In Pixar’s Cars, the retired racing legend secretly living in Radiator Springs is Doc Hudson.
Doc appears at first to be the town’s stern doctor and judge, but Lightning McQueen eventually learns that he was once the famous Hudson Hornet. Doc won three Piston Cups and was a leading racer before a crash ended his competitive career. The racing world moved on while he recovered, leaving him bitter about being forgotten.
Paul Newman voiced Doc Hudson in the original English version, bringing the character’s history of racing and disappointment into the film. The Hudson Hornet was also a real American automobile associated with stock-car racing in the early 1950s, although the film’s character is fictional. Doc’s story explains why he resists Lightning’s ambition at first and why he later chooses to support the young racer.