The legendary American author, Ernest Hemingway used the money he made from his first successful novel, A Farewell to Arms, to tour the United States in a green Rolls-Royce. He is also reportedly quoted as saying, "There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games."
We can therefore assume that Mr Hemingway was a bit of a car fan.
At the time if his suicide in 1961, Hemingway was the owner of a 1955 Chrysler New Yorker; however, after the great man's death, the car mysteriously disappeared and remained missing for over half a century.
The Chrysler was recently rediscovered in Cuba but, unsurprisingly, it is bearing the tell-tale signs of more than fifty years of decay and is in desperate need of renovation. Normally this wouldn't be a problem -- you'd just hire a mechanic, buy some spare parts and bob's-yer-uncle.
But obtaining spare parts for a 1955 Chrysler in Cuba is a bit of an issue thanks to the US embargo on the island, which prevents any American products -- vintage car parts included -- from entering the Communist state.
This is where, weirdly, a certain Mr David Soul enters the picture...
Soul, best known as 'Hutch' from the 1970s US police show, is a fan of both classic cars and Ernest Hemingway. And, rather fortuitously, he just happens to be a British citizen, having moved to London in the mid-1990s. This means that Soul can source the spare parts for the Chrysler from the US, ship them to Britain and then send them over to Cuba. Clever, eh?
And what's more, he's filming a documentary, titled Cuban Soul, charting the restoration of the car. If you want to find out more, visit the film's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cubansoul.
Related used car searches
Search used Chrysler
