# Help me find Lightning McQueen **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 1, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-lightning-mcqueen/386320 "2007-01-01T17:32:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-lightning-mcqueen/386320/1 "2007-01-01T17:32:20Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-lightning-mcqueen/386320/2 "2007-01-01T17:44:02Z")
[It’s all about the merchandising, baby.](http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&from=R10&satitle=%22lightning+mcqueen) ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-lightning-mcqueen/386320/3 "2007-01-01T17:58:56Z")
Lighting is a weird combination of a 2006 Chevy Monte Carlo race car, a 1967 Corvette Stingray and a Nissan 350Z. This is what Lightning would look like as a real Nextel Cup car: [http://www.jayski.com/schemes/2006/cup/96cars-front.jpg](http://www.jayski.com/schemes/2006/cup/96cars-front.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-lightning-mcqueen/386320/4 "2007-01-01T18:42:27Z")
Okay, I misunderstood the question. FWIW, Lightning’s Number 95 is actually used by the yellow “Chevrolet” of [Stanton Barrett](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanton_Barrett), godson of Paul Newman, former SCCA driver and the voice of the Fabulous Hudson Hornet, which was [real.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabulous_Hudson_Hornet) ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-lightning-mcqueen/386320/5 "2007-01-01T19:01:24Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2007, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-lightning-mcqueen/386320/6 "2007-01-01T22:10:16Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] Wiki says he’s sort of a composite of a generic Le Mans endurance racer. [/QUOTE] 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](http://rclsgi.eng.ohio-state.edu/~cash.36/Dearborn2005/Lemans_gt40_3.JPG). 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](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/54/135156410_845cd5ca19_o.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-lightning-mcqueen/386320/7 "2007-01-02T00:01:43Z")
I have the 1/24 scale of both Lightning and Mater. They are really cool, I wish they’d made 1/24 of _all_ the main characters. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-lightning-mcqueen/386320/8 "2007-01-02T03:10:59Z")
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](http://www.allsportauto.com/english/detailphoto.php3?zl_id=9911&zl_idMD=393), or maybe [Lola GT](http://www.allsportauto.com/english/detailphoto.php3?zl_id=10789&zl_idMD=1107). Upon reflection, however, he seems more closely related to various Ferraris, such as the 250 GT, 275 GTB and [330 LMB](http://www.allsportauto.com/english/detailphoto.php3?zl_id=16733&zl_idMD=1364), although as Luigi would tell you, Lightning is most definitely not a Ferrari. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-lightning-mcqueen/386320/9 "2007-01-02T21:53:08Z")
Just to add to the evidence that Lightning McQueen has [no direct real-world analogue:](http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060529/FREE/60530014) > [@](#): > > **AutoWeek:** Most of the cars seem to be drawn from real-life vehicles, but I’m not able to identify what original car McQueen is. > > **Pauley:** Yes. That’s actually a fun part of the process, is that we’re creating characters so we kind of need to match that character, that emotional character, up with what kind of car he is… coming up with McQueen it was designing a car that was appealing on-screen but, you know, meets our criteria for what’s cool. So he’s invented, and we kind of took the best of our favorite things and put them together. I remember shooting pictures of all sorts of cars that we really cared about, from GT40s to Chargers. Also all the stock car images, so it still fits in that world. Through sketching them out we came up with what McQueen looks like. Then it was sculpted, just like Detroit does but much smaller, and arrived at a shape that was appealing and hopefully believable. Which was fun and really challenging. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-lightning-mcqueen/386320/10 "2007-01-02T23:55:16Z")
[QUOTE=Lute Skywatcher] 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](http://rclsgi.eng.ohio-state.edu/~cash.36/Dearborn2005/Lemans_gt40_3.JPG). I think the latter is the closest you’ll find. [/QUOTE] Lightning is based on a limo?? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2007, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-find-lightning-mcqueen/386320/11 "2007-01-03T00:15:47Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Lightning is based on a limo?? [/QUOTE] No, that’s Jay. 😃