In Pixar’s 2006 film Cars, what town does Lightning McQueen visit after leaving Route 66?

In Pixar’s 2006 film Cars, Lightning McQueen visits Radiator Springs after leaving Route 66.

The fictional desert town is located along the historic U.S. Route 66 in Carburetor County, within the film’s version of the American Southwest. McQueen reaches it accidentally while fleeing a night-time police chase after becoming separated from his transport truck, Mack.

Radiator Springs was once a busy stop for travelers, but its traffic declines when Interstate 40 bypasses the town. That history explains why the town’s businesses are struggling when McQueen arrives. The characters he meets there—including Mater, Sally Carrera, Doc Hudson, and Flo—help him understand friendship and community.

The town’s name is sometimes confused with real Route 66 communities used as visual inspiration. Radiator Springs itself is fictional, although Pixar artists researched real locations along Route 66, including places in Arizona and California.