For half a century Cubans have not been able to indulge in one of the modern world’s great passions, cars.<br /><br />Until now people have had to apply to the government if they wanted to buy a vehicle from a state retailer, and a rule that was only lifted in 2011 meant most vehicles dated from the 1950s or before. Only newer Russian models were available; hardly something to set the pulses racing. No longer. Now it is a free market – sort of.<br /><br />“Let’s see if a revolutionary worker’s salary can buy one of these cars at these prices. Even if they lend him the money to repay in 40 years, let’s see if a honest person who lives off his salary can buy one,” said one man at a car lot.<br /><br />And therein lies the rub, because unless you buy from someone else new and second-hand cars still have to be bought from state dealers, where markups are 400 percent or more. An ordinary Peugeot can end up costing more than a Porsche, and buyers are leaving showrooms in disgust when they see how little the reform will help them take to the roads.
