NASHVILLE: Cuba is a a country where vintage cars are still running around and visiting the place is like a journey into the past. So when Infiniti took its ultra-modern Q60 there, it was more than just an oddity.

Infiniti executive design director Alfonso Albaisa imported the Q60 to Havana, making it the first US-spec car registered in Cuba in 58 years. The move was also to trace his roots back to his parents’ birthplace.



Now based in Japan, where he oversees all four Infiniti design studios across the world, Alfonso grew up in Miami.

This was his first opportunity to visit Cuba and see the curves of the mid-century modern architecture of his great-uncle Max Borges-Recio, including the Tropicana, Club Nautico, as well as Borges Recio’s own home.

In the process, Alfonso may have also found the origins of his own design DNA that is expressed in the unique flowing lines of current Infiniti vehicles.

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