The only Porsche 911 in Cuba, Part I



    WE WERE CLIPPING along the Via Blanca when I caught a glimpse of the blue car in the yard of a house near the highway. It took a few seconds to register.
    "Porsche," I said to Daniel, our driver, pointing over my shoulder. "Porsche 911!"
    "Yes," he said, smiling blankly.
    I realized my hand was tracing in the air that delightful curve of roofline and tail. I picked up my notepad and tried to draw it.
   "Yes," Daniel said again, nodding politely. I looked at my rough sketch and realized that to him, it might have looked like a '51 Chevrolet Fleetline.
   But why would he recognize a 911? The car that is an icon to the rest of the world never reached Cuba, its 1963 introduction too late for the island's once vibrant motorsports scene that had faded to nothing in the first years of the Castro government.
   There are a handful of older Porsche 356s in Cuba, including this 356A Coupe T2 that Ralphee of CubanClassics spotted in a Vedado garage. All have been much photographed and remarked upon.
   Never, though, had I heard of a 911 anywhere on the island. Yet I didn't think I was mistaken.

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