Return to Cuba: The Q60 Coupe and Alfonso Albaisa

A new state-of-the-art coupe rolls past colonial architecture and skirts the sea along the iconic Malecón. The INFINITI Q60’s chrome and bright paint adding another thread to the vibrant tapestry that is Havana.

But this is not a typical scene in Cuba’s capital. It is the first time in 58 years that a new U.S. vehicle has been registered in Cuba and driven through these historic streets.

For INFINITI Executive Design Director Alfonso Albaisa, accompanying the Q60 to Cuba is not only about the journey of the car. It is a special opportunity to return to the island homeland of his parents, a place that played an important role in his life.
Alfonso Albaisa, INFINITI’s Executive Design Director bringing the Q60 to Cuba

Albaisa’s family was exiled due to politics during the Cuban Revolution. Visiting Cuba for the first time alongside the Q60 allowed him to make a connection with his family’s history that was previously limited to stories and photographs.

In exploring Cuba with the Q60, Albaisa may have also discovered the origins of his own design roots. In the mid-century modern architecture of his great-uncle Max Borges-Recio, whose famed work includes the Tropicana, Club Nautico, and Borges-Recio’s own home in Havana, Albaisa found graceful curves, flowing lines and evocative design that is similar to his own work.