that car. Anyway,keep up the good work!
November 9, 2011 at 7:39 PM
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