Cars

Cars is a film series that debuted on 9 June 2006 with a line of Mattel products designed by Dave Weise, Chris Down, Dave Martis, and many others under consultation of John Lasseter, Bob Pauley, and Darla Anderson. Development began around 2003 under the Hot Wheels umbrella in 1/64 scale with a planned basic lineup and multiple track sets to create a full Radiator Springs town layout alongside board games and larger scale remote control releases. A pitch was made using rough resins, 3D prints, and painted spares from around the model shop. Several displays were made. Muscle and tuner vehicles were chosen to appeal to the aesthetic Lasseter had outlined. It was decided to cut all connections and move to 1/55 scale in late 2004 into early 2005 due to imperfect facial expressions and lacking tampo detail. Prototypes were shelved/archived by Mattel or signed out by employees. Some final releases in April-May of 2006, namely “Mater's Rollin' Bowlin' (H7099)” of the first assortment, featured Hot Wheels advertisement on packaging art. The later “Motor Speedway of the South (L4755)” was released with the flame logo through the Red Line Club in 2008. The Color Shifters paint layering process was adopted under the “Color Changers” name in 2010. Several Sizzlers Fat Track pieces and the Juice Machine were adopted under the “Cars 2 Charge-Ups” series in 2011. Leadership tasked Bryan Benedict with conceptualizing a Character Cars release of Lightning McQueen; plans fell through due to redundancy.

A unreleased scene was planned for the Cars 3 sequel film that payed homage to these roots with characters of Red Baron and Twin Mill in Los Angeles/Southern California alongside vehicles of other properties. It was cut from the final copy due to licensing complications.

2003 - 2004

Part of Radiator Springs track set featuring Guido and a Pontiac Grand Prix Stocker

Sally made of modified P-911

Luigi

Holstein Heifer Tractor from single-lane track piece flip mechanism with rivet used as exhaust pipe

Trivia

• The Dodge Charger Stock Car was released under a Valvoline Special Edition promotion in 2005 featuring The King and Lightning McQueen.
• Hiway Hauler 2 was released under the Pixar Series in 2020 featuring the number “95” and Lightning McQueen.
• Some Disney/Pixar Cars prototypes still use Hot Wheels-specific wheel types.
• Limited 1/55 Lightning McQueen employee pieces were given out in 2021 with Hot Wheels graphics and the RRPrf wheel type.

See also

• 2005 Pro Racing
• Pixar Series (2020)
• List of unreleased Hot Wheels

Gallery

Dusty Rust-eze 1/55 prototype with 5SP

Holley Shiftwell 1/55 prototype with OR6SP

Cars 2 Charge-Ups Deluxe Car Charger (W1634)

Lightning McQueen 1/55 limited employee piece from 2021

Concept art of Cars 3 sequel film with Red Baron and Twin Mill characters.

Mater's Rollin' Bowlin' (H7099)

External Links

• 1:55 Scale Die-Cast at the Pixar Cars Wiki