In Pixar’s Cars, Lightning McQueen enters the fictional Arizona town of Radiator Springs after leaving the highway.
McQueen reaches the town while trying to catch up with the truck carrying him to California. After damaging the road, he is ordered to remain in Radiator Springs and repair it. This detour changes the story from a race-focused journey into a relationship-driven adventure.
Radiator Springs is portrayed as a once-busy Route 66 community that has been bypassed by Interstate 40. Its businesses and landmarks depend on travelers, so the new highway causes the town’s traffic and prosperity to decline. The fictional setting draws on real Route 66 towns and roadside architecture in the American Southwest.
The town is also the home of characters including Mater, Sally Carrera, and Doc Hudson. It returns as a major setting in later Cars films and became the basis for Cars Land at Disney California Adventure.