Route 66 is the famous American highway that inspired Radiator Springs in Pixar’s Cars.
Radiator Springs is a fictional desert town whose decline reflects the real communities affected when modern highways bypassed older sections of U.S. Route 66. In the film, Lightning McQueen reaches the town after accidentally damaging the road and is required to repair it.
Pixar artists and filmmakers researched Route 66 during the development of Cars. They visited roadside towns, landmarks, and businesses to capture the road’s architecture, landscapes, and car-centered culture. The film turns those observations into a stylized setting rather than depicting one exact real town.
Route 66 originally ran from Chicago to Santa Monica. It was established in 1926 and removed from the United States Numbered Highway System in 1985. Radiator Springs combines elements associated with several Route 66 locations, which is why it feels familiar without being a literal map location.