Route 66 inspired the landscapes and town history in Pixar’s Cars.
The film’s creators traveled along historic Route 66 while researching the American Southwest, roadside businesses, and communities affected by changing transportation patterns. That research helped shape Radiator Springs, a fictional town whose fortunes decline after a newer interstate bypasses it.
U.S. Route 66 was established in 1926 and originally connected Chicago with Santa Monica. It became famous through road travel, popular culture, and its role in westward journeys. The highway was removed from the United States Highway System in 1985, but many surviving sections remain important heritage destinations.
Cars does not take place in a literal historical version of Route 66. Instead, it combines recognizable road-trip imagery with an invented community and talking vehicles. Route 1, Route 40, and Route 101 are real American highways, but they are not the specific road associated with the film’s visual inspiration.