Radiator Springs

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Radiator Springs is the name of a fictional town in the animated Pixar film Cars. The rural desert town is located in the fictional Carburetor County on U.S. Route 66, not far from Interstate 40, in the state of New Mexico. Founded by the late Stanley, Radiator Springs was once a bustling community that thrived on the tourism of passing motorists traveling across the country. Once I-40 was built, bypassing the town, the tourists stopped traveling through Radiator Springs and the town fell into disrepair.

Long since forgotten by others and removed from travel maps, Radiator Springs remained a home to only twelve inhabitants, all anthropomorphized cars:

• Doc Hudson, an ex-racer, the town judge, and the town doctor (auto mechanic)
• Mater, a wrecker tow truck, the manager of the local impound and junkyard, and eventually Lightning's best friend
• Sally Carrera, an attorney and motel owner
• Ramone, a body artist
• Flo, Ramone's wife and owner of the town's only gas station
• Fillmore, a hippie and a vendor of "organic fuel"
• Sarge, a patriotic WWII veteran, the owner of an army surplus shop, and by the end of the film, the drill instructor at an SUV boot camp
• Sheriff, the law officer
• Luigi, an Italian tire store owner
• Guido, a forklift and Luigi's best friend and employee
• Lizzie, Stanley's widow and the elderly roadside souvenir and accessory vendor
• Big Red, a silent firefighter

After Lightning decides to move his Piston Cup race operations to Radiator Springs (becoming the thirteenth resident - Lightning himself resides in Sally's motel), the town begins a renaissance of tourism and the town is returned to maps as a tourist destination along the newly designated "Historic Route 66." During the end credits, it is revealed that the identical twins Mia and Tia, McQueen's number-one fans, have also become residents and work at Flo's gas station. McQueen's driver Mack also becomes a resident, probably residing at Flo's diner.

[edit] Businesses

• Mater runs Tow Mater Towing and Salvage and manages the local impound. At the end of the film, Mater is also a tour guide and possibly the owner of The Racing Museum which replaces Glen Rid Motel (an old motel that went out of business). This museum is located across the street from Tow Mater.
• Sally is the town attorney, and also runs the Cozy Cone Motel, in which Lightning is a resident. She also co-owns the Wheel Well Hotel with Lightning (both of them reopened the hotel at the end of the film).
• Doc Hudson runs the Ornament Valley Mechanic Clinic, and is the town judge. Lightning has commissioned a museum wing dedicated to Hudson's racing legacy.
• Ramone runs Ramone's House of Body Art and is responsible for Lightning's and Doc Hudson's off season paint jobs.
• Flo runs Flo's V8 Café, a gas station. Mia and Tia become volunteer workers there.
• Sarge runs Sarge's Surplus Hut, and by the end of the film, he also starts Sarge's SUV Boot Camp, in which he is as aggressive and intimidating as any military drill instructor.
• Fillmore runs Fillmore's Organic Fuels.
• Luigi runs Casa Della Tires, "Home of the Leaning Tower of Tires", and is responsible for supplying Lightning's highway tires. Guido is an employee.
• Lizzie runs Radiator Springs Curios.
• Lightning has built Lightning McQueen's Racing Headquarters at the old Wheel Well. Mack has a loading zone for him to pick up Lightning and take him to races (although Lightning himself does not live there).
• The town is not far from Frank's Field, a tractor farm owned by the bullish combine harvester named Frank, from whom the field gets its name.
• Radiator Springs also has its own Drive-In Theater.
• Red runs the Fire Station.

[edit] Trivia

• Although the town was based loosely on Amboy, California (a town on Route 66 that also saw a drastic decline after the grand opening of a section of I-40; additionally, there are also suggestions of Seligman, Arizona and Gallup, New Mexico), its landmarks are said to be based on buildings in other Route 66 towns. For example, Ramone's body-art business closely resembles the U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas; the neon sign from Sarge's Army Surplus Store is a reference to a similar sign that advertised a now-defunct business in Galena, Kansas; The Cozy Cone Motel is similar to the Wigwam Village in Holbrook, Arizona; and cacti filling the landscape, as well as the red mountain backdrop, suggest that the town might be in Arizona or New Mexico. The real "Fabulous Hudson Hornet" upon which Doc Hudson was based can be found at the Darlington Raceway museum in Darlington, South Carolina. The geological rock formations around the town seem to resemble automobiles in a few different ways. Specifically, the so-called Cadillac Range features hills resembling the up-ended cars of Cadillac Ranch near Amarillo, while other formations resemble the front-end grilles, wheel-wells and headlight arrays of non-distinct 40's and 50's autos.
• Where the contrails of airliners might cross a real-world sky, tire tracks criss-cross the air over Carburetor County.
• Big Red tends to the monument dedicated in Stanley's memory. The monument is located on the firehouse grounds, outside of the firehouse itself, and doubles as a showcase fountain. It should be noted that Stanley is likely a reference to an early American steam-powered automobile, the Stanley Steamer, produced in New England, which also held a racing pedigree.
• As seen in the film, a common punishment for speeding in Radiator Springs is community service. Lightning had to pull an asphalt paver called Bessie, and repair the damage that he did to the road; and Doc told him to go once more after Lightning botched his first run with speed. In the second run, Bessie ran out of asphalt mid-way and Lightning decided to work on his off-road high-speed turns. At the end of the film, DJ, Wingo, Boost, and Snot Rod (The Delinquent Road Hazards), the same four cars who pranked Mack, are told to pull Bessie for speeding (after spending time in the impound, of course). Bessie has a tendency of boiling over and making a mess of the paint job of anyone unlucky enough to be told to pull her. In the video game, Sheriff threatens McQueen with "picking up trash on the highway".
• With the addition of Lightning, Mack, Mia and Tia, Radiator Springs' full-time population is at least 16. It is unknown whether Rusty and Dusty Rust-Eze (Lightning's sponsors) or McQueen's biggest motor home fan become residents of Radiator Springs.