Hi folks,
My interest was recently rekindled in these diminutive cars, and I took some photos and did a write-up on my journey. Hope it is ok to share this here!
Cheers,
Nik
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Fiat 126s of Havana by
Nik K, on Flickr
A yellow Fiat 126 was my first car. I bought it from a garage for £10 - they had got it as a trade in, and it was not running correctly and ready to be scrapped.
I was 15, and my uncle was going to let me keep and drive it on his farm and woodland.
We spent a few days making it run again. I learnt a lot about how to fix cars - charging the battery, disassembling the carburettor, making it run again. The starter motor is actuated by a cable mechanism, and that was broken, so I started the car by opening the trunk and prodding the starter motor with a stick.
The little car was perfect for bombing round the farm. It was too small and light to get bogged down anywhere. Being rear wheel drive was fun as well.
Some notable incidents happened. One of the rear wheels fell off whilst I was revving up a muddy track. I must have not tightened up the bolt properly! I jacked up the car, found the bolts, and put it back together again. On another occasion, my auntie was wondering what the car was like, so I took her on a terrifying hi speed thrash through the woods, trees zooming past inches from the car, my auntie screaming. We still laugh about that 30 years on.
So, this year (2017) we went on holiday to Cuba. I wanted to get some good photos, but was determined to avoid the Cuba cliche of old American cars amongst crumbling streets. Given my history with the 126, I was happy to see this little car in fairly common usage, although nowhere near as much as the 1950s American iron or 1980s Russian Ladas.
What I liked particularly was the varying levels of care and customization that the 126s had received over the years.The car is a blank canvas that tells its story - coveted and lovingly looked after, or used as a workhorse and barely held together. It was quite common to see them with roof racks. I particularly like the green one with 3 people and two large cases on it's roof. The last shot of the light brown 126 shot from the back had a bag of cement on the roof, the bag being almost the same colour as the car. I was kinda sad to not get a full frontal shot of this one, but it was really run-and-gun photography here, as they are not that common, so I was never certain when or where I'd see one. The American classics are two-a-penny in comparison!
More photos at
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm4uVVnK