Cubans benefited from the cars being older, simpler, and robust. Imagine freezing car tech now, with so many electronics, far more parts and built to be replaced relatively quickly!
eru
These older cars broke down all the time. There's a reason old American sit-coms have at least some characters always tinkering with their cars: you needed to do that. Nowadays, cars just work.
Reminds me of the old American cars in Cuba - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yank_tank