Elvis in a Gullwing in Havana

   Pieralfonso Longo came across a Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing in Cuba in 1978.
   It was the summer Cuba played host to the World Festival of Youth and Students, a left-wing gathering taking place for the first time in the Western Hemisphere. A reported 18,500 young people from 145 countries came to Havana that August to rally for “anti-imperialist solidarity, peace and friendship.”
   Longo, an Italian and a photographer of some note, saw the Gullwing parked at a beach area. Its paintwork, an unfortunate shade of mustard yellow, looked original. Standing next to it was a motorcycle policeman. The car's doors were open, and seated on the sill on the driver’s side was a bluejeaned man with dark, slicked back hair.
   “ ‘Elvis’ was a sort of police or tourist chief there,” reports Longo, who took a photo of the scene that you can see here.

Comments

TonyR said…
One of the Gullwings I heard about in Havana was supposedly gold-coloured.
This must be it
Caristas said…
That makes sense. This is definitely NOT the silver Gullwing, with red and white interior, pictured in Michael E. Ware's book.

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