What real-world highway inspired the setting and road-trip feel of Pixar’s Cars?

U.S. Route 66 inspired the setting and road-trip feel of Pixar’s Cars.

John Lasseter and members of the Cars creative team traveled along Route 66 while researching the film. The historic highway connected Chicago and Santa Monica and became famous for its motels, diners, service stations, roadside attractions, and small communities. Those features influenced the fictional town of Radiator Springs and the movie’s themes of slowing down and appreciating overlooked places.

Radiator Springs is not a direct copy of one single town. Instead, it combines visual and cultural details from several Route 66 locations, including places in Arizona and other southwestern states. The highway itself was removed from the United States Numbered Highway System in 1985, but many surviving sections remain important heritage and tourism routes. This history helps explain the film’s contrast between the old road and the newer interstate highway.