FILM · 2006 · USA
Cars
- Directed by
- John Lasseter
- Runtime
- 117 min
- Studio
- Pixar
291 archived facts 7 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town's offbeat characters.
Summary: TMDB
30 Easter Eggs and References in Cars
- #035
The cars' designs: Chick Hicks is based on the 1987 Buick Grand National NASCAR racer. The King is Richard "The King" Petty's 1970 Plymouth Superbird, one of his most famous rides; the Superbird was created to bring him back to Plymouth for the 1970 racing season, and Petty provided the voice. The King's paint scheme is exactly the same as King Richard's in the 1970 NASCAR season. Mrs. "The King" is modeled after a 1974 Chrysler Town and Country station wagon, inspired by the car the Pettys used to take themselves and their children to races in the 1970s. Mack is based on the Mack Superliner semi truck; Mack's character was originally going to be a Peterbilt but was changed because John Ratzenberger's father drove a Mack in Chicago. This is referenced in the scene where Lightning leaves Route 66 and tries to catch up with Mack: the battery truck he mistakenly follows says, "I'm not Mack, I'm a Peterbilt!" Mia and Tia are modeled after the first-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata. Dusty Rust-eze is a 1960s Dodge A100 van, and his brother Rusty is a 1963 Dodge Dart. The cars that run a sleepy Mac off the road and are later caught speeding are collectively called the Delinquent Road Hazards; each parodies a different modification style. "Wingo," a 1994 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX, is an example of the flashy, non-performance add-ons often called "rice." "Boost," a 1996 Nissan 240/200SX S14A, is a nitrous-oxide street racer. "D. J.," a 2004 Scion xB, is a mobile sound platform. "Snot Rod," a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T, is a classic supercharged muscle car (in the film the graphics and grille badge are changed to S/R). Sheriff is a 1949 Mercury Club Coupe. Doc is a 1951 Hudson Hornet two-door coupé. Fillmore is a late-1960s Volkswagen Type 2, also known as the Transporter or "Microbus"; it was a very popular vehicle among hippies in the late 1960s and early 1970s and even entered popular culture, and it is heavily referenced in Arlo Guthrie's song "Alice's Restaurant Massacree." Sarge is a 1940s Willys MB Jeep. Ramone is a 1959 Chevrolet Impala, a very popular car among lowriders. Luigi is a 1959 Fiat 500. Mater is a 1955 Chevrolet Stepside tow truck. Sally is a 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera (Type 996). Flo is not based on any single car, but shares elements of the 1951 Buick LeSabre, the 1951 Buick XP-300 and the 1957 Chrysler Dart, all of which were real show cars; her appearance closely resembles Al's vehicle in Toy Story 2 (1999). Jay Limo is a third-generation Lincoln Town Car. Sven (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a Hummer H1. Junior (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) is based on the Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS NASCAR racer Earnhardt drove between 1999 and 2007. The car used in Mario Andretti's cameo is the Holman-Moody Ford Fairlane Andretti drove to victory in the 1967 Daytona 500, a race in which Richard Petty was one of the favorites to win; Petty withdrew because of an engine failure. Michael Schumacher is a Ferrari F430.
- #038
Porsche Sally's profession as a lawyer is a nod to Portia, a nickname given to female lawyers that comes from the character in William Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice."
- #044
Lightning McQueen's tires are Buzzard models made by Lightyear, a reference both to the real Goodyear "Eagle" tires used in NASCAR and to the character Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story series. A Lightyear Blimp imitating the real-life Goodyear Blimp even appears at the races.
- #045
Contains a major spoiler — show
In one of the short sequences during the end credits, a green Hummer tells Sarge at the SUV training camp, "Yo, I've never been off-road." This is a mocking nod to the tendency for Hummers, despite being designed as off-road vehicles, to be bought and used mostly in pristine suburban surroundings.
- #052
Ramone's comment about "Von Dutch style" pinstriping Minnie and Van is a nod to Kenny Howard, who revived the art of pinstriping motorcycles and vehicles in the 1950s under the name Von Dutch.
- #062
In the Rust-eze commercial that follows the first race, the green car in the background has the license plate "EVILLE". This is short for Emeryville, the California town where Pixar's headquarters is located. The city of Emeryville, California is also among the cities closed on race day.
- #063
"Float like a Cadillac, Sting like a Beemer" is a reference to "Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee," the slogan boxer Muhammad Ali popularized in his early years.
- #069
As Lightning McQueen is about to give a promotional speech in the Rust-eze tent, there is a moment of silence and then someone shouts: "Free Bird!" This is a reference to Lynyrd Skynyrd's song "Free Bird". As a popular cliché, these words are said to be shouted frequently at music programs.
- #082
Sarge's license plate reads "41WW2," a reference to World War II in 1941.
- #084
The plants seen in the background always have car-like features: the patterns in the tree bark have car shapes, the leaves have patterns resembling tire treads or a Volkswagen logo in their veins, and the flowers resemble different car parts.
- #088
Contains a major spoiler — show
Chick Hicks's car number is 86. 86 is slang for forcibly getting rid of someone, which is what car number 86 does when it cheats on the track. 86 is also a nod to the year Luxo Jr. (1986), the first short film made under the Pixar name, was released.
- #093
When John Lasseter began production on Cars 2 (2011), Doc Hudson had already died, and Doc's death was his nod to the passing of the actor Paul Newman.
- #105
Lightning McQueen is a tribute to director Glenn McQueen, who died in 2002.
- #106
In the first race, when McQueen uses a car as a ramp, he sticks out his tongue and spins his tire in a circle, a reference to Michael Jordan sticking out his tongue while dunking.
- #109
In the teaser trailer, a sign on the side of the No. 57 race car reads "CDA 2319." This is a reference to the CDA in Monsters, Inc. (2001), in which one of the monsters frequently shouted "2319."
- #121
It is the only film in the series in which Red has dialogue. Red's later appearances could not replace the late Joe Ranft, which left him without any dialogue.
- #141
The tires of all the race cars bear the word "Lightyear," a reference to the company Goodyear and also to Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story film series. The tires also read "Sector 4 Gamma Quadrant," Buzz's home, which is rarely visible on them.
- #152
Fillmore the Bus is named after the famous San Francisco venue (and former US president), but the name is also a nod to his habit of inviting the other vehicles to "fill up" on organic fuel.
- #160
Luigi's remark that he would not be so upset if the faulty tractor ate snow tires instead of radials is a humorous nod to the fact that snow is rare in the dry, hot Route 66 region, so there would probably be very little market for snow tires there.
- #165
When Lizzie puts a bumper sticker on the back of the van, the sticker reads "Butte". This sticker is a reference to the checked baggage tag on Buzz's rear in Toy Story 2 (1999), which also reads "Butte".
- #173
The tractor tipping is a nod to the rural legend of cow tipping, the supposed activity in which a group of men sneak up and push over a sleeping cow. It is complete nonsense, but the legend persists.
- #182
According to the Car Finder bonus feature, Todd Marcus chose 123 as his number because it was easy to remember. This is a nod to NASCAR legend J. D. McDuffie, who chose 70 for the same reason.
- #191
The film contains three Emeryville in-jokes. The first is on a car's license plate, which reads "EVILLE," an abbreviation of Emeryville. The second comes during the final race in California, where a sign reads "City Of Emeryville." The third and final Emeryville in-joke appears in the California scene where jets fly overhead: as they pass, the real city of Emeryville, where Pixar Animation Studios is visible, can be seen beneath them.
- #221
Contains a major spoiler — show
In the championship race, Strip "The King" Weathers (Richard Petty) becomes the victim of a devastating crash after being launched into the air and tumbling down the middle of the track. The way the sequence is staged is a clear reference to Rusty Wallace's distinctive crash during the 1993 Winston Cup race at Talladega (both the "Piston Cup" and the final race track are also references to it). From the aerodynamic effect of the car lifting and flipping in the air to the angle of the camera's pan across the field during the collision, it is an almost frame-by-frame recreation of the real-life crash.
- #229
It is the only film in the series not released in the same year as an Illumination Entertainment film, because that company was founded in 2007, a year after the film's release.
- #256
In the teaser trailer, the red race car pushed by the green race car has the number 57, a reference to writer and director John Lasseter's birth year, 1957.
- #265
Lightning McQueen's tires are the Lightyear brand, not Goodyear. This is a reference to the character Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story series.
- #274
The leaning tower of tires outside Luigi's tire shop is a reference to the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy.
- #285
Mater having only one headlight is a humorous nod to him being both a regular road vehicle (with headlights) and a race car (without headlights).
- #289
Inside Lightning's Cozy Cone, where he stays, an image of the Eiffel Tower in the shape of a cone can be seen as a reference to Pixar's next film, Ratatouille.
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