While local musicians played covers of songs by British bands like the Beatles and Queen, the Prince of Wales spoke with owners of the cars, which like their U.S. counterparts, predate Communist-run Cuba’s 1959 revolution. “British cars are harder to maintain than the U.S. ones because there is a constant inflow of U.S. parts but many of the British ones are no longer even made,” said Fuentes’ partner Ricardo Medell, 63. “We end up inventing a lot.” He said Cubans often replaced the original parts with alternative or homemade parts. His car, a red and white Austin Healy from 1959, was now probably 90 percent “fabricated,” he said. “The prince asked me how difficult it was to maintain and I said the most difficult thing was the steering system because of all the potholes,” said Gonzalez.

Source: Standard Digital March 27, 2019 08:26 UTC