In Pixar’s Cars, Route 66-inspired Radiator Springs lies near U.S. Route 66.
The fictional town is closely connected with the historic U.S. Route 66, the cross-country highway that once linked Chicago and Santa Monica. Pixar artists and filmmakers researched the road and its roadside communities while developing the film’s setting.
In the story, Radiator Springs loses visitors when Interstate 40 bypasses the town. That plot element reflects a real historical pattern: newer interstate highways diverted traffic away from many older roadside businesses, motels, gas stations, and restaurants along Route 66.
Radiator Springs is fictional, so it does not have a single real-world location on a map. Its visual and cultural details draw from several Route 66 communities and landmarks, particularly in the American Southwest. The highway is often called the “Mother Road,” a nickname popularized by John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath.