Bricker Jr has become a Cars fanatic. He can recite the entire film, although when I point out that now he doesn’t need to watch it anymore because he knows it all, he just rolls his eyes at the crazy ideas Daddy has.
He understands that the Cars characters are fictional, and he’s now got an interest in seeing pictures of the real cars that the characters are based on. With the help of Google and Wiki, I’ve found a pic of Boddy Allison’s 1981 Hardee’s-sponsored Buick Regal, which is a virtual twin of Cars villain Chick Hicks. And I’ve found numerous pictures of Richard Petty’s 1970 Plymouth Superbird, which has the added bonus of actually wearing #43, “The King’s” number in the film.
But the star of the film, rookie sensation Lightning McQueen, is still a no-show. Wiki says he’s sort of a composite of a generic Le Mans endurance racer. Can anyone narrow it down enough for me to find an actual Le Mans (or other) model that’s close to how Lightning looks?
Okay, I misunderstood the question. FWIW, Lightning’s Number 95 is actually used by the yellow “Chevrolet” of Stanton Barrett, godson of Paul Newman, former SCCA driver and the voice of the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, which was real.
In a few weeks, the annual new car show will be at our local convention center. THey are advertising full size versions of a few of the cars featured in the cartoon. Check your local show, maybe it is a tour.
Actually it’s Pixar themselves saying that and Wiki quotes it. I’m the one who originally put the quote there but my version included Pixar stating that their main inspiration came from Lolas and the Ford GT40. I think the latter is the closest you’ll find.
As longhair alluded to, there is at least one real Lightning McQueen that was built for car shows; this is probably it.
I, a 52-year-old supposed adult, actually requested the Cars DVD for Christmas (and got it, hee hee). I love just about everything about the film, but especially the incredible attention to detail, not just in the animation itself, but in most of the vehicles being specific (and classic) models, and in the carefully-researched historical touches taken from the early years of NASCAR and the growth of the US highway system.
Pixar definitely went for the general mid-'60s GT/Endurance racer look for Lightning, which is fine with me as some of the most beautiful shapes ever made came out of that era. When I first saw the character, I thought '65 Cobra Daytona coupe, or maybe Lola GT. Upon reflection, however, he seems more closely related to various Ferraris, such as the 250 GT, 275 GTB and 330 LMB, although as Luigi would tell you, Lightning is most definitely not a Ferrari.
