Cuban refugee 1951 Chevrolet pickup boat

The 1951 Chevrolet pickup boat was a homemade amphibious conversion in which twelve Cubans tried to reach Florida in July 2003. Its builder was Luis Grass, a mechanic and former naval engineering student. With his friend Marcial Basante he had used the old Chevy truck to haul building materials and goods in Cuba.

Conversion

The truck rode on a pontoon bed, with drums lashed along its sides for buoyancy, and was driven by propellers connected to its drive shaft. The pickup itself sat mostly above the waterline. Contemporary observers called it a crude raft design next to the group's later Buick.

The voyage

The group was intercepted by the US Coast Guard off Islamorada in the Florida Keys and returned to Cuba. The truck was sunk by gunfire from a cutter as a hazard to navigation. The story spread around the world, and the "truck-o-nauts" became a symbol of ingenuity for the Cuban exile community. Grass and Basante tried again in February 2004 in a converted 1959 Buick. Grass eventually entered the United States over the Mexican border in 2005.

Replica

In 2009 Grass, then working as a mechanic at a Miami Chevrolet dealership, built a replica with the dealership's backing. It was based on an abandoned 1951 pickup that its owner gave him free once he heard the story. The replica, painted fluorescent green and fitted with air tanks on both sides for stability at sea, was tested on Lake Okeechobee and then put on display on Calle Ocho in Miami.