What legendary highway inspired the setting of Pixar’s Cars?

Route 66 inspired the setting of Pixar’s Cars.

The film’s fictional Radiator Springs reflects the small towns, roadside businesses, and changing fortunes associated with historic U.S. Route 66. The highway once connected Chicago and Santa Monica across the United States and became famous through travel culture, music, literature, and film.

For the movie’s research, Pixar artists and filmmakers traveled along Route 66 and studied its landscapes, signs, bridges, motels, and local communities. Those observations helped shape Radiator Springs and its characters, including the traffic-cone-inspired Luigi and the town’s abandoned-looking commercial strips.

Cars does not identify Radiator Springs as a real town. It is fictional, although its scenery draws on real Route 66 locations and landmarks. The film’s story also emphasizes how interstate highways diverted traffic away from older roadside communities.