A Cuban converted his old Fiat to coal due to the country's fuel blockade (7 photos)
On a single load of coal, the car travels 85 kilometers at speeds of up to 70 km/h. 
Cuban mechanic Juan Carlos Pino has found a way to circumvent the US oil blockade. He converted his Fiat 126p from gasoline to charcoal. The car ran successfully, and the inventor gained local fame: people turn to him for advice, Reuters reports.
Pino assembled the entire design in his workshop in Aguacate, a town of 5,000 people 70 kilometers from Havana. The rear-mounted twin-cylinder engine has been supplemented with a 60-liter charcoal tank (formerly a propane tank). The filter is made from a stainless steel milk jug filled with old clothes.
In early March, the inventor took the modified car out for the first time. During one of the first test runs, the car traveled 85 kilometers on a single load, reaching a top speed of 70 km/h. Pino has become famous, and is sought after by both car owners and people using generators at home and at work during hours-long power outages. The price of a liter of gasoline during severe shortages reaches $8.
Converting internal combustion engines to wood or coal was widely practiced during World War II, when traditional fuels were also scarce. These versions are more difficult to operate and have modest technical specifications, but the fuel for them is widely available. 
