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Designs of the cars:
- Chick Hicks is based on a 1987 Buick Grand National NASCAR racer.
- The King is a 1970 Plymouth Superbird, one of Richard "The King" Petty's most famous rides. The Superbird was created to get him back into a Plymouth for the 1970 racing season, and Petty provided the voice. The King's paint scheme is exactly as King Richard's was in the 1970 NASCAR season.
- Mrs. "The King" is a 1974 Chrysler Town and Country station wagon, modelled after the car in which the Pettys drove themselves and their children to the races during the 1970s.
- Mack is based on a Mack Superliner semi-truck. The character of Mack was originally going to be a Peterbilt, but was changed, because John Ratzenberger's father drove a Mack in Chicago. This is referenced during the scene where Lightning exits onto Route 66 trying to catch up to Mack: the battery truck he mistakenly follows says "I ain't no Mack, I'm a Peterbilt!"
- Mia and Tia are modelled after the first-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata.
- Dusty Rust-eze is a 1960s Dodge A100 van, his brother Rusty is a 1963 Dodge Dart.
- The cars that run a sleepy Mac off the road, and are later caught speeding, are collectively called the Delinquent Road Hazards. Each parodies a different modification style. "Wingo", a 1994 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX, exemplifies flashy non-performance additions, often called "ricing". "Boost", a 1996 Nissan 240/200SX S14A, is a nitrous oxide street racer. "D.J.", a 2004 Scion xB, is a mobile audio platform. "Snot Rod", a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T, is a classic supercharged muscle car (the graphics and grill badge are changed to S/R in the film).
- Sheriff is a 1949 Mercury Club Coupe.
- Doc is a 1951 Hudson Hornet two-door coupe.
- Fillmore is a late 1960s Volkswagen Type 2, otherwise known as the Transporter, or "Microbus". It was a very popular vehicle among hippies in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and even made its way into popular culture. It is heavily referenced in the Arlo Guthrie song "Alice's Restaurant Massacree".
- Sarge is a 1940s Willys MB Jeep.
- Ramone is a 1959 Chevrolet Impala, a very popular car with the low riders.
- Luigi is a 1959 Fiat 500.
- Mater is a 1955 Chevrolet Stepside tow truck.
- Sally is a 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera (Type 996).
- Flo isn't based on any single car, but shares elements of the 1951 Buick LeSabre, the 1951 Buick XP-300, and the 1957 Chrysler Dart, all actual show cars. Her appearance closely resembles Al's vehicle in Toy Story 2 (1999).
- Jay Limo is a third-generation Lincoln Town Car.
- Sven (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a Hummer H1.
- Junior (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) is based on a Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS NASCAR racer, as driven by Earnhardt between 1999 and 2007.
- The car used for Mario Andretti's cameo, is the Holman-Moody Ford Fairlane Andretti drove to victory in the 1967 Daytona 500, a race in which Richard Petty was one of the favorites to win. Petty dropped out of the race due to a blown engine.
- Michael Schumacher is a Ferrari F430.
This was Paul Newman's last American feature film before his death of lung cancer in 2008. It turned out to be the highest-grossing movie of his career. George Carlin died of heart failure three months earlier. This was the highest-grossing film of his career as well.
Even with a farm of computers that ran four times faster than the ones used for The Incredibles (2004), and 1,000 times faster than the ones used for Toy Story (1995), each frame of this movie took an average of 17 processor hours to render.
The production wanted to use a little-known version of the song "Route 66" by Chuck Berry, which had appeared on the B-side of one of his singles. They approached Berry's record company, who didn't know anything about such a version. After they trawled through their record vaults, they realized that Pixar was right.
The Doc Hudson character is based on real-life NASCAR pioneer Herb Thomas, who drove Hudson Hornets to Grand National championships in 1951 and 1953. He was beaten out for the title in 1954 by Lee Petty, father of Richard Petty ("The King"). Crashes in 1955 and 1956 effectively ended Thomas' career.
The final Pixar film to be released on VHS, and the first to be released on Blu-ray.
Larry the Cable Guy: [catchphrases] During the final race, Mater says "Git-R-Done," Larry's most famous line. "I don't care who you are, that's funny right there," said during the tractor tipping scene, is another of Larry's famous lines.
Tom Magliozzi, Ray Magliozzi: [catchphrase] The Rust-eze sponsors each send Lightning off with a warning: "Don't drive like my brother!" This is the sign-off phrase for the popular NPR radio show "Car Talk", hosted by "Click and Clack", who also voice the sponsors.
Michael Keaton: Voice of the security guard who yells "Hey, no cameras" during the instant replay sequence after the first race. He did this voice cameo, as well as voicing Chick Hicks.