CARISTAS

It took some time, but I finally came across this unique-to-Cuba , Chinese-made vehicle. Still looking for the Batista Corvette .

According to the Autocar review site, the Partner Tepee is 'Peugeot’s badge-engineered version of the equally convoluted sounding Citroën Berlingo Multispace.'

   HERE'S MORE proof that not every Cuban old-timer ticks along on some replacement Russian or Japanese diesel engine. A 1956 or '57 Opel Kapitän, this German sedan is propelled by the same six-cylinder gasoline engine with which it left the factory.    The Kapitän has had a few useful modifications: an alternator in place of a generator, an added console, a set of aftermarket gauges. But after nearly 60 years of service, it remains remarkably close to stock. Sold new by General Motors dealers, Opels were popular with Cuban car buyers in the 1950s. Triple air horns are a Cuban addition, but six-cylinder engine is original. Column-mounted shifter, and a great big wheel. See also : O Kapitän CubanClassics: 1958 Opel Kapitän P1 L

MG6 is hardly the first sedan to wear the famous MG emblem.     IT COULD  seem like sacrilege to affix the MG badge, the same octagon that has graced so many two-place, open sports cars, to a line of generic, Chinese-built sedans and hatchbacks.    Before we get too righteous, however, let's remember that the MG name has appeared on sedans in the past, including the 1960s-era 1100 and 1300 that were variants of a squat four-door shared with Austin, Morris, Riley and other British Motor Corp. brands.    Nanjing Automobile picked up MG Rover in 2005 and was itself absorbed two years later by SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd., headquartered in Shanghai. MG5 compact hatchback has more styling presence than its larger sibling.    In 2011 SAIC stopped production of the dated TF roadster that Nanjing had inherited from MG Rover and introduced the MG6, a bland midsizer produced as sedan and five-door hatchback. The 6 was joined the following...