CARISTAS

   THE STORY OF Cuba's decaying old Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe lives on. For the latest chapter, we can thank a New Hampshire prankster who last week listed the Gullwing for sale on Craiglist.    Under the heading "Attention scrappers," the purported vendor wrote: "I have a rusty old Mercedes to get rid of. No engine, Has doors that open to the top. Glass is good."    And just to make sure his ad got noticed, the prankster tossed in a photo of the Cuban Gullwing taken several years ago by British writer Michael E. Ware.    Though taken down almost immediately, the listing still caught the attention of BarnFinds.com , which looked at the offer with equal parts suspicion and wistfulness. "If this is the real deal, it would be the find of the century!" said the website.    Sorry, BarnFinds, but you were right to be sceptical.   University of Miami Libraries. Cuban Heritage Collection, Ramiro A. Fernández Collection ...

According to its badge, this 1949-1952 Oldsmobile has Nissan ingredients.     I CAN'T WAIT  to watch Cuba Chrome, the new reality television series about Cuba's famous classic cars and the struggles of their owners to keep them running.   And not just for the cars – though undoubtedly, we'll see many interesting vehicles in the series that debuts on Discovery on July 13. A video by Pilgrim Studios , the creator of Cuba Chrome, offers an enticing advance look.    What promises to be just as intriguing, though, is the application of the "reality TV" concept – already laughable, in most cases – to a place where reality is notoriously pliable. There will be stories, many stories. All will be entertaining, and some might even be true.    This will be a treat.

The 1992-1998 Subaru Vivio remains popular in Cuba.    THAT GIANT WING of a few posts back is bolted to a very small platform – a Subaru Vivio of the Japanese Kei microcar category.    Subaru built the Vivio from 1992 to 1998, primarily for its home market and Europe. A good number of Vivios, however, found their way to Cuba, where they continue to command strong prices on sites such as cubisima.com .    The Vivio came in three- and five-door models with front- or all-wheel-drive and a 660-cc four-cylinder engine rated at 54 horsepower (a 64-h.p. turbo version was available in Japan). That's not much power, but apparently quite sufficient to propel a car with a listed weight – sans spoiler, no doubt – of just 645 kilograms. Vivio came in five-door, above, and three-door models.

Havana mystery-mobile  –  a Mercury, maybe?     I WAS PUZZLED when I came across this chrome-toothed cruiser during one of my first trips to Cuba. The grille seemed vaguely Mercury, but the body lines, and especially the bump-out behind the back wheel, said Plymouth.      Some type of amalgamation? Yes, I eventually learned, but one that came that way as a DeSoto Diplomat, an export model that was mainly a Plymouth with a front-end treatment from Chrysler's pricier DeSoto line.   This one is a '55. It may be missing a few trim pieces, but hey  –   it still has all its teeth. See also: Governor de Soto, your taxi is here

    Export-model DeSoto is based on a Plymouth  –  with an added bit of Dodge.    HERNANDO DE SOTO  was appointed governor of Cuba in 1538 but spent just 11 months on the island before leading his expedition into what now is the United States, where he hoped to find gold and instead would encounter hostile natives and eventually the illness – recorded only as "a fever" – to which he would succumb.    But de Soto's name lives on in Cuba. His image, too, if the stylized conquistador in the logo of the Chrysler DeSoto (sometimes De Soto) bears any likeness to the Spanish explorer.   Both DeSoto and Plymouth emblems were applied at the factory.     DeSoto was a separate line for Chrysler from 1928 to 1961, generally positioned above its mainstream brands but a notch or two below its luxury divisions. For much of that period the Detroit automaker also produced an export-model DeSoto, based on cars from Plymouth o...

Because you can never have too much downforce?

The SYM Jet 4R from Taiwan's Sanyang Motor Co: Never judge a brand by a rental.    IT WAS the English scholar John Selden, who might have been a fine blogger had the Internet been around in the 17th century, who coined the expression "Do as I say, not as I do."    Selden was taking a dig at the church, but his phrase has found equal application over the years to politicians, parents, teachers and other hypocrites, myself now included.    That last post about riding a scooter through Cuba? Don't you do that. Really, it's too dangerous.    Yes, the pace of driving in Cuba is generally relaxed. But as often been discussed here, the poor condition of roads and vehicles and the often severe consequences for those involved in accidents still make it a risky place to motor.    Better to hire a car and driver – often cheaper than a rental car – or, if you must drive, surround yourself with some serious steel.    If I can of...