古巴冷知識： 滿街都是老爺車

古巴的馬路經常出現在各種旅遊帖子裏面，因爲真的很有特色，五顏六色的老爺車滿街跑。

還有五顏六色的房子。圖片來源：圖蟲創意

這是因爲在2011年以前古巴一直禁止進口汽車，古巴人買不到新車，也買不到新的配件，所以只能夠不斷翻修幾十年前的老車。

Cuba’s cars are world famous, and it’s a popular tourist attraction to go for a ride in these old American cars. Vintage American cars from the 40s and 50s are still driving on Cuban roads. This is because, until 2011, there was an import ban on cars in Cuba. Cubans couldn’t get spare parts to their cars. This forced them to solve the problems in other ways, for example, putting an engine from another brand into another car or inserting a real sofa as the backseat of the car. Cubans call vintage cars “almendrones” (big almond) and their drivers “boteros” (boatmen). There is a law preventing Cuba’s vintage cars from being exported from the island. Only Cubans and foreign residents (temporary or permanent) are allowed to purchase cars in Cuba. 

古巴汽車世界聞名，乘坐這些美式老爺車兜風是備受歡迎的旅遊項目。目前古巴大街上仍有四五十年代的美國古董車。這是因爲2011年之前古巴一直禁止進口汽車。古巴人無法獲得汽車配件，這促使他們用其他方式來解決問題，例如，把另一個品牌的發動機裝到另一輛車上，或把一張真正的沙發安到汽車的後座上。古巴人稱古董車爲“almendrones”（大杏仁），稱其司機爲“boteros”（船伕）。古巴有一項法律，那就是禁止從該島國出口古董車。只有古巴人和外國居民（臨時或永久身份）可以在古巴購買汽車