Next to the mountains of the south of Oriente, in the Baconao National Park, Sierra Maestra, province of Santiago de Cuba, there is a very attractive and special institution: the National Transportation Museum. The only one of its kind in Cuba, there the visitor will be able to admire several model vehicles. antiques that in times past belonged to stars of the cultural world and Creole personalities who knew how to polish those artifacts of modern life booming in the 20th century.
A riot of figurines that represent in illustrative and reduced size an innumerable means of transport from different periods, a kind of collection that awakens a lively interest and feeling of charm, especially in children. Occupying a space close to two thousand square meters, the Museum exhibits more than 2,700 miniature cars and 44 full-size cars.It also shows a kind of route from the origin of the wheel to the most modern automobiles. We will say, for example, that the visitor will be able to see Cugnot's Varria, the first vehicle railcar equipped with a steam boiler that powered the vertical cylinders. You will be amazed to see pieces of only two centimeters, most of them built and donated by Fermín Hernández Hurtado, a Spaniard who participated in the fight against the fascist aggressors in defense of Spain.
Some describe it as a true journey through time, if this were possible, a valid comparison in metaphor that takes us back to the era of cars pulled by animals and even humans, like those used in the construction of the Parthenon, Greece. It also tells us about distant Eskimos and sleighs and the time of steam motors, the invention of the rubber wheel, spark plugs, the history of vehicles for Red Cross and firefighters, among others.
There is something impressive about admiring replicas of vehicles used by leaders, such as Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and luxurious cars driven by celebrities like the Japanese emperor Hirohito, passionate about a 1938 Mercedes Benz, as well as another from 1941 owned by Adolf Hitler. Not far behind is the 1956 Ford Thunderbird driven by the Cuban star Rosita Fornés, as well as the Cadillac series 62 from 1958 that belonged to Benny Moré, two iconic Cuban artists.
We talk about true gems when we refer to them as part of the sui generis sample collection, three limousines. One of them, a new Volvo from 1996, in which were transported when visiting Cuba, transcendental universal personalities such as actors Alain Delón, Jack Nicholson, the model Naomi Campbell, or the Prince of the Order of Malta.
In editions of the Expo Caribe Fair, the second most significant commercial exchange in the country, the presentations of this Museum are highly anticipated. And many times it has been an efficient organizer of widely received and popular sporting events.