Who directed Pixar's Cars and co-directed it with Joe Ranft?

John Lasseter directed Pixar's Cars and co-directed it with Joe Ranft.

Lasseter was a founding figure at Pixar and had already directed Toy Story and A Bug's Life. Cars became his fourth feature as a director. Joe Ranft, a major Pixar story artist and writer, received co-director credit and also contributed to the film's story development.

The movie was inspired partly by Lasseter's family road trips and by Pixar's interest in American car culture, highways, and small-town communities. Its story combines racing with a road-trip structure, allowing the filmmakers to contrast modern interstate travel with historic Route 66.

Cars was Ranft's final directing credit. He died in a car accident in 2005, before the film's release. This detail can cause confusion because Cars was released after his death, but Lasseter remained the film's principal director and public creative leader.