CARISTAS

   Some time back, I posted this photo of La Rampa (Calle 23) at the Malecón, circa 1955, along with a link to a contemporary photo of the famous Havana corner.    The old photo prompted a reader to share his memories of working in the landmark building on the left that was home to Ambar Motors, Telemundo  Television Channel 2 and other enterprises.    For our reader, here's another view of the corner today, this one looking north through the gas station that now wears the colours of the Oro Negro state brand. The car is a 1948 Chevrolet, delineated by its chrome as the popular Fleetline Aero model. It may well have been delivered new through the Ambar General Motors agency next door.

Quijote de America, statue in Vedado by Sergio Martínez (1930-1988)     AFTER YEARS of seeing references to Carlo Gébler's 1988 work, Driving Through Cuba, an East-West Journey (Hamish Hamilton Ltd.), I've finally found a copy. Not that anything was lost in the interval. Given the slow pace of change in Cuba, Gébler's book could have been written last week.     As the title promises, this is a road trip. The best kind, too, it turns out — the kind in which the narrator pushes ahead without set itinerary or even a reliable map, as unknowing as you, the gleeful reader, of what might await beyond the next rise. Carlo Gébler     You aren't the only one along for the ride. With the author in a rental Lada of dubious electrics is his pregnant wife Tyga and their young daughter India, both seemingly as willing as he is to accept whatever they encounter, from empty grocery shelves to pursuing money-traders to tire-puncturing crab ...

   My father's first car, and the first car I remember riding in, was a 1956 Mercury two-door sedan. Now Ford Motor Co. is reportedly preparing to drop the 71-year-old brand, and another fine car name will be lost.    Except in Cuba . 1957 Mercury Montclair Phaeton four-door hardtop, early model (later Mercurys from the 1957 model year have quad headlamps ).