Cars is an animated feature film presented by Walt Disney Pictures, produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. Its release date was June 9, 2006 in the US, and July 28,2006 in the UK. This movie is the seventh Disney/Pixar feature film, and the final film under a contract with Disney created prior to the purchase of Pixar by Disney.

Directed by John Lasseter (Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2), the film is set in a world populated entirely by anthropomorphized cars and other vehicles, and features the voices of Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, Paul Newman, Cheech Marin, Tony Shalhoub, John Ratzenberger, George Carlin, and Larry the Cable Guy. Many of the voices of the racecars are real race car drivers. They include Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Mario Andretti, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. There are also many minor characters that are puns on the voice actors' names, and also puns on other names. For example, the two announcers, Darrell Cartrip and Bob Cutlass, are voiced by three-time NASCAR champion Darrell Waltrip and sportscaster Bob Costas. Other puns include the television host Jay Limo (voiced by comedian Jay Leno), the Governator -- obviously imitating California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and minor characters Minny and Van (a blatant pun on "minivan"). Also, minor racecars are voiced by racers with corresponding names, including seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher (whose character is onscreen for under 15 seconds). Lastly, brothers Rusty and Dusty Rust-Eze are voiced by real-life brothers Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the hosts of NPR's weekly auto repair call-in show Car Talk. The film was rated G by the MPAA.

The film premiered on May 26, 2006 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

Story

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From left to right: Chick Hicks, Lightning McQueen and The King.

Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) is a race car who has dreamed all his life of winning the Piston Cup Championship. McQueen has an enormous lead in the final lap of the final race of the season, and is about to become the first rookie to win the championship, until his rear tires (which he hadn't let his pit crew take the time to change) blow out. McQueen barely finishes the race and ends up in a three-way tie with the cheater Chick Hicks (Michael Keaton) and the veteran champion, "The King," Strip Weathers (Richard Petty).

After the race, McQueen and his transport truck buddy Mack (John Ratzenberger), seemingly his only real friend, begin a journey across the country from North Carolina to California's Los Angeles International Speedway where the tie-breaker race will be held. Lightning wants to get to California first and "schmooze" Dinoco, so he refuses to let Mack stop for the night at a nearby truck stop. With each mile traveled, Mack gets even more tired, eventually dozing off on the road completely. Four street racers (Wingo, Boost, Snot Rod, DJ) have fun with the sleeping rig. A bump in the road causes the trailer's rear door to open, and a sleeping McQueen rolls onto the busy highway. After narrowly avoiding several collisions, McQueen becomes hopelessly lost attempting to find Mack. He speeds past the Sheriff of Radiator Springs (Michael Wallis), who gives chase. McQueen mistakes the Sheriff's backfiring for gunshots and speeds in a panic through the darkness, tearing up the main street of Radiator Springs until he is trapped in telephone wires.

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The Governator -- obviously imitating California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The character design is based on Schwarzenegger's actual SUV

The next morning, McQueen awakens to find himself impounded. After a brief conversation with Mater the rusty-yet-trusty tow truck (Larry The Cable Guy), he is taken to court. Local judge and doctor Doc Hudson (Paul Newman) initially orders the race car out of town immediately, but Sally Carrera (Bonnie Hunt) (a Porsche and the town's attorney) arrives and convinces Doc McQueen must be made to stay and repair the road. McQueen is hooked up to Bessie, the asphalt machine, and told that it should take him five days to finish repaving the stretch he damaged.

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Doc Hudson (left) and Lightning McQueen (right) before their "race" at Willy's Butte.

McQueen remains interested only in leaving the town to make it to his race. He makes an escape attempt the instant he is released from his parking clamp, only to find out that his warders have siphoned out his gas tank in anticipation. McQueen then attempts to rush his road repair duty, only to create an unusable road. Tired of the racecar's complaining, Doc Hudson challenges McQueen to a desert race: if McQueen wins, he leaves town and Doc fixes the road. If Doc wins, the racer must fix the road Doc's way. At the track, Doc is left in McQueen's dust as the racer roars off. Doc remains at the starting line, unconcerned. It looks like McQueen will win, but he overshoots a tight turn and winds up over a cliff in a cactus patch. Doc, clearly expecting this result, is declared the winner as Mater fishes McQueen out of the patch.

After the race, McQueen keeps his end of the bargain and begins fixing the road. As he works through the day, he gripes continually. As night falls, Doc listens, calling McQueen's griping "music sweet music," but Sally thinks "maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

The next day the townsfolk discover that McQueen has finish repaving a section of the road and are amazed at the perfection of its paved smoothness. Since he ran out of asphalt in the middle of the night, Sheriff allowed him to try to make the turn at Willy's Butte again under his supervision, but McQueen continues to fail. Doc suggests that he should use opposite lock steering, but while ignoring Doc, he decides to try the opposite lock, out of curiosity. The technique ends up landing him another trip to the cactus patch. The following night, Mater is instructed to watch Lightning, so Mater decided to take him "tractor tipping" (a play on cow tipping). To demonstrate, Mater honks at one of the tractors, waking it up and tricking it into rushing forward, and it falls backwards. Lacking a horn, Lightning instead revs his engine ferociously, awakening the entire herd of tractors, and getting the same result. They laugh until they are suddenly scared off by Frank, the combine harvester.

Back in town, Mater teases Lightning about Sally after he finds out that Sally invited him to stay in the Cozy Cone Motel which she runs, instead of at the impound. When Lightning feels that Mater, who's driving backwards, might run into something, Mater shows Lightning that he is best backwards vehicle in the county. In Mater's words: "I don't need to see where I'm going, just need to know where I've been". After this he questions Lightning about his big race. Lightning refers to the possibility about becoming the new face of Dinoco with parties and helicopter rides. Mater asks he if could get a ride on one of them "hay-lee-copters." When Lightning says yes, Mater says he knew he made a good choice in his best friend.

The next morning, Lightning finds out Doc's biggest secret: he was the famous Piston Cup racer, the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, and the winner of three consecutive trophies (1951, 1952, 1953).

Sally decides to take McQueen for a drive through Tailfin Pass, on the outskirts of Radiator Springs ending at the Wheel Well Motel, an old hotel located at the top of a bluff overlooking the entire town and valley. At the top, McQueen learns that the town once thrived, before being bypassed after the construction of Interstate 40 four decades earlier. After that, McQueen comes to understand the town's troubles, and becomes friends with all of the residents.

When he returns to town, after a stampede of tractors, he sees Doc at Willy's Butte making the turn that McQueen has failed before time and again. When Doc sees him, he dashes back to his garage, with McQueen following him. Angered, Doc orders him out, but this time McQueen persists, demanding to to know why he, a fellow race car, would quit at the top of his game. Doc reveals that his career ended prematurely because of a devastating crash in 1954 and that his backers had quit on him for another, while he was being repaired.

After he finishes the road, McQueen sets about patronizing all the townsfolk and they hold a "cruise" (slow-driving) at night. At that point, Doc tips off the media that McQueen is in their town after McQueen has helped everyone out, and he is whisked away by Mack and a mob of reporters to the big race.

At the race in California, Lightning is distracted by thoughts of Sally and Radiator Springs. Lagging behind, McQueen is revitalized after most of the Radiator Springs townsfolk (save for Sally, Lizzie, and Red, who stay behind and watch the race on TV) arrive to become his pit crew, with Doc as his crew chief. Not only does this lift McQueen's spirits, but the crew draws some attention as well, thanks to the re-emergence of the Fabulous Hudson Hornet (in full splendor) and Guido's incredibly swift solo tire changing, which is faster than most entire pit crews. This encouragement enables McQueen to catch up to the leaders and make a run for the lead. During one of the laps, Chick tries to keep Lightning from passing him by knocking him into a spin, and causing him to face backwards, but Lightning easily counters this with the backwards driving Mater taught him (sparking cheers in Mater), and when Chick knocks Lightning off the track and into the center grass, Lightning finally does the opposite lock steering maneuver perfectly, not only getting back on the track, but past The King, and Chick. On the last lap, Chick Hicks makes a desperate effort to avoid coming in last, and rear-ends The King, sending him into the air, ending in a horrific end-over-end flip. McQueen, about to win, sees the wreck. Remembering how Doc's crash ended his career, he hits his brakes, stopping just short of the finishing line. He stays until Chick passes, before going back and pushing The King to the line to finish his career with dignity, knowing that he didn't want the fate that Doc suffered to happen to The King as well. Chick wins the Piston Cup, but is booed as a despicable cheat (what many viewers would define as an empty victory).

McQueen is offered the Dinoco endorsement, and while tempted, turns it down to remain with his original sponsor, Rust-eze Medicated Bumper Ointment, saying that "they gave him his big break." He then decides to move to Radiator Springs and build his racing headquarters there, along with a Doc Hudson Museum. Thanks to McQueen, Radiator Springs receives a boost of tourism, revitalizing the town, and the once abandoned Route 66 becomes a major traffic roadway once more, having officially been reclassified as "Historic Route 66".

Production

Unlike most animated cars, the film's cars' eyes were placed on the windshield (which resembles the Tonka Talking Trucks, as well as the characters from Tex Avery's One Cab's Family short and Disney's own Susie the Little Blue Coupe), rather than within the headlamps. According to production designer Bob Pauley, “From the very beginning of this project, John [Lasseter] had it in his mind to have the eyes be in the windshield. For one thing, it separates our characters from the more common approach where you have little cartoon eyes in the headlights. For another, he thought that having the eyes down near the mouth at the front end of the car made the character feel more like a snake. With the eyes set in the windshield, the point of view is more human-like, and made it feel like the whole car could be involved in the animation of the character.”^[2] The characters also use their tires as hands, the exceptions being Mater, the tow truck, who sometimes uses his tow hook, and the various fork-lift characters, who use their forks.

The original script was written in 1998 and the producers agreed that Cars would be the next movie after A Bug's Life, and would be released in early 1999. However, that movie was scrapped and the production of Toy Story 2 took place. Later, production resumed with major script changes.

The race sequence in the teaser trailer was likely made before the other sequences, as the Piston Cup cars sport different body styles and paint jobs.

In 2001, the movie's working title was Route 66 (after U.S. Route 66), but in 2002, the title was changed to prevent people from thinking it was related to the 1960 television show with the same name. Also, Lightning McQueen's number was originally going to be 57 (Lasseter's birth year), but was changed to 95 (the year Toy Story was released), the number seen in the movie today.

Cars was originally going to be released on November 4, 2005, but soon after the trailer's release in January 2005, the movie's release date was changed to June 9, 2006. The delay could be considered a good thing, because one of the most complex shots in the movie, where Sally drives herself in front of the waterfall, crashed Pixar's server. Chicken Little was instead released by Disney on November 4.

Cars is the last film made by Joe Ranft, who died in a car crash in 2005. The film was the second to be dedicated to his memory after Corpse Bride.

Critical reaction

Initial critical reaction was generally positive. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars (out of a possible four) and said, "The movie is great to look at and a lot of fun, but somehow lacks the extra push of the other Pixar films."^[3] Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post called the film "great fun" and gave it four stars (out of a possible four).^[4] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times reviewed the film unfavorably, criticizing its emphasis on mechanical characters and landscape and lack of living creatures.^[5] In her review, Christy Lemire of the Associated Press remarked extensively on the plot's striking similarity to 1991's Doc Hollywood.^[6] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly also commented on this similarity in her review. Lemire was more positive and gave the film an A-.^[7] Although the film acquired the lowest percentage thus far for a Pixar animated feature, it still boasts a "certified fresh" 77% rating at RottenTomatoes (as of September 14, 2006), with a 78% rating from the "Cream of the Crop" reviewers.^[8] Cars was recognized by the Heartland Film Festival with the Truly Moving Picture award.^[9] Director John Lasseter won the 2006 Will Rogers Award for the positive influence the film has had on Route 66.^[10]

Box office performance

Information obtained through the Box Office Mojo.^[11]^[12] Cars's gross for its first twenty weeks:

Domestic (US + Canada) Box Office:

Weekend	Gross	Rank	Total
1	$60,119,509	1	$60,119,509
2	$33,731,634	1	$117,055,283
3	$23,285,367	2	$156,664,916
4	$14,569,356	4	$182,591,139
5	$10,734,082	5	$205,908,484
6	$7,840,985	6	$220,001,446
7	$4,947,198	10	$229,485,636
8	$2,620,756	14	$234,802,642
9	$1,084,684	20	$237,517,306
10	$620,976	23	$238,841,296
11	$438,906	25	$239,618,177
12	$734,162	22	$240,555,222
13	$856,000	19	$241,751,000
14	$478,322	20	$242,618,740
15	$345,867	25	$243,067,357
16	$318,716	26	$243,469,180
17	$200,202	34	$243,735,463
18	$134,870	35	$243,921,502
19	$83,225	46	$244,052,771

Total Box Office (As of December 10 2006):

Source	Gross	% Total
Domestic	$244,082,982	53.2%
Foreign	$214,467,000	46.8%
Worldwide	$458,549,987	100.0%

The movie premiered strongly, continuing Pixar's streak of #1 debuts for each of the company's feature films. It earned as much in its first weekend as the total domestic gross of Disney's earlier NASCAR movie Herbie: Fully Loaded. However, the film's performance was less than the previous two Pixar movies, The Incredibles and Finding Nemo, which both made over $70 million their opening weekends. As a result, Disney's stock price dropped slightly.

Cars faced competition from several heavy-hitting movies released in the 2006 summer season, including Superman Returns, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, as well as other CGI films. Despite this, Cars managed to perform well, achieving domestic blockbuster status after crossing $200 million domestic on July 8, 2006 and international blockbuster status after crossing $400 million worldwide on August 30, 2006.

Cars spent 13 days (non-consecutive) as the #1 movie in the domestic box office, lasted five weeks in the top five and seven in the top ten. On its 8th weekend, it overtook X-Men: The Last Stand as the second highest grossing film of 2006 in the U.S. Box Office. It currently ranks as the top grossing film of the car racing genre.

Attached short films

One Man Band

The theatrical and video/DVD releases of this film include the academy award nominated One Man Band, a Pixar short made in 2005, a year before this film was released.

Mater and the Ghostlight

The video/DVD of this film was released on November 7 2006 in the US. It included an additional short called Mater and the Ghostlight, starring many of the film's characters.^[13]^[14]

Vehicles and voice cast

Note voice actors for languages other than English are unspecified

The vehicle characters seen throughout the movie and the actors that were used for their voices are:

Characters	Vehicle Likeness	Voice Actor
Lightning McQueen	LA Times: "[A] mix of a stock car and and a more curvaceous Le Mans endurance racer."^[15]	Owen Wilson
The King	Richard Petty's 1970 Plymouth Superbird, #43	Richard Petty
Chick Hicks	Pixar: "a generic 1980's stock car."^[16] Albeit one that resembles a mid-1980s stock car.	Michael Keaton
Mater	mid-1950s Chevrolet Chevrolet One-Ton^[17] Wrecker Tow Truck	Larry the Cable Guy
Sally	2002 Porsche 911 Carrera	Bonnie Hunt
Doc Hudson	1951 Hudson Hornet	Paul Newman
Ramone	1959 Chevy Impala lowrider	Cheech Marin
Fillmore	1960 VW Bus	George Carlin
Sarge	1942 Willys MB/1946 Willys CJ-2A hybrid	Paul Dooley
Flo	1957 Motorama show car	Jenifer Lewis
Luigi	1959 Fiat 500	Tony Shalhoub
Guido	Italian Isetta forklift	Guido Quaroni
Sheriff	1949 Mercury Club Coupe	Michael Wallis
Mack	1985 Mack Superliner	John Ratzenberger
Lizzie	1923 Ford Model T	Katherine Helmond
Red	1960s style fire truck (most closely resembles a mid-1960s Pirsch pumper but also resembles American LaFrance models)	Joe Ranft
Peterbilt	Peterbilt 362	Joe Ranft
Harv	Not seen	Jeremy Piven / Jeremy Clarkson (UK)
Darrell Cartrip	1977 Chevrolet Monte Carlo	Darrell Waltrip
Bob Cutlass	1999 Oldsmobile Aurora	Bob Costas
Mrs. The King Weathers	1972 Chrysler Town and Country w/solid nose	Lynda Petty
Rusty Rust-Eze	1964 Dodge A100 van	Tom Magliozzi
Dusty Rust-Eze	1963 Dodge Dart	Ray Magliozzi
Tex	1975 Cadillac Coupe de Ville	H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler
Jay Limo	Generic Limousine; resembles a late-1990s Lincoln Town Car	Jay Leno
Fred the Rusty Car	1962 Rambler Ambassador	Andrew Stanton
Junior	2002 NASCAR standard body stocker	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Mario Andretti	1967 Ford Fairlane Daytona 500 winner	Himself
Michael Schumacher	2005 Ferrari F430	Himself
McQueen's Biggest Fan	Large Motor home	Douglas "Mater" Keever
Motor Home Race Fan	1978 Class A Motor home	Larry Benton
Wingo	2000 Nissan Silvia S15	Adrian Ochoa
Boost	1994 Mitsubishi Eclipse	Jonas Rivera
Snot Rod	1970 Plymouth Barracuda	Lou Romano
DJ	2004 Scion xB	E.J. Holowicki
Tia	1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata	Elissa Knight
Mia	1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata	Lindsey Collins
'Not Chuck'	Generic Forklift	Mike Nelson
Minny	Toyota Previa	Edie McClurg
Van	Saturn Relay	Richard Kind
The Governator	Hummer H1	Arnold Schwarzenegger
Sheriff Woody	Ford Woodie wagon	Tom Hanks
Buzz Lightyear	Toy Spaceship Car	Tim Allen
Flik	1966 Volkswagen "Bug"	Dave Foley
Mike Wazowski	Isetta	Billy Crystal
Sulley	Monster Truck	John Goodman
Abominable Snowplow	Snowcat	John Ratzenberger
Hamm	A squeezed up Plymoth Colt Vista	John Ratzenberger
P.T. Flea	Chrysler PT Cruiser	John Ratzenberger
Kori Turbowitz	Ford Puma	Sarah Clark
Marco	2002 Ford Expedition Security SUV	Phil Lorin
Elvis RV Cab	Ford E-350 RV	Sheryl Crow

There was also an animated Wal-Mart truck seen on a Wal-Mart ad and Wal-Mart TV commercial for Cars. In the Wal-Mart TV commercial the Wal-Mart truck was talking to Mater.

In Opel and Vauxhall commercials, an Opel Zafira, Opel Astra Sport Hatch and an Opel Meriva (portrayed as British tourists) come to Radiator Springs and take photos of the buildings and characters. This is the first advert. The second involves the Opels/Vauxhalls in Mater auditions with Lightning McQueen. The Zafira was too slick and stlylish for the role, the Astra was too sporty and stiff and the Meriva was too shy to speak. Eventually the role went naturally to Mater (another GM vehicle) and the Vauxhalls/Opels sighed collectively in relief. Jordan Laframboise

DVD

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Cars DVD

Cars was released on DVD in Australia and New Zealand on October 25 2006, in the United States and Canada on November 7 and in the United Kingdom on November 27, and is available in both Widescreen and Fullscreen editions. It contains the short film Mater and the Ghostlight, One Man Band (another Pixar short which showed before the film in theaters), and Inspiration for Cars, a 16 minute long documentary about the film featuring John Lasseter.

Unlike previous Pixar DVD releases, there is only a one-disc version, with no plans laid out for a future two-disc release as of November 2006. According to Sara Maher, DVD Production Manager at Pixar, this is because of John Lasseter and Pixar being busy with upcoming productions like Ratatouille,^[18] although additional extras not seen on the disc have been released on the Official DVD Website.^[19]

In the US and Canada, there were bonus discs available with the purchase of Cars at either Wal-Mart or Target. Wal-Mart featured a Geared-Up Bonus DVD Disc that focused on the music of the film, including the "Life Is A Highway" video, The Making of "Life Is A Highway", Cars: The Making of the Music and Under The Hood, a special that originally aired on the ABC Family cable channel. Target's bonus was a Rev'd Up DVD Disc that featured material that was mostly already released as part of the official Cars podcast and focused on the inspirations for and production of the movie.

Australian retailer EzyDVD was taking pre-orders for a two-disc edition of the DVD to be released at the same time as the one-disc version^[20], however these are no longer available due to overwhelming popularity. The second disc includes short featurettes covering the music, real cars, Route 66, and other inspirations for the movie, but very little about the animation. It is not known whether this second disc will contain the same features as a future Region 1 two-disc edition. Also, the DVD release will include a 1:55 scale die-cast Lightning McQueen, as seen on Toywiz.com.

There is a hidden Easter Egg on the DVD. On the main screen, after the third image of the Piston Cup flashes in front of Lightning McQueen, a Dinoco 400 logo will appear in the bottom right hand corner. Hit right to select it, and you will be shown a short film featuring Lightning, Mater and Guido that parodies the Pixar short Boundin'.

According to the Walt Disney Company, 5 million copies of the DVD were sold in the first two days it was available. ^[21]

Merchandising

The Mattel-produced die-cast cars are some of the most popular toys of the summer. Several stores are having trouble keeping the toys in stock, and some models are currently out of stock because of being shipped in lower numbers than most characters, they include: Lizzie, Sarge, Leakless, Chick Hicks, and Nitroade. Some online Disney enthusiasts are comparing it to the same shortage that Mattel faced with its Toy Story line in 1995. Because of these shortages, some of the die-cast cars are only readily available on eBay.

On June 22, 2006 Disney Consumer Products announced that Cars merchandise broke records for retail sales based on a Disney-Pixar product, recording 10-to-1 more volume than Finding Nemo.^[22] DCP reports that product expansion will take place in the fall alongside the DVD release of the film.

Estimates from the New York Daily News indicate that sales of Cars merchandise two weeks out from the release of the film amassed to $600 million USD. Estimates put out in November by the Walt Disney Company peg total sales for the brand at around $1 billion. ^[23]

Kelley Blue Book, the de facto resource for appraising values of vehicles, has humorously "appraised" four of the cars, Lightning McQueen, Mater, Sally Carrera, and Doc Hudson according to their make/model and personalities. [1]

The United States Department of Transportation has used scenes from the movie in a commercial regarding the Click It or Ticket campaign.

In conjunction with the film's release, a chocolate ice cream on a stick resembling a car tire was released in Australia. These ice creams were called 'Burnouts'. The naming of the particular product sparked controversy as the name 'Burnouts' was believed to have encouraged street racing and committing burnouts. These acts are illegal and heavy fines and convictions are issued to those committing these acts in Australia. It is unknown as to whether the products have been discontinued or not.

In South Africa and several other countries where Opel is present (or with Opel models under Chevrolet and Vauxhall brand), GM has a campaign featuring an Astra, a Meriva and a Zafira as characters in the world of Cars, including TV ads made by Pixar, with the Opel models interacting with Lightning McQueen, Mater and Ramone.^[24] The first ad involved the Opels coming to Radiator Springs as tourists. The second involved their failed attempts at auditoning for Mater. In the end the Opels lost the part to the real Mater (another GM vehicle)

In July 2006, greeting card giant Hallmark unveiled its line of 2006 Keepsake Christmas ornaments. Among the collection was an ornament featuring Lightning McQueen and Mater.

Cultural diversity

Some cars are cast by their owners, others by their nation of manufacture.

The character Mater at different points in the movie says "Git R Done" and "I don't care who you are, that's funny right there," both catchphrases of Daniel Lawrence Whitney (credited as Larry the Cable Guy), who voices the character in the stereotypical drawl of an American Hillbilly. Mater is named after Douglas "Mater" Keever, whom John Lasseter met at Lowe's Motor Speedway.^[25].

Flo appears to be inspired by three early- to mid-fifties show cars: the 1951 Buick LeSabre (front-end lines, the basic hood shape, lights mounted near the corners, and front-quarter trim), the 1951 Buick XP-300 (side trim), and the 1956/57 Chrysler Dart (cockpit, deck lid, and tailfins).^[26] Flo is played by Jenifer Lewis who is often cast as an African-American mother figure.

Fillmore is a 1960 Volkswagen Type 2, voiced by comedian George Carlin. Carlin was one of the first comics to be embraced by the flower children of the 1960's, and the VW van is usually associated with the hippie culture. Throughout the film, Fillmore is shown with half-closed, unfocused eyes, and he speaks in slow, sleepy speech peppered with the word "man". This is also remeniscent of Tommy Chong, one half of the famous "pothead" duo Cheech and Chong.

Ramone is voiced by Cheech Marin. He is a Chevrolet Impala lowrider; a creation popular among Latinos. He is Pixar's first Latino character.

Luigi is a Fiat 500 with an Italian accent provided by Tony Shalhoub. By coincidence, the Fiat 500 is the same kind of car used by Lupin III, the protagonist of the Lupin III series and movies. Hayao Miyazaki, a good friend of John Lasseter, worked on two of the Lupin TV series and directed the Lupin III movie The Castle of Cagliostro. Lasseter said in an interview he did not intend for the reference to be there, although Cagliostro is still one of his favorite films.^[27]

It was noted by some that European cars were few and far between with most cars being either American or US market Japanese. The European cars in the film were: Sally Carrera, Filmore (both German), Luigi, several Maserati Quattroportes (Italian), Michael Schumacher (Italian; although he is German, he drove for Ferrari, and the car he voiced is a Ferrari F430). British motoring journalist Jeremy Clarkson was the voice of Harv in the film's UK edition. In Clarkson's book, Clarkson on Cars, he described himself as a 1979 Ford Granada Ghia so it could be implied that Harv was (in the UK edition) a British/German car.

Mario Andretti voices a 1967 Ford Fairlane 500 stock car, painted blue and gold with the number #11. Mario Andretti won the 1967 Daytona 500 with a car of the same appearance prepared by Holman-Moody.

Three of The Delinquent Road Hazards (minus Snot Rod) are Japanese imports; Mia and Tia are Mazda Miatas, and their names are a pun on Miata. Frank's predominant color, orange, is the color of Japanese tractor maker Kubota. While there is a Japanese woman (a 1990's Mazda Kei-car) on the world news, Asian Week("Steamed at Cars") notes that there are no Asian American cast voices, prominent or otherwise.

NASCAR differences

The rules in the Piston Cup shown in the movie that differ from NASCAR include:

In the movie, Chick Hicks made a pass just after the restart and by doing so, crossed the yellow line on the track. In NASCAR, that would be considered a pass "out-of-bounds" at Daytona and Talladega; and would be penalized by a black flag stop-and-go if the position is not given back. If a driver was forced below the yellow line, they would not be penalized.
In the movie, the tie for the points lead is settled by an extra race. In NASCAR, the situation is settled by whoever has more wins. If the drivers have the same number of wins, it is decided by 2nd-place finishes and so on.
In the movie, Lightning McQueen appears to speed out of pit road to beat the pace car, and stay on the lead lap. In NASCAR, a driver would be penalized for doing that by being required to restart the race at the end of the longer of the two lines of cars that line up behind the pace car. During the final ten laps of the race, when the cars one or more laps down are not allowed to line up to the inside of the lead-lap cars, the penalty is to start at the end of the one line of cars.
- McQueen did not, however, speed in the pits. He only accelerated once he crossed the pit exit line. Had he broken the speed limit within the pits, he would have had to serve a stop and go black flag on the very next lap under NASCAR rules. The movie then depicts McQueen just catching up to the pack as the green flag is waved. NASCAR dictates the drivers be lined up before the green flag is issued.
In the movie, Lightning McQueen pushes the wrecked Weathers across the finish line. In NASCAR, both drivers would be penalized for doing so in that situation (as in NASCAR, the race would be finished under the yellow flag, and under NASCAR rules, no driver can push a car in the last lap of the race). Bob Cutlass (in the film) even asks his broadcast partner if that is legal. However, it is reasonable that the symbolic gesture would be interpreted as such by NASCAR, as the last line in the rulebook reads "Except in rare instances". The penalty would be largely a pro forma matter in the situation depicted, in any event, as the penalty for receiving assistance on the last lap is to not have the final lap scored, resulting in the cars finishing one lap down—if the penalty was assessed there would be no change in their ranking.
Some cars in the film's first race have 3-digit numbers, while in NASCAR, 3 digit numbers may be registered for cars, but cars must sport a 1 or 2 digit number on their car. Prior to 1972 it was somewhat common for some drivers to sport 3 digit numbers on their cars.
In the first race, when McQueen blew his tires, the race still continued. However, in NASCAR, if McQueen left significant debris on the track, the race would be put under caution. If the race were to reach its advertised distance during the caution period, one attempt would be made at a "green-white-checkered" finish, where the race would be extended so that it could be restarted and complete two laps before the end. Should the caution come out during the two-lap final sprint, the race would immediately end under caution.
When McQueen came to a halt on the track, because the white flag (indicating the final lap of the race) had been displayed, the caution flag would have been displayed, immediately ending the race. However, McQueen would not have won the race (and thus the Piston Cup) as he was unable to maintain caution speed to cross the finish line, and thus would be scored as having ended the race as the last car on the lead lap.
Modern NASCAR bodies must all have nearly the same shape, differentiated mainly by the painting of headlights and grille. The Piston Cup features cars based on various NASCAR racers since the 1970s.
In NASCAR, sponsors and pit crew members are determined by the team owner, not the driver, unless the driver is the team owner.

Setting

The landscape in the distance behind Radiator Springs is made up of rock formations intentionally reminiscent of Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. The road map shown in the montage history of the town calls the area "Cadillac Range."

Nearby "Ornament Valley" (a reference to Monument Valley) is made of rock formations that project from the valley walls or rise from the valley floor and resemble the front ends of late 1930s to early 1940s American automobiles.

The Flo's V8 Cafe logo is similar to that used by the '32 Ford V8, the first V8 for mass marketed cars. This logo also appeared on Ford V8 in the sixties as well as Third-Generation Ford Explorers.

The track that the opening race (Motor Speedway of the South) takes place on is actually based on and an enlarged version of the real life Bristol Motor Speedway. The track used for the Piston Cup Championship race is a clever knock-off of the Pasadena Rose Bowl as well as the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the California Speedway.

At one point in the movie, when many places are shutting down in anticipation of a big race, a sign can be read for a brief moment that reads: "City of Emeryville - Closed." This is a reference to Emeryville, California, where the Pixar studio is located.

Route 66

Many characters and places in the movie are directly inspired on real Route 66 places and people.

To quote the Pixar crew:

"As we traveled on Route 66, we were privileged to visit many places and to meet a number of people who live and work alongside 'The Mother Road.' The following is a list of the places and people we wanted to honor by including their names in our 'Special Thanks' credits at the end of the film."^[28]

The soundtrack has two versions of the classic Nat King Cole jazz standard "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66", one by Chuck Berry and a new version recorded specifically for the film's credits performed by John Mayer.

Among the many references to Route 66 landmarks and personalities:

The Cozy Cone Motel's design is based on the two Wigwam Motels along Rt. 66, in Holbrook, Arizona and Rialto, California. These were once two out of seven motels, with individual cabins shaped like tepees. The name "Cozy Cone" was inspired by the Cozy Dog Drive-In of Springfield, IL, which lays claim to being birthplace of the corn dog.

The character "Fillmore", referring to the famous San Francisco music venue The Fillmore, was at one time to be named "Waldmire" after Bob Waldmire, a self-proclaimed hippie artist known to Rt. 66 fans for his detailed pen-and-ink maps and postcards of the route. Though Waldmire's family owns the Cozy Dog Drive-In, Bob, now a vegan, preferred not to see his name put on a character that would become a Happy Meal toy.^[29]

Ramone's House of Body Art is based primarily on the U Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas. It opened in 1936 as Tower Conoco (from its distinctive Art Deco spire) with the U Drop Inn Cafe and a retail building attached. Many other establishments built along Route 66 in its heyday had Art Deco elements that might be reflected in the design of Ramone's.

Script references

References to other Pixar films

Many of the sponsors on the sides of the cars are references to past Pixar films or as puns on real-life automotive-related companies. Here's a brief list of them:

The tires on the racecars say in small print "Gamma Quadrant Sector 4," a reference to where Zurg's base is located in Toy Story 2.

The race cars in the movie are equipped with Lightyear Buzzard tires, a parody of Goodyear Eagle Tires and a reference to Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story and Toy Story 2

Both races are covered by a Lightyear blimp, another nod to the Toy Story movies and Goodyear tires.

The King's sponsor is Dinoco, the gas station from Toy Story, which itself is a pun on Sunoco, the official fuel supplier for NASCAR, though the logo is closer to petroleum company Sinclair which features a dinosaur on its logo.

Radiator Spring's founder Stanley is actually the same truck that's seen in the Pixar short Boundin'.

A Dinoco gas station can be spotted in the "Life is a Highway" scene, on the far right of the screen as Mack follows the sign to Interstate 40. It is difficult to make out accurately, but it appears to be the same Dinoco gas station seen in Toy Story.

The Pizza Planet truck from Toy Story with a rocket on the roof appears to be sleeping at the Dinoco gas station during the "Life is a Highway" scene. The truck can also be seen again at the entrance to the stadium in the final race sequence.

The railway train's number which almost crashed into Lightning McQueen when he was on his way to Radiator Springs is A113, a recurring inside joke in several animated shows and films, referring to the classroom number used by animation students at CalArts. Mater's license plate has the same number.

During the end credits, scenes from previous Pixar films are re-enacted with cars. There is a scene from "Toy Car Story" featuring Tom Hanks (as a Ford Woodie) and Tim Allen. There is one from "Monster Trucks, Inc." featuring John Goodman and Billy Crystal. Finally, there is one from "A Bug's Life" featuring Dave Foley as a Volkswagen Beetle. John Ratzenberger is featured in all three scenes, and his Cars character Mack comments on the recurrence, from supportive at first to disgust and says "They're just using the same actor over and over again! What kind of cut-rate production is this?"

Lightning McQueen's number, 95, refers to the year Toy Story came out.

Chick Hicks' number, 86, refers to the year Pixar was established.

During the "Life is a Highway" montage the small birds from the Pixar short For the Birds briefly flash across the screen on some telephone wires in the scenery along Interstate 40. Though they move by quickly and are difficult to see clearly, they use the same distinct chirps as in the short.

Just before the final race, a bunch of flamingoes, a swimming pool and some palms can be seen near a caravan. They are taken from the Pixar short Knick Knack.

References to other movies

The flashback narrative of the final race scene along with the fact McQueen stops just before the finish line is a reference to the 1962 Tony Richardson movie The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.
The action film that Lightning envisions himself starring in is similar to War of the Worlds.

Other references