Mater is the tow truck who befriends Lightning McQueen in Cars.
Mater lives in Radiator Springs and becomes McQueen's closest friend. He is a rusty brown tow truck with an enthusiastic, loyal personality, and his humor helps McQueen understand the value of friendship and local community.
The character's full name is Sir Tow Mater, a pun on the word “tomater,” which echoes the film's vegetable joke involving tomatoes. Mater also introduces McQueen to tractor tipping, a pastime modeled as a comic rural activity.
Larry the Cable Guy provides Mater's voice. Mater later becomes a major character in Cars 2 and leads the animated television series Mater's Tall Tales. His informal speech and mechanical design are deliberately different from McQueen's polished racing image.