In Pixar's Cars, the Radiator Springs courthouse plaque gives the town's founding year as 1909.
The plaque appears among the visual details that establish Radiator Springs as an old roadside community. The town's identity is tied to Route 66 and to the period before the newer interstate highway diverted traffic away from its businesses. Lightning McQueen's arrival exposes how completely the community has been bypassed.
Radiator Springs is fictional, but its setting draws on real Route 66 towns in the American Southwest. Pixar artists researched the historic highway and incorporated roadside architecture, signs, landscapes, and local landmarks into the film's design.
The plaque's date is easy to confuse with dates associated with Route 66 itself. U.S. Route 66 was established in 1926, while 1909 is the date used for Radiator Springs in the film. The distinction separates the town's fictional history from the real highway's history.