In Pixar's Cars, which town does Lightning McQueen accidentally damage and later repair?

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In Pixar's Cars, Lightning McQueen accidentally damages and later repairs Radiator Springs.

Radiator Springs is a fictional desert town on historic U.S. Route 66 in Carburetor County, California. McQueen reaches it after falling from a transport truck and becoming lost while traveling to the Piston Cup finale. In an attempt to escape town, he tears up the main road and is ordered by the local judge to repair the damage.

The repair assignment keeps McQueen in Radiator Springs long enough to meet its residents, including Mater, Sally Carrera, Doc Hudson, Luigi, Guido, and Ramone. As he works, he learns that the town was bypassed when Interstate 40 replaced Route 66 as the main through-route. That history gives the setting its nostalgic atmosphere.

Radiator Springs is not the same as Carburetor County. The county is the wider fictional region, while Radiator Springs is the specific community where most of the first film occurs.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026

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