Which real highway is the inspiration for the road setting in Pixar’s Cars?

U.S. Route 66 inspired the road setting in Pixar’s Cars.

The film’s fictional Radiator Springs is presented as a former Route 66 community whose fortunes decline after Interstate 40 diverts traffic away from the old highway. That history explains why the town’s residents preserve its roadside businesses, landmarks, and memories.

Pixar filmmakers researched Route 66 directly, traveling through communities and landscapes along the historic road. Details from that journey influenced the film’s scenery and characters, including its roadside attractions and broad desert vistas.

U.S. Route 66 originally connected Chicago and Santa Monica and became one of the best-known roads in American popular culture. It was removed from the United States Numbered Highway System in 1985, but historic sections remain important tourist destinations. Cars uses the road as both a setting and a symbol of a slower, overlooked way of life.