Cuba's Car Culture - Tom Cotter & Bill Warner

Celebrating the Island’s Automotive Love Affair

The people of Cuba once bought more cars per capita than any other Latin American country. But when the country fell to communist rebels in 1959, the inflow of new cars ground to a near halt. As a result, over decades cut off from new models and replacement parts, Cuban car owners have had to go to extreme measures to keep their chromed beauties and finned beasts live. In Cuba's Car Culture, authors Tom Cotter and Bill Warner takes readers on a tour of the island nation and all its rich automotive history, from the first cars to arrive in Havana in 1898 to its 1950'-era Grand Prix to today's surviving "Yank tanks" and what the future might hold for them. In addition, they present the stories of people living and working with these cars every day, gathered firsthand over the course of multiple trips to this unique country.

Cuba is famous as an automotive time warp where on any given day you might spot dozens of vintage Chevrolets or the odd Soviet Lada cruising along as thought it were still 1959. But look closer and you'll see things aren't quite what they seem - half a century of trade embargo has forced the country's car enthusiasts to develop a unique culture marked by great creativity, borne of the need to keep cars alive with little access to original replacement parts and little opportunity to import modern replacements.

Cuba's Car Culture offers an inside look at a unique universe populated with repaired and recycled cars transformed in the spirit of automotive survival. Authors Tom Cotter and Bill Warner take you on a whirlwind tour of all things automotive, beginning with Cuba's pre-Castro car and racing history history and bringing you right up to today's lost collector cars, street racing on the island, and the challenges of keeping decades-old cars on the road. Along the way, they introduce a cast of native and transplanted Cubans who live the life every day and complement their stories with hundreds of photographs, both rare historic images and contemporary views of the current automotive scene.

Whether you enjoy classic cars or simply want to explore a unique aspect of Cuba's culture, take a drive around the island with Cuba's Car Culture.

About the Authors:

Sir Stirling Moss is a national treasure. Arguably the world’s greatest all-round racing driver, he was a hero to several generations of schoolboys and enthusiasts throughout the world. Moss is now so iconic his name is often used as a metaphor for “racing driver” - the name alone invokes mental images of speed, bravado, the jet-set lifestyle and a bevy of beauties with whom to live it. By 1961 his career was at its peak; absolutely at the top of his game, a charismatic sportsman famous across the world.

Before writing his first book, Tom Cotter had long been involved in nearly every end of the automotive and racing industries. From mechanic and auto salesman to heading the public relations department at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Cotter formed his own racing and automotive PR and marketing agency, Cotter Group. The agency represented some of the largest clients in NASCAR, IndyCar/CART, drag racing and road racing. He has written biographies of the legendary Holman-Moody race team, Tommy Ivo and Dean Jeffries, but is best known for his series of barn find books, such as Cobra in the Barn , 50 Shades of Rust and Barn Find Road Trip. Cotter appears in the Barn Find Hunter video series, which is distributed by Hagerty Insurance. He teaches public relations at Belmont Abbey College, sits on the advisory board of McPherson College’s Auto Restoration program, and is a member of the Road Racing Driver’s Club (RRDC.) He is married to Pat, has one son, Brian, and lives in Davidson, N.C.

Bill Warner is founder of the Amelia Island Concours and also serves as president of his own business, H. C. Warner, Inc., an industrial filtration company. He also owns and operates Bill Warner Racing. Warner won the 2002 Meguiar's Award for Collector Car Hobby Person of the Year. Warner began as a "go-fer" for a racing team as a teenager and eventually began racing his own cars, competing in a variety of events. His writing and photography have been featured in Road & Track, as well as several European and Asian racing publications.

Published Reviews:

"Authors Tom Cotter and Bill Warner (founder of the Amelia Island Concours) take readers of Cuba's Car Culture on a whirlwind tour of all things automotive, beginning with Cuba's pre-Castro car and racing history and bringing us up to today's lost collector cars, street racing, and the challenges of keeping decades-old cars on the road. The book is illustrated throughout with rare historical photos as well as contemporary photos of Cuba's current car scene. For anyone who enjoys classic cars, from old Chevy Bel-Airs to Studebakers to Ford Fairlanes, a cruise around Cuba will make you feel like a kid in a candy store - Luxury Travel Magazine

"Trekking throughout the island, Cotter conducted interviews through translators and delved into Cuba's unique culture, while Warner spent his time behind the camera, capturing the number of beautiful, colorful, and enlightening photographs that are featured within the book's pages. By writing about the past, present, and future of Cuban cars, these two men allow readers to better understand the effect of the Cuban trade embargo on the country as a whole and its resulting array of vintage vehicles - The News Wheel

"A lavishly illustrated photo history of the country’s car culture...You’ll see a culture frozen in time in terms of modern technology and conveniences but for vintage car buffs, you’ll see a fantasyland of cars, everything from a Ford Model T to Ernest Hemingway’s 1955 Chrysler convertible. You’ll also learn fascinating historical trivia about Cuban car culture." - Travel Channel online

"Cuba’s Car Culture...is well written, with lots of political and racing history for background and context. The photos are great and leave the reader with a real sense of what it’s like there." - DeansGarage.com

"In many ways the book serves as a down-to-earth bible for the car nut in Cuba. Instead of just presenting artful photos of old Chevys and Fords lounging about in the streets of Havana as if it were a sunny day in 1959, Cotter and Warner actually tell us about them and investigate everything from parts-starved auto parts stores to car rallies and (outdoor!) car museums, to the condition of the roads and highways to Cuban restoration shops." - VeloceToday.com

"Cuba’s Car Culture: Celebrating the Island’s Automotive Love Affair documents Cuba’s pre-Castro car days and racing history. The book examines today’s lost collector cars, street racing, and the challenges of keeping a decades-old car running. Chevy Bel-Airs, Ford Fairlanes, Studebakers, and Soviet Ladas decorate the pages, showing Cuba’s automotive landscape is both unique and endearing in its survival." - Automoblog.com

"You'll get fully informed on Cuba's Car Culture. It's far more in depth than I thought it would be, and terrifically full of photos of the cars and Havana." - JustACarGuy.blogspot.com

"Welcome to Cuba’s automotive time capsule, filled with classic cars." - CollectorsCarWorld.com

"The resulting book is a gorgeous homage to an automotive life that will no doubt change as the island begins again to trade with the United States." - ShelfAwareness.com

"Writer Tom Cotter, photographer Bill Warner and automotive historian Wellington Morton give us page after page of glorious color photos and easy-to-digest narrative on the history of Cuba’s cars, the country and its proud people." - theCoastNews.com

"A beautifully photographed documentary of a summer 2015 visit by authors and automotive enthusiasts Tom Cotter and Bill Warner, and a history of the island’s intertwined politics and passion for cars." - San Francisco Chronicle