Disney/Pixar’s animated “Cars” franchise is a giant in the world of animated movies. The movie series has enough fun and colorful characters to keep children entertained for dozens of rewatches and they also have enough references to real-world motorsports and automotive history to keep parents and other gearheads engaged. Characters like the “Fabulous” Hudson Hornet (voiced by real-world automotive and movie icon Paul Newman) is based off of a real car — the Hudson Hornet from the 1950s, itself a racing legend. Similarly, the character known as “The King” is based on Ricard Petty’s 1970 Plymouth Superbird and is voiced by Richard Petty himself.
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Lightning McQueen, the star of the movies (you could argue that Mater was the star of Cars 2), however, is a little harder to pin down when it comes to a specific car he is based on. He is more of a combination of different historic race cars from a number of decades than a specific car like The King or the Hudson Hornet.
Stock car inspirations
Apart from the inherent issues of being an anthropomorphized car in a children’s movie voiced by Owen Wilson, Lightning McQueen is not based on any one production car. Following with his character Lightning McQueen is, of course, based on a NASCAR stock car, more specifically the fourth-generation and early fifth generation stock cars from 1992 to 2006 like the Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Ford Taurus. Those designs incorporate the sticker headlights, a rounded front nose, exaggerated fenders, and a duck tail spoiler to increase downforce. This era of stock cars falls right in line with the first movie’s 2006 release date.
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Going past the obvious stock car inspiration, Lightning McQueen seems to share design cues like the rear tail assembly, front fascia, and overall sportiness of the 2003 Ford GT, which itself borrows heavily from the design of the Ford GT40 race car from the 1960s. If you rounded off a Ford GT and gave it a smile and eyes, it would likely look a lot like Lightning McQueen.
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