This is a list of characters from the Pixar franchise Cars consisting of the 2006 film Cars and the 2011 film Cars 2.
Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson, and Keith Ferguson on other occasions) typically referred to by his surname McQueen, and occasionally called "Stickers" by Sally, is a rookie racecar. He is named after Glenn McQueen, a Pixar Animator who died of melanoma in October 2002, although the car shares certain traits with actor and race car driver Steve McQueen. His overall profile was inspired by stock cars and a "more curvaceous Le Mans endurance racer", e.g., Lola and Ford GT40.[1] His number, 95, is a reference to the year Pixar released its first feature-length movie, Toy Story. His catch-phrase is "ka-chow".
In the beginning of the first film, Lightning McQueen is a talented yet overconfident, self-centred rookie race car, especially towards his pit crew. He hopes to be the first rookie to win the Piston Cup race and gain a lucrative endorsement deal from Dinoco Oil in the final race of the season, he had full potential to achieve this but then he finishes in a three-way tie with perennial runner-up Chick Hicks and veteran Strip "The King" Weathers after losing his huge lead on the final lap because of two blown rear tires. McQueen also wanted the Dinoco deal because of his dislike to his somewhat awkward Rust-Eze sponsorship and the rusty cars within it. His own choice to force Mack to travel all night to L.A. sets up the predicament he suffers throughout the film. After a chain of events awakens Lightning from sleep and inadvertently releases him from his trailer, he gets lost in Radiator Springs on his way to California. While he is punished for excessive speeding by doing community service to fix the main road, he meets new friends who seek to restore their town to its former glory. It is there he befriends Mater and falls in love with the town attorney and hotelier, Sally Carrera. He changes his look at the end of the movie to help out the townsfolk, and his appreciation for his benefactors is restored. He learns valuable lessons such as true friendship; how greed affects others; keeping promises; teamwork; and that life is about the journey, not the destination. These values lead him to rejuvenate Radiator Springs back to its heyday and relocate to the town forever to make it his racing headquarters.
After Hicks rams Weathers in the final tie-breaker Piston Cup race, McQueen stops on the finish line and reverses to help push Weathers the rest of the way across the finish line, allowing him to complete his last race and retire with dignity, much to the crowd's pleasure, and this proves McQueen's positive change in character from what he learnt in Radiator Springs. McQueen is offered the Dinoco sponsorship, but declines it to remain with the team who gave him his big break.
In the second film, McQueen is now a permanent resident of Radiator Springs and has become a bona fide worldwide celebrity winning four Piston Cups. After his latest win, McQueen expects to relax with Sally, Mater and the other residents of Radiator Springs when he gets himself entered into the first ever World Grand Prix, a three-part race that takes him and his best friend around the world.
McQueen has a fresh custom paint job and real working headlights, since he only had stickers in the first film. His tailfins have also been replaced with a spoiler.
McQueen is unaware that the race is all a plot by a group of "lemon" cars to make cars everywhere run on oil until Professor Zundapp, captured by Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell, questions why McQueen was not killed by the death ray and Mater exposes Miles Axlerod as the mastermind behind the plot.
McQueen appears in every episode of Cars Toon: Mater's Tall Tales as the one who Mater always tells his story to, though Lightning never believes him.
Mack (voiced by John Ratzenberger) is a 1980s-era Mack Super-Liner truck bearing license plate "RUSTEZ3" who inadvertently sets up the predicament suffered by Lightning McQueen throughout the movie. A dedicated member of the Rust-eze Medicated Bumper Ointment Team, having the role of McQueen's driver, Mack pulls Lightning McQueen's trailer to his races. After McQueen's entire pit team quits, Mack remains as the rookie racer's only friend. Mack often presents a few minor flaws throughout the franchise. McQueen exhorts Mack to drive through the night to his tiebreaker race with Chick Hicks and Strip Weathers in Los Angeles, hoping to reach the venue first and to hang out with the Dinoco team. During the long drive, Mack falls asleep and falls victim to the Delinquent Road Hazards, a group of reckless street racers. The Delinquent Road Hazards knock Mack all over the road, causing one of McQueen's bobble heads to fall off its perch and hit a button, opening his trailer door and dump a sleeping McQueen onto the road.
When Mack awakens, he is unaware that McQueen has gotten lost and has ended up in Radiator Springs. Eventually near to the end, Mack travels to Radiator Springs and, under threat of being fired by McQueen's agent, Harv, transports McQueen to Los Angeles. There he serves as McQueen's pit crew until a group of McQueen's friends from Radiator Springs show up to help. After the race, Mack moves to Radiator Springs with McQueen.
During the end credits; Mack is the prop for a gag, at the drive-in theater watching car versions of other Pixar films (A Bug's Life, Toy Story, Monster's Inc) and while he enjoys the car-versions of other characters his voice actor played (Hamm, The Piggy Bank, P.T Flea, and The Abominable Snowman), he realizes that they are all the same actor and says "They're just using the same actor over and over. What kind of cut-rate production is this?", as a reference to John Ratzenberger voicing at least one character in every Pixar movie. He is also shown at Flo's Cafe in the short film Mater and the Ghostlight, as well as in the video game based on the film. Mack returns in Cars 2, along with McQueen's trailer but only as a minor character.
John Ratzenberger was given the part in honor of his father, who drove a Mack truck.[2]
Lightning McQueen's pit crew are generic forklifts who only appear at the start of the film, never to be acknowledged again. They quit after McQueen did not go to the pits for tires, which nearly cost him the season's final race. One of them, presumably the acting crew chief, since the official crew chief had recently been fired, is referred to by McQueen as "Chuck", who retorts angrily afterwards, "And my name is not Chuck!" In the credits, he is referred to as "Not Chuck" (a pun) and is voiced by Mike "No Name" Nelson,not to be confused with Michael J. Nelson. They are used in the film only to leave almost immediately to bring up McQueen's selfishness and inability to work with others, solved at the end of course.
Harv is Lightning McQueen's agent. Never seen on-screen, McQueen speaks to Harv via his speaker phone when McQueen and Mack are on route to the tiebreaker race and again when Mack is in Radiator Springs to pick up McQueen. Consequently, little is known of Harv's character except that he threatened to fire Mack if he does not get McQueen into his trailer.
Harv is voiced by actor Jeremy Piven and is based on his character Ari Gold from the HBO series Entourage. In the United Kingdom edition of the movie, Harv is voiced by Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson. This equivalent of Harv is implied by Clarkson to be a 1979 Ford Granada Ghia, while the American version is said to be a 1996 Oldsmobile.
The Rust-eze Brothers, Rusty and Dusty, are the spokescars and owners of Rust-Eze, the team that sponsors Lightning and that gave him his "big break", they are somewhat awkward. Rusty is a 1963 Dodge Dart and Dusty, a 1964 Dodge A100. Rusty and Dusty are voiced by real-life brothers Tom Magliozzi and Ray Magliozzi (respectively) of National Public Radio's Car Talk. The '63 Dart bears an intentional resemblance to Ray Magliozzi's infamous green Dart, named "The Dartre". They appear 3 times in the film, at the beginning with McQueen looking forward to leaving them, in the middle very briefly being interviewed, and at the end after the race when McQueen realises he is happy with them. In a deleted scene shown on the DVD, these two would have had no association with Lightning McQueen other than a chance encounter at a truck stop, where Mack was allowed to stop briefly. According to their respective die-cast, Rusty's license plate states "Rust" and Dusty's sports "Eze". The license plates also show that they are from "R Fair City", a reference to how the brothers refer to their hometown of Cambridge, Massachusetts on Car Talk, and also the name of one of the cybersites on the PBS children's TV series Cyberchase, as Cambridge, Massachusetts is where one of the PBS network's "hub" TV stations, WGBH-TV, started its existence in the late 1950s.
Strip "The King" Weathers is a Dinoco Blue veteran racecar and racing legend voiced by NASCAR veteran Richard Petty. He is based on Petty's 1970 Plymouth Superbird; his number, 43, was also Petty's racecar number, and the "Dinoco Blue" color is taken from Petty's Superbird on display at the Richard Petty Museum. He is one of the racecars in the 2005 Piston Cup three-way tie, along with Chick Hicks and Lightning McQueen.
He is Dinoco's "Golden Boy", having won seven Piston Cups (the same number of NASCAR Cup Series championships won by his voice actor), and is hoping for another win in the tie-breaker race. He tells Lightning McQueen to remember the importance of his team, but the rookie does not pay any attention, being more preoccupied with the thought of taking over the Dinoco sponsorship after Weathers' retirement.
On the final lap of the tie-breaker race, Hicks rams Weathers, sending him into a dangerous rollover crash (reminiscent of Richard Petty's Daytona 500 crash in 1988). When McQueen sees this, he realizes that Weathers' career might end the way Doc Hudson's did. After stopping short of the finishing line, allowing Hicks to win, McQueen pushes Weathers across the finish line to let him finish his last race before retirement, much to the audience's delight. Weathers is last seen visiting the racing museum in Radiator Springs with his wife and another Piston Cup racer, Dale Jr, stating that Hudson was his inspiration.
In the Danish edition of the movie, Weathers is voiced by eight-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen. In the Finnish edition of the movie, The King is voiced by Finnish two-time Formula One World Champion Mika Häkkinen. In the German edition, he is voiced by Austrian three-time Formula One World Champion Niki Lauda.
"Mrs. The King", as Mater calls her, is The King's wife and a part of his side story. She is voiced by Richard Petty's real-life wife, Lynda Petty. A 1974 Chrysler Town and Country station wagon, she is modeled after the car in which the Petty family used to go to Richard's races during the 1970s. During the races, she sits in a special VIP booth alongside Tex, rooting for her husband. Throughout the film she is constantly shown to support her husband and she worries deeply when he is flipped by Chick Hicks, at the end she kisses Lighting on the cheek to thank him for helping her husband.
Tex Dinoco, voiced by Humpy Wheeler, is a gold 1975 Cadillac Coupe de Ville and owner of Dinoco. In his packaging as a diecast car, his name is listed as "Tex Dinoco". It is unknown whether Dinoco is Tex's last name, or whether the name was simply added to give the consumer a better idea of who Tex was. In the movie, he has a Hoosier accent. Tex was mainly inspired by the gold Cadillacs with Long Horns that are used at the Big Texan Steak Restaurant in Amarillo, Texas to bring guests for dinner. He is known as Tex Bullhorns on the action figures and is said to be the King's manager also.
The Dinoco Transport Helicopter is a helicopter based on a Bell 430. It is seen on top of the Dinoco tent during the races, and Mater gets a ride in it over Radiator Springs at the end of the film, after Lightning had promised Mater the chance to ride in one earlier in the film.
Chick Hicks (voiced by Michael Keaton) is "a generic Pixar design, 'a stock 1980s American car'" according to Pixar publicity coordinator Amanda Sorena,[3] but strongly resembles a GM G-body, with features from both the Chevrolet Monte Carlo and the Buick Grand National. He has spent his entire career trailing Strip "The King" Weathers, and is bitter about this fact. His sponsor is the "Hostile Takeover Bank." His pit crew are mean to Guido for being tiny, although his skills are superior to their own. Chick's racing number 86, is a reference to the year 1986, when Pixar Studios were founded. ("86" also being a slang term for destroying or getting rid of something.)
Determined to do whatever it takes to win, Hicks will often ram other cars to cause a wreck (though how he always gets away with this without being penalized is never explained). He hates McQueen, but tends to copy him, and adopts the nickname 'Thunder' which McQueen originally used as a put-down (McQueen: "Because Thunder always comes after Lightning. KA-CHOW!"). Other than hating McQueen, Hicks also hates The King, as Hicks himself always come behind him in second place. Hicks and McQueen also share the same dream of being the new face of Dinoco Oil. While McQueen is presumed missing, Hicks takes away all of McQueen's fans.
On the final lap of the tie-breaker race, Hicks becomes so determined not to come in behind Weathers again that he rams the older racer so violently that King is sent flying off the track and into a devastating and horrifying roll-over wreck. He expects a huge ovation after McQueen deliberately lets him win the Piston Cup, but the angered crowd and media snub his victory, brand him as a cheater, and he is booed off the stage with his trophy in humiliation, With Tex Dinoco offering the sponsorship it to McQueen instead, this is Chick's comeuppance (even though McQueen declines the offer). In many ways, Chick Hicks represents what Lightning McQueen could have become.
Chick reappears in Cars the video game, unrepentant and out to recoup his fan base. The game follows the story of the next Piston Cup season, as well as the adventures of Lightning and his friends (Sally, Mater, Luigi and Sheriff) around Radiator Springs. Doc and Lightning first spot Chick spying on Lightning's practice sessions. Later he ineffectively taunts Lightning before the first race of the season until Doc warns him off, then falls in with a gang of New York-based greaser cars in Carburetor County to challenge McQueen. Later, the DRH gang jumps Mack on the interstate and steal McQueen's racing gear, but finger Chick as the one who hired them after they are caught by Sheriff. Angry over another foiling, Chick blows up at Lightning, but accepts his challenge for a 4-race showdown, the Radiator Springs Grand Prix (three races around Carburetor County), and the final Piston Cup Race in Los Angeles.
Hicks is seen again in the Cars Race-O-Rama video game, in which he tries to take revenge for his humiliation back at the Piston Cup race and recruit rookies for him to groom in his mold by closing down McQueen's racing academy and opening up his own in Radiator Springs. His catchphrase is ca-chick-a.
Tow Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy), is a rusty tow truck living in Radiator Springs. He was inspired by a 1951 International Harvester[4][5] tow truck but bears more of a resemblance to a 1955–57 Chevrolet or GMC; the actual inspiration may be the 1955–56 version since the hood which Mater recovers at the end of the film after a twenty-year absence lacks the "gunsights" of the 1957 model. His license plate reads "A113." Mater runs "Tow Mater Towing and Salvage." Along with the first film, he also stars in an animated short, Mater and the Ghostlight, and acts as an announcer in the Cars video game. He speaks with a thick Southern accent with a bit of hillbilly twang and uses incorrect syntax. Mater is also the (self-proclaimed) world champion backwards driver. He attributes his skill to his rear-view mirrors and his own philosophy: "Don't need to know where I'm going, just need to know where I've been." In the first film, Mater befriends and supports Lightning throughout his adventure in Radiator Springs, Mater is important to the film for teaching Lightning the means of friendship. He travels to L.A. for the tie-breaking race. At it, when McQueen is spun out, he races backwards after being spun out, implying that he learned to drive backwards from Mater. In the end, McQueen gives Mater an opportunity to fly in a Dinoco helicopter like he always wanted.
In the second film, Mater is thrilled to join McQueen on a trip around the world after getting him into the first annual World Grand Prix, leaving Radiator Springs for the second time. When McQueen and his pit crew arrive in Tokyo, Mater learns that the world outside of Radiator Springs is quite different and he's also mistaken for an American spy, leading him into an adventure of espionage. Caught between helping McQueen and his new role as a spy, Mater gets involved in a chase across the globe between British spies and international villains. In this film, the "Tow Mater" logo on his side has been replaced with McQueen's 95.
At the end of Cars 2, Mater figures out that the World Grand Prix is all a plot orchestrated by Miles Axlerod to force cars everywhere into using the richest oil in the world. This exposition leads Axlerod and his henchmen to be arrested and Mater is knighted by the Queen as a result. Holley and Finn visit Mater in Radiator Springs, where they try to recruit him for another mission, but he declines. Then, like with Tex and McQueen in the first movie, they ask if there's anything they can do for him; he's later seen using the rocket boosters. His catchphrase is dad-gum.
Sally Carrera (voiced by Bonnie Hunt) is a royal blue 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera. Her California license plate number is 301PCE. She also appears in the Cars video game, in which she is a playable character. Sally, Lightning McQueen's love interest, is the snazzy town attorney of Radiator Springs. She came to the town several years before, when, in her own words, "I never felt – happy. So I left California then just drove and drove, and finally broke down right here (Wheel Well Motel). Doc fixed me up, Flo took me in – well, they all did – and I never left." Sally then fell in love with the town, and the land around it, and settled down in the town. Sally runs the Cozy Cone Motel. Later, she and Lightning reopened the Wheel Well Hotel. She calls McQueen "Stickers," first as a way to tease him (because of his fake headlights), and later as a friendly nickname. In the UK cars magazine Top Gear, Sally was included in the magazine's list of the 10 sexiest cars in the world.[6] Sally reappears in Cars 2 with her and McQueen now in a relationship, but her role in the film is drastically limited as she only appears in the beginning and end of the film.
Doc Hudson (voiced by Paul Newman in his last non-documentary film and by Corey Burton in the video games), also known as "Dr. Hudson" or simply "Doc", is Radiator Springs' local physician. His license plate reads 51HHMD (a reference to his year and track number (51) model (Hudson Hornet) and profession (medical doctor)). Doc's stickers say "twin H power", which was an optional dealer-installed dual carburetor intake manifold, with twin 1-barrel carburetors and air filters. It was standard on 1952 model Hornets. Doc was once known as the Fabulous Hudson Hornet (#51), one of the most famous racecars to have ever lived; he won three Piston Cups, and still holds the record for most wins in a single season (27, a reference to real-life Hornets winning 27 NASCAR races in 1952). All that changed for the famous Hornet when a terrible crash on the track during the final lap of the 1954 Piston Cup championship race saw him put out for the season. Upon his return, he was received with a complete absence of fanfare and told that he was a has-been who had been passed up for the next rookie in line. He kept a newspaper article on the career-ending crash as a reminder never to return to the life that nearly killed him. Jaded by the racing scene, he left that world, apparently taking out time to study medicine. The famous No.51 disappeared into obscurity, leaving many wondering where he had gone. He instead opted for a simple navy blue paint job and the life of a physician in the tiny town of Radiator Springs, the "shining Gemstone" of the Mother Road – Route 66. He runs Doc's Clinic as a "doctor of internal combustion". As times changed and the town got bypassed in favor of Interstate 40, Doc stayed on, even when the population had dwindled to a meager dozen or so residents. He is respected, well-loved, and serves not only as the town's physician, but as its judge as well. However, nobody in the town had any idea of his past as a racer; he was just an ordinary Hudson Hornet to them.
Upon meeting the young hotshot Lightning McQueen, Doc saw far too much of his past in the rookie. He was less than happy when McQueen discovers his past. After McQueen finished fixing the road he damaged and decided to stay for a while, Doc was unable to bear having him around any longer and called the news and press to immediately take him away to the Piston Cup, declaring that it is best for everyone. But seeing how disheartened everyone was by his unplanned departure, Doc realized that McQueen had become more important to them than he thought. He eventually admits the truth to everyone about his Racecar days and he took back his old No. 51 colors to become McQueen's pit crew chief, bringing nearly the entire town (except Sally, Red, and Lizzy who watch the race on TV) to the Piston Cup to support Lightning as his pit crew (and in an ironic twist of fate, finally received that long awaited fanfare for his return). By the end of the film, Doc opts to keep his racing colors, and becomes a trainer as well as a friend to the young McQueen. Just like McQueen, Doc learned some lessons: friendship, promises, how greed affects others, and that secrets cannot be kept forever. A racing museum subsequently opens in Radiator Springs and is named after him.
The car is based on the real-life Fabulous Hudson Hornet in NASCAR competition driven by Herb Thomas and Marshall Teague. Newman, a racing enthusiast and former driver, drew upon his experiences for the grumpy old race car's personality. Paul Newman died from lung cancer in September 2008. Pixar decided having Doc Hudson appear in Cars 2 would be inappropriate. A conversation between McQueen and Mater indicates that Doc passed away before the second film. However, Doc's memory lives on, as the Piston Cup was renamed after him. During the Japan leg of the World Grand Prix, the commentators note that Doc was widely considered to be one of the best dirt-track racers in the world.
Sheriff (voiced by Michael Wallis) is a 1949 Mercury police car, bearing Carburetor County license plate 001. Sheriff is painted in the classic law enforcement black and white, with a single red light dome, two sirens, and curb feelers. Sheriff was the first resident of Radiator Springs to appear in the first film and also the first to meet Lightning McQueen during a police chase when McQueen was speeding through the town, trying to find Mack. Upon catching McQueen, who had become ensnared in power lines and fencing, Sheriff borrows a line used by actor Joe Higgins, who played a sheriff in early 1970s Dodge commercials: "Boy, you're in a heap of trouble." At one point in the film when Sally gives McQueen some gasoline, Sheriff worried that McQueen would try to escape the town, noticing McQueen's expression, while looking in the direction of the Interstate. Sheriff then turns on his gumball. Lightning chooses to accompany Sally, rather than making an escape attempt, resulting in Sheriff switching off his emergency lighting. This suggests the beginning of trust in Lightning by Sheriff. He later befriends Lightning McQueen, even offering him a police escort to California and even giving a few sniffles when he thought Lightning had left after finishing fixing the road (though he denied it claiming he was glad Lightning was gone), and joins his pit crew for the championship race.
Sheriff reappears in the second film, seeing Lightning and his race crew off to the World Grand Prix. When Mater goes missing, flo mentions that Sheriff has Scotland Yard scouring London for Mater. During the climax of the film, Sheriff arrives along with the other Radiator Springs resident as new members of McQueen's pit crew in England, and is informed by Mater of the lemons cars' plot to kill McQueen in order to turn all vehicles in the world against alternate energy and rely on gasoline for profit. Sheriff also partakes in the final melee against the Lemon cars.
Luigi (voiced by Tony Shalhoub) is a 1959 Fiat 500. He is a Scuderia Ferrari fan, and has followed racing his entire life. His license plate reads 445-108, which is the latitude and longitude for the main Ferrari factory in Maranello, Italy.[7] Luigi owns a tire shop, Casa Della Tires, which is known for its "Leaning Tower of Tires," a tower of several tires shaped like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. His assistant is an Italian forklift truck named Guido. Inside his shop are many framed pictures of World Sportscar Championship endurance racing Ferraris from various points in history. At first, Luigi and Guido do not respect Lightning McQueen when he comes to Radiator Springs (owing to the substantial havoc that he inflicted upon the town when he first arrived), because he is not a Ferrari ("Luigi follow only the Ferraris"), but later on they learn to show courtesy to McQueen, fitting him with whitewalls. During the big race, Luigi and Guido work as part of Lightning's pit crew, changing the tires so fast that his works embarrass other teams. In the end, McQueen directs a group of Italian sports cars – a Ferrari (voiced by Michael Schumacher) and two Maserati Quattroportes – to his shop, having recommended it. The presence of a celebrity Ferrari in their store causes both Luigi and Guido to faint from shock and happiness.
For the Italian version of the film, Luigi was voiced by comedian Marco Della Noce; one of Della Noce's most popular characters was "Oriano Ferrari", a parody character meant to represent the leader of Ferrari's pit stop crew.[8]
In Cars 2, Luigi is a part of Lightning's pit crew, in charge of the racer's tires. In Japan, he is naturally overjoyed to see so many Ferraris at a party prior to the first race of the World Grand Prix. He also hesitantly begins to explain to Mater what a rendezvous is, but he and Guido do not believe Mater when he believes he has a date ("Guido don't believe you!" "Guido still don't believe you!") Luigi and Guido are overjoyed to be back in their home of Italy, and rejoin their large group of family and friends. A little more is discussed of Luigi's past with Guido: Luigi's Uncle Topolino mentions that Luigi and Guido often fought when they worked for him (over things like which Ferrari was the best, and which one of them looked more like a Ferrari, etc.) but they always made up after their fights. Luigi joins his friends in a melee against Professor Zundapp's Lemons at the film's climax, and finally believes Mater's claims of a girlfriend when Holley Shiftwell confirms the fact in person at Radiator Springs.
Guido (voiced by Guido Quaroni) is an early fifties Isetta forklift, who works at Luigi's Casa Della Tires, and is Luigi's best friend. The only language Guido can speak and understand fluently is Italian, though he appears to understand English, and even speaks a few phrases, including "Pit stop" but pronounced "Peet stop!" His dream is to perform a pit stop for a real racecar. Near the end of the movie, as a member of Lightning's new pit crew, he performed the fastest pit stop in Piston Cup history, changing all four tires in four seconds, shocking Chick Hicks' pit crew (and making their moustaches/grills fall off in the process) who had earlier made fun of him.
In order to preserve the "language barrier" gags between Guido and the other characters in the Italian dub, his lines (and the other cars' lines in Italian) have been rendered with the Emiliano-Romagnolo accent spoken in the town of Modena, Italy, home of the Ferrari car manufacturer and racing team. Alex Zanardi, an Italian race driver who is a native of Bologna, the largest city in the Emilia-Romagna region (and thus presumably familiar with that dialect), voiced Guido for the Italian version. Coincidentally, or as a pun by the authors, the name "Guido" is a perfect homonym for the Italian inflected verb meaning "I drive". In Cars 2, Guido serves the same purpose he served in the first film's climax in Lightning's pit crew throughout the film. He also removed all tires from some of the Lemons when the malicious cars surrounded Lightning and Mater, but is unable to remove the bomb from Mater's nose (engine). Guido dryly does not believe Mater when he says he has a date ("Non ti credo"), but has a literally jaw-dropping moment when he sees that Mater was telling the truth about his new girlfriend Holley Shiftwell.
Ramone (voiced by Cheech Marin) is a 1959 Chevrolet Impala Lowrider who owns the Ramone's Paint and Body Art store, where he paints himself and other cars, including Lightning McQueen later in the film. His license plate reads "L0WNSL0", which is a reference to his catchphrase, "Low and slow." He is married to Flo, whose restaurant is next door to his store. Ramone is usually depicted as purple with a yellow and orange flame job, but throughout the film he changes his paint job every morning to keep his skills sharp, owing to a lack of customers. This situation changes after Radiator Springs becomes vibrant again.
In a deleted scene that told the story of how Ramone and Flo fell in love, the only customer Ramone has refused to paint was his future wife Flo. When she asked him, "Whassamatta, you too good to paint me?" he promptly and smoothly replies, "No way, you too good for me to paint," and saying that he could not touch a classic like Flo, which made her heart melt. The story took place in Radiator Springs of 1974.
Ramone reappears in Cars 2, making a few appearances in the Radiator Springs scenes, though he joins everyone else to help McQueen in England. In the melee scene, Ramone disables one of the lemon cars by spray painting into the car's eyes, blinding him.
Flo (voiced by Jenifer Lewis) is the owner of Radiator Springs only gas diner, "Flo's V-8 Cafe" and is married to Ramone, the town's body artist. (The story of their romance is told in the previous paragraph.) Her license plate reads "SHOGRL", the same as the license plates applied to many Motorama show cars, and an obvious pun on the term "showgirl". A shot of Flo's rear end during the cruising scene shows a secondary plate above her license plate which reads "Motorama 1957." According to a deleted scene, she is indeed a Motorama showcar and came to Radiator Springs during a national tour. She appears to be inspired by three early- to mid-fifties show cars: the 1951 Le Sabre (front-end lines, the basic hood shape, lights mounted near the corners, and front-quarter trim), the 1951 Buick XP-300 (side trim), and the 1956/57 Chrysler Dart (cockpit, deck lid, and tailfins).[9]
Flo reappears in Cars 2, as she arrives to help Lightning and Mater battle the lemons (who were sent to kill Lightning by Miles Axlerod). Later she and Sally are seen swooning over Francesco.
Fillmore (voiced by George Carlin in Cars, Cars: The Video Game, Mater and the Ghostlight, and Cars Toons (via archives), Brian George in Cars Mater-National, Mark Silverman in Cars Race-O-Rama and Lloyd Sherr in Cars 2 and Cars 2: The Video Game following Carlin's death in 2008) is a Volkswagen Type 2 microbus of late 1950s/early 1960s vintage as evidenced by his pointed front turn signals and small rear window. Fillmore's license plate reads "51237", which is a reference to May 12, 1937, the birthdate of George Carlin. He is a stereotypical hippie, with his license plate positioned to resemble a soul patch. His name is a reference to the Fillmore East, a venue that was an epicenter for rock performances throughout the 1960s and 1970s (The Allman Brothers, The Grateful Dead, and Jimi Hendrix all made notable live recordings there, to name a few). He owns an organic fuel shop (Fillmore's Organic Fuel) which features several flavors, and believes gasoline companies are lying to the public. In the morning, when next-door neighbor Sarge plays Reveille and raises the Flag of the United States, Fillmore interrupts Sarge's bugle reveille with Jimi Hendrix's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner." This is much to Sarge's irritation, as he shouts at Fillmore:
Despite this, he is friends with Sarge, and the two can be seen chatting throughout the film.
He has a sticker on his rear that says "I brake for Jackalopes". The jackalope is a mythical creature which features in the theatrical short "Boundin'" shown with The Incredibles. He has appeared in every Disney Cars game so far. As voiced by George Carlin, Fillmore's voice is similar to "Al Sleet, the hippy-dippy weatherman", a part of Carlin's comedy routine in the 1970s.
Fillmore reappears in Cars 2, joining McQueen's pit crew for the World Grand Prix. He has a smaller role compared to the previous film. He is the only original character that had to be re-cast due to George Carlin's death, and was replaced by Lloyd Sherr in this film. Fillmore initially supports Allinol as it supposedly does not use oil, even convincing McQueen it is safe after several accidents involving other cars using Allinol. However, for the final race, McQueen's Allinol is replaced at the last minute by Fillmore's organic fuel. This is what prevents Lightning from being killed in the race. Apparently, Fillmore knew all about the fuel switch, as he revealed it to Lightning.
Sarge (voiced by Paul Dooley) is a Willys Jeep. A veteran with a military green paint job and a slightly stylized Sergeant Major (E-9) insignia on his sides, he appears to be a World War II era Willys MB. His license plate reads "41WW2", which indicates the date the Willys MB entered the service of the U.S. Army (1941 World War II). He runs a surplus store, named "Sarge's Surplus Hut", next door to Fillmore and acts as part of Lightning's pit crew, gassing him up during the race. Near the end of the film, it is revealed he later opens an Army Camp to train SUVs and 4x4s in rugged and dirt terrain, including T.J. Hummer, Murphy, Frank "Pinky" Pinkerton, and Charlie Cargo.
Sarge reappears in Cars 2, using assistance from the British Army to aid in the melee against the lemons. Prior to the final leg of the World Grand Prix, he secretly switches McQueen's supply of Allinol (the alternative fuel developed by race founder Sir Miles Axlerod) for Fillmore's organic fuel blend. Like Fillmore he became suspicious of the fuel after the incidents in Japan and Italy. The change saves McQueen from being destroyed as part of Axlerod's plot to discredit alternative fuels.
Lizzie (voiced by Katherine Helmond), a 1923 Ford Model T coupe, is the widow of Radiator Springs' founder, Stanley, and the elderly owner of a roadside souvenir and accessory shop (Radiator Springs Curios). Her license plate, "MT23", is a reference to her model and year. Her name is derived from Tin Lizzie, one of the Model T's popular nicknames. She appears to have gone somewhat senile, and has a crush on Lightning McQueen. When she is shown teasing Luigi and Guido in the film, stating that "the new road makes your place look like a dump." Luigi angrily says that she is a crazy, devilish old woman; but despairs at the truth of her words. She appears extremely motherly.
Lizzie reappears in Cars 2.
Red (voiced by Joe Ranft) is a mid-1960s closed-cab pumper bearing Carburetor County license plate "002." He is shy and emotional, often bursting into tears and/or hiding whenever he is upset. He spends most of his time gardening and washing things, such as the statue of Stanley next to his fire station. It was stated by Mater that Red hated McQueen for accidentally killing his flowers, but it is clear that Red had forgiven McQueen and warmed up to him, especially since he burst into tears and fled when he thought McQueen left without saying goodbye (which he did not, but was, unfortunately, forced to do later). In the movie, Red never spoke (not counting his sobs and gasps). Joe Ranft died in a car accident in August 2005, 11 months before the movie was released.
Red reappears in Cars 2 with no voice actor. He only makes a small appearance at the airport crying as he sees 'Team McQueen' taking off for Tokyo, also in the battle against the lemons, where he arrives just in time to blast some of the lemons away with his fire hose.
Stanley is Lizzie's late husband and was the founder of Radiator Springs. Stanley was probably a Stanley Steamer, a steam-driven automobile. A statue of Stanley stands outside the town hall, and although it was broken off its pedestal and dragged through the streets on a wire by Lightning McQueen, it was fortunately undamaged, and another mishap placed the statue right back where it was. Although dead, Stanley continues to exert an influence on the town, particularly over Lizzie, who often talks to his statue in memory of him. At one point, the statue is sent flying through the air ("Fly away, Stanley. Be free!" - Fillmore) but returns to the pedestal luckily.
Stanley reappears in Cars 2 where he was shown to be less old and broken, possibly renovated.
Frank (voiced by Frank Welker) is a generic orange combine harvester that resembles a bull, and the guardian of the tractors. After Lightning McQueen's first encounter with Frank during a night of tractor tipping with Mater, Lightning starts dreaming that he, The King, and Chick Hicks (the last of whom does not even survive) are beaten by Frank in the tie-breaker race after beginning to feel that he is being distracted by his time in Radiator Springs. When he wins big smoke comes out of his horns which makes him look more like a moose. He is last seen with the tractors at the drive-in theatre scenes. He is also seen in the short Mater and the Ghostlight when Mater races past him, waking him up. Frank seems to be the soothing master of the tractors and the leader of the herd.
Darrell Cartrip is an announcer for the Piston Cup races in the first film. He is a 1977 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, and a former Piston Cup Racer. His character is based on former NASCAR racer and Fox Sports commentator Darrell Waltrip, who also provides the character's voice. Cartrip utters, "Boogity boogity boogity!" as the tiebreaker race starts; the real-life Waltrip is also known to use the phrase at the start of every NASCAR race on Fox. He also says "I'm so excited, they're gonna have to tow me out of the booth!" Cartrip appears in the Cars video game as the sole announcer; he is also a playable character in the Piston Cup VS. and Arcade mode. On his side it says, "Boogity boogity boogity" and on the back of him it says, "DWstore.com" (the online store for the three NASCAR on FOX analysts). These do not appear in the video game. The car is based on a real-life 1977 Monte Carlo Waltrip drove with DiGard Racing, although it does not have the actual number (#88) or livery (a green and white Gatorade livery) from its three years used on the circuit. The most famous of those cars was the infamous "Bertha," known for its weight-reduction ruse by crew chief Gary Nelson and Buddy Parrott where up to 45 kg of buckshot was added to a box near the battery, and on parade laps, Waltrip pressed a lever to drop the buckshot on track to lighten the car. With 16 of Waltrip's 84 career wins, it is displayed at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Alabama. Darrell would later return in the second film as one of the three announcers of the World Grand Prix.
Bob Cutlass is an announcer for the Piston Cup races and friend of Darrell Cartrip. He is voiced by Bob Costas, the renowned NBC sportscaster and journalist and his name, like Darrell Cartrip's, is a play on that of his voice actor. The character's name is obviously a reference to the Oldsmobile Cutlass. Cutlass is actually supposed to resemble a 1999 Oldsmobile Aurora, even though the Aurora was never offered in a 2 door model. He never returned for the video game, nor Cars 2.
Mia, (voiced by Lindsey Collins), and Tia, (voiced by Elissa Knight), are identical twin 1992 Mazda Miata (The names are a play on "Miata".) sisters who are Lightning McQueen's self-proclaimed biggest fans in the first film. After McQueen's disappearance, the twins are devastated that McQueen apparently will not make it to the race. Chick Hicks then swoops in and consoles them, loading them up with his own merchandise and a free Hostile Takeover Bank-sponsored paint job. Mia and Tia accept the offer, not because they are Chick's fans, but because the color green complements their eyes. By the end of the movie, they are McQueen's fans once more, turning against Hicks after he deliberately causes Strip "The King" Weathers to wreck in the tie-breaker race. In the end of the first film, Mia and Tia eventually move to Radiator Springs and work as waitresses at Flo's V8 Cafe, as seen during the end credits. In Lightning McQueen's daydream about the Dinoco Sponsorship, the twins are Dinoco blue, except for the scene in the penthouse, where they are painted gold. In a deleted scene on the Cars DVD, the twins are waitresses at a truck stop at which McQueen stops.
When they first meet Lightning, Mia and Tia flash their pop-up headlights at him, similar to groupies pulling up their shirts to flash celebrities.
Mia and Tia also appear in Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales because of his crazy doings. They also make a cameo appearance near the end of the second film, watching along with other residents of Radiator Springs, as the racecars from the World Grand Prix race out on their new Radiator Springs Grand Prix.
Van (voiced by Richard Kind) and Minny (voiced by Edie McClurg) are husband and wife. In the first film, they are lost and pass through Radiator Springs while trying to find their way back to Interstate 40. Minny also mentions that Van did the same when they were heading up to the "Crazy Days" (a parody of Derby Days[10]) in Shakopee. Van refuses to ask directions, claiming not to need them due to having a GPS. Both of them are equipped with car alarms, which they arm after their encounter with Lightning McQueen when he begs them to call for help. After the end of the credits, we find out that Van and Minny have ended up somewhere lost in the desert, having never asked for directions, and Van has almost been driven to insanity. Their names combined is a pun on "minivan". Van is a 2003 Ford Windstar and Minny appears to be a 1996 Dodge Caravan. Minny speaks with a pronounced Minnesota accent.
Van and Minny reappear near the end of the second film. While Minny is mesmerized by Mater's spy story, Van does not believe one word of it until British agent Holly Shiftwell arrives to confirm it, which surprises Van a lot.
The Delinquent Road Hazards are a group of four modified tuner cars that intentionally cause trouble on the highway: Boost (Purple Neon/Silver 1994 Mitsubishi Eclipse), DJ (Blue 2004 Scion xB), Wingo (Green and purple 2000 Nissan Silvia S15) and Snot Rod (Orange 1970 Plymouth Barracuda). They get their group name from what Sheriff called McQueen when he ordered Mater to tow him to traffic court. They catch Mack nodding off to sleep on the way to California, and amuse themselves by nudging him onto the rumble strips along the shoulder. The resulting vibration causes Mack's trailer door to open and a sleeping McQueen to roll out of the trailer. When the chronically-sniffly Snot Rod sneezes, Mack is startled awake, and accelerates away, leaving the still-sleeping McQueen behind near Radiator Springs, thus making the Hazards mostly responsible for McQueen's disappearance. However, in an act of poetic justice, during the end credits the Hazards are seen speeding on the outskirts of Radiator Springs just as the Sheriff arrives and places them in the impound lot. It is then later revealed that Doc Hudson himself sentenced the Hazards to messy roadwork towing Bessie for their actions. In the Italian dub, three of the Hazards are voiced by F1 drivers: Giancarlo Fisichella (Boost), Emanuele Pirro (Wingo) and Jarno Trulli (DJ). Boost, DJ and Wingo make a cameo appearance at the start of Tokyo Mater, drifting along the main road of Radiator Springs before Sherrif gives chase to them.
Kori Turbowitz (voiced by San Francisco Bay Area DJ Sarah Clark) is a 1997 Ford Puma; a news reporter who shows up in Cars three times.
Jay Limo, like his voice actor Jay Leno, is a talk show host. He resembles the latest generation of the Lincoln Town Car. He remarks "I don't know what's going to be harder to find; Lightning McQueen or a crew chief who'll work for him!"
Albert Hinkey (voiced by Douglas "Mater" Keever[11]) is an RV that proclaims that he is Lightning's "biggest" fan ("biggest" being a pun because he is such a large vehicle). He is seen in the background of races. He has another friend that is a fan of Lightning also that is voiced by Larry Benton.
Fred (voiced by Andrew Stanton) is a starstruck, very rusty old car. Everybody knows his name because his license plate holder and license plate say "Hello, my name is" and "FRED", respectively. He is the prop for the recurring gag in the film; when McQueen says his name, he shouts, "He knows my name! He knows my name" and, in his excitement, his front bumper (which happens to be his lower jaw) falls off. Later, when he is unable to gain access to the tie-breaker race and Mario Andretti (who would be waved through the gate on sight as a celebrity) likewise reads his license plate, Fred says, "Mario Andretti knows my name! You gotta let me in now!" He is seen again in the end credits as a resident of Radiator Springs spinning around in a circle with rust falling out from under him. When he stops, his front bumper falls off again. He also shows up in Mater National and Race-O-Rama.
TJ Hummer is a vain Hummer H1 that Sarge teaches in his boot camp during the end of the movie. Unlike the other SUVs in the boot camp, TJ refuses to go off road, fearing that he will get dirt on his rims, but Sarge forces him to do so. His name may be a play on the action character T.J. Hooker.
Sven "The Governator" is a Hummer. His only line is "Lightning McQueen must be found at all costs!" The name and vehicle is a parody of Arnold Schwarzenegger's then-current position as California governor, the first three Terminator films he starred on, and the fact that he was one of the first Hummer H1 owners.
Michael Schumacher is a 2006 Ferrari F430 sports car voiced by Schumacher himself. He is a Ferrari in reference to his recent championships with Ferrari F1. He appears at Luigi's shop at the end of the movie after being told by Lightning McQueen that "this is the best place in the world to buy tires", and asks to order a few sets of tires for himself and a pair of Maserati Quattroportes who accompany him. After Luigi faints from the excitement of having "a real Michael Schumacher Ferrari in his store", Schumacher speaks to Guido in Italian, and Guido subsequently faints. The Italian phrase he speaks is, "I hope that your friend recovers, I was told that you are fantastic." He is the only other known German in the Cars series other then Max Schnell, who in the German version of Cars 2, Max Schnell is renamed Sebastian Schnell, and voiced by Sebastian Vettel, the other Formula One racing champion in Germany other than Michael Schumacher.
Jerry (voiced by Joe Ranft) is a 1979 Peterbilt 352 that Lightning McQueen mistook for Mack. He has the words "Recycled Batteries" on his side. His only line in the movie is a response to McQueen: "Mack? I ain't no Mack, I'm a Peterbilt, for dang sake! And turn on your lights, ya dang moron!"
Bessie is a tarmac laying machine that is used to fix roads. When Lightning McQueen accidentally destroys the road with the statue of Stanley, the residents of Radiator Springs sentence him to fix the road with her. She is later seen at the end of the movie when the Delinquent Road Hazards have to fix the road with her as punishment for speeding. Sometimes Bessie boils over and splats tar onto the car(s) pulling her. Bessie is a "non-living" vehicle, it cannot move by itself, and it has no voice actor in the film.
"Junior" #8, voiced by NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., is a 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Piston Cup racecar that closely resembles Earnhardt's No. 8 NASCAR stock car that was driven until 2008. The stock car's Budweiser stickers were replaced by Dale Earnhardt Inc. stickers to avoid advertising beer in the first film. Junior was first seen in the race at the beginning of the first film where he was approaching the track and is later seen in the pits. He was seen again during the "McQueen's Missing" scene saying that he hoped that Lightning was okay, then at the tie-breaker Junior is seen wishing The King good luck in his last race. Junior was last seen at the Radiator Springs racing museum with The King and his wife Lynda, admitting to being amazed by Doc Hudson's many season winnings during the 1950s. Junior does not appear in the video game.
Mario Andretti voices his eponymous character, who is a former racecar that believes every day is a great day for racing. He is based on the 1967 Holman Moody Ford Fairlane that the real Andretti drove to victory in the 1967 Daytona 500. In the Spanish edition of the movie, Andretti is voiced by Formula One champion, Fernando Alonso.
Finn McMissile (voiced by Michael Caine) is a British secret agent who recruits Mater, whom he mistakes for a cleverly disguised American agent, to help in his mission. Though charming and eloquent, it’s his stealth maneuvering, intelligence and years in the field that enable him to thwart unexpected attacks from bad guys, making quick daredevil escapes. Finn’s design is sleek and timeless, but he’s also prepared for any tricky situation with an arsenal of ultra-cool gadgets and weaponry, including front and rear grappling hooks, a missile launcher, deployable magnetic explosives and a holographic disguise emitter. As a seasoned professional in the game of international espionage, Finn believes there is a conspiracy brewing during the World Grand Prix. His clandestine work surrounding the global exhibition race puts him on a collision course with Mater. Caine depicted his character Finn based on his previous role Harry Palmer from the The IPCRESS File and its sequels.
Originally, Finn was supposed to appear in the first Cars movie. In a sequence that never went beyond the storyboarding stage, Lightning and Sally visited a drive-in theater where a James Bond-type film about a superspy car named Finn McMissile was playing.[12] The design of Finn is inspired by several cars, the roofline and doors of the Volvo P1800 (possibly inspired by Roger Moore's ownership of one while filming The Saint TV espionage series in the early 1960s), the grill and fenders of the BMW 507, and some major elements of the iconic James Bond Aston Martin DB5, he also resembles a 1970's Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. The look of the car has been slightly modified; Finn has a different grill that looks like a suave mustache, but like Bond, he does have plenty of gadgets.[13] His small tailfins were inspired by a 1958 British sports car called the Peerless—one of the few British cars with fins.[14] Finn is fluent in many languages, most notably French and Italian. He is outfitted with a plethora of gadgets, including: two (Front) bumperette grappling hooks, a left headlight spy camera, a right headlight missile launcher, side mirror digital read-outs, a deployable glass cutter, front wheel hub magnetic explosives launcher; (side) side vent deployable machine guns, (rear) wheel hub deployable surveillance probes, rear bumperette grappling hooks, a rear turn signal oil blaster, an undercarriage mounted quad harpoon gun, a hydrofoil for oversea travel, a roof-deployed holographic disguise emitter, and submarine-mode for underwater escapes.[14] Finn made a cameo in Toy Story 3 on a poster in Andy's room. His license plate is 314 FMCM, which includes a reference to his initials. The number 314 indicates Caine's birthday, March 14.
His belief about the World Grand Prix turns out to be true, as it was all just a setup by Miles Axlerod to make alternate fuel seem dangerous and make cars run on his own fuel (which Finn encountered earlier on in the film) with no choice.
Holley Shiftwell (voiced by Emily Mortimer) is a British spy-in-training who aids Finn McMissile in his mission. She is also Mater's love interest in the film. Holley Shiftwell is a beautiful young British desk agent, turned spy-in-training who’s stationed in Tokyo. Well-educated and sharp, she knows every trick in the book—or rather, she relies on every trick in the spy manual. She’s armed with the latest state-of-the-art spy equipment imaginable, from hidden cameras and concealed weapons to a telescoping utility arm and a holographic pop-up display. Holley is a highly motivated agent, but is fresh out of the academy, so her experience is based on lessons learned in school rather than real-life situations. When seasoned international spy Finn McMissile requires Holley’s technical expertise for his latest top-secret field operation, she finds herself pursuing a rendezvous with the most unlikely candidate—Mater, an innocent caught up in the intrigue, who is mesmerized by the beauty of his newest friend.
Holley's name is a reference to Holley Performance Products, Inc., a manufacturer of high-performance carburetors and fuel systems located in Bowling Green, KY. Her design has a close resemblance to the Jaguar XJR-15. Her license plate is HS1201, which includes her initials. The number 1201 is Emily Mortimer's birthday (December 1). Holley is equipped with gadgets including: (front) projection lamps above headlights that emit a heads-up display, headlight cameras; a (side) right wheel concealed gun and an electro-shock device, a telescoping utility arm, (undercarriage) mounted dual trackball platforms for controlling the heads-up display, and retractable wings for flight.[14]
Siddeley (voiced by Jason Isaacs) is a state-of-the-art British twin-engine spy jet. He is 176 feet long with a 157-foot wingspan (53 and 48 meters respectively) and is shown to possess afterburners, though no aspect of his airframe is suited to supersonic flight, In addition, he has VTOL (vertical-takeoff and landing) capabilities. Outfitted with all the latest in high-tech spy equipment, including cloaking technology, defensive weaponry and afterburners, Siddeley is Finn’s steadfast partner-in-fighting-crime around the globe. His tail has A113 painted on it, a recurring gag in the Pixar films.[15] His name is a reference to the British aerospace company, Hawker Siddeley.
Stephenson (voice actor unknown) is a spy train, who first appered in Cars 2, working with Finn McMissle. Finn told Holley Shiftwell to contact Stephenson in Paris and he brings Finn, Holley, and Mater to Porta Corsa, Italy. Stevenson is a state-of-the-art bullet train, in reality he's a British high-speed spy train, who scrambles switchboards, hops international rail lines, and can make it from Dover to Porto Corsa in five hours. He has no dining car and no spare compartement because he's filled with the finest in high-tech, classified spy gear and probably has a few secret agents aboard. One of his carriages contains high-tech equipment that modifies and adds gadgets to cars. His only saying in Cars 2 is "Finn, one hour to Porta Corsa". You might think his job stinks but to him, he loves his job. He is great friends with Finn and he is one of Stephenson's favorite agent to carry to where ever Finn needs to be. It is unknown where he went after he droped off Finn, Holley, and Mater in Porta Corsa. Stephenson is named after the "father of railways", George Stephenson.
Leland Turbo (also voiced by Jason Isaacs) was a British agent who appears in the film's beginning. He sends a video message to Finn McMissile about what he sees in Professor Zündapp's oil rig. However, he is found by the lemons and was crushed into a cube. He appears to be based on a Jaguar E-Type
Rod “Torque” Redline (voiced by Bruce Campbell) is considered by many as the greatest American spy in the world. He's the one McMissile and Shiftwell were supposed to meet before he ran into Mater, which leads to the mistake of the spy cars thinking Mater is Redline. Recruited after the Cold War for both his brains and brawn, Torque is a tough-as-nails Detroit muscle car with a mastery of disguises. In his latest deep-cover operation, he obtained vital information about the plot to sabotage the World Grand Prix. In the beginning of the film, he is seen by McMissile (as a lemon) talking to the professor about the camera. So Rod plans a rendezvous with his British counterparts to share his discoveries at the World Grand Prix welcome reception in Tokyo, Japan. But with the bad guys hot on his tailpipe, Rod is forced to ditch the intel early and with the first party guest he sees – a rusty American tow truck named Mater. He is later captured and killed by the enemy's weapon, a magnetic pulse gun disguised as a TV camera (Allinol explodes when it reacts with a magnetic pulse). Torque is a visual portmanteau of a Dodge Challenger and a Ford Mustang. His license plate is a Michigan plate and reads "M1911A1," a reference to the handgun used historically by the United States Armed Forces.
Tomber (voiced by Michel Michelis) is Finn McMissile's underground informant. Having been saved from a long sentence in a Moroccan impound lot by McMissile, Tomber has since become an auto-parts dealer. He specializes in rare parts, such as the ones needed to keep a certain Rover V8 going.. Mater and Tomber get along from their first meeting, both respecting the other's knowledge of cars and specific parts. Tomber (French for "Tumbling") is a Reliant Regal threewheeler, a type of car notorious for its poor handling and tendency to roll over in even gentle turns.
Sir Miles Axlerod (voiced by Eddie Izzard) is a former oil baron who has sold off his fortune after supposedley converted himself into an electric vehicle. He claims to have devoted his life to finding the renewable, clean-burning energy source of the future—ultimately discovering what he believes is the fuel everyone should be using. Axlerod created the World Grand Prix, to promote his new wonder-fuel, Allinol. Axlerod later reveals that he owns the largest untapped oil reserves in the world. His "alternative fuel" is actually ordinary gasoline engineered to ignite if hit with electro-magnetic pulses from weapons disguised as television cameras. Axlerod's plans to use oil for world domination are eventually exposed. Axlerod plans to use Professor Zündapp and the lemon cars to kill McQueen in the final race, but the EMP weapon fails to finish him off because Sarge switched McQueen's Allinol for Filmore's organic fuel. As a backup, Axlerod has Zündapp and the lemon cars implant a bomb on Mater's air filter. Mater confronts Axlerod about the conspiracy and forces him to deactivate the bomb with a voice command, proving that he was the one who set it. Axlerod's engine turns out to be the Rover V8 in the photo obtained by McMissile and Shiftwell (described by Mater as "the worst engine ever made"), and he is exposed as a fraud and arrested. "Sir Miles", and "Sir Tow", had been more correct; first names only, as knighthood stipulates.
Axlerod is styled after a first generation Range Rover and has a Rover V8 engine (a Buick design). Mater remarks after seeing the engine on the spy picture that the owner must be very happy since he has all the spare parts. Those spare parts are labeled "British Weyland", which is a parody on British Leyland, with a "W" instead of an "L" in the logo. British Leyland produced both the Rover V-8 engine and the Range Rover models. His last name, a portmanteau of "axle" and "rod", is a reference to Mr. Izzard's stand-up routine about the invention of the wheel and axle.
Professor Zündapp (voiced by German actor Thomas Kretschmann) is an internationally wanted weapons designer in a small, sophisticated German package. He is a brilliant, but mad monocle-wearing scientist who is plotting to sabotage the World Grand Prix. Professor Zündapp is willing to do whatever it takes to eliminate all obstacles and keep the “project” on schedule. He is modeled as a Zündapp Janus 250 and has a broken roof rack that evokes the look of a comb over. Though at first, Professor Zündapp appears to be the main villain, but is eventually exposed as a subordinate of Miles Axlerod, the true villain who recruited him to invent an electro-magnetic pulse weapon to use on the racers that used Allinol in order to turn all vehicles against alternative energy and rely on gasoline. He eventually implants a bomb on Mater to kill McQueen to continue on with the plan (due to the fact that McQueen is using Allinol for the final race, despite of Allinol being called into question by the public), but he is captured by Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell.
Grem (voiced by Joe Mantegna) is a dented, rusty orange AMC Gremlin. After years of being dismissed for his design, even being called a "lemon," Grem has a big chip on his fender that has led him to the underworld of international espionage. As a henchman for a villainous boss Professor Zündapp, Grem and his partner-in-crime Acer are trying to sabotage the World Grand Prix and the famous race cars competing in it. When Grem and Acer mistake Mater for an American agent with important top-secret information, the ruthless lemons set out on a round-the-globe chase to stop Mater from foiling their evil scheme. In the final fight in London they are just about to intercept Mater and McQueen when diverted forcibly by a flying Holley into a pub where they crash into the bar causing the patrons' drink to spill all over. Confronted by a very angry clientele, they are last seen being smashed into a pulp by them. Presumably the very battered thugs are arrested along with Zundapp and Axlerod.
Acer (voiced by Peter Jacobson), a beat-up green AMC Pacer, joined forces with fellow “lemon” cars as henchmen for the devious Professor Zündapp, whose clandestine mission is to wreak havoc at the highly visible World Grand Prix. Acer must hunt down the American and British secret agents who have stolen crucial information about Professor Zündapp's underhanded plot—his primary target just happens to be Mater, who’s been mistaken for a spy. Acer tries very hard to be a tough guy, but he’s over-eager compared to his no-nonsense accomplice Grem. (See paragraph above for Acer's fate.)
Francesco Bernoulli (voiced by John Turturro) grew up in the shadow of the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Italy where he and his friends would sneak onto the track and race the famous banking on the circuit (in real life, last raced in 1967). He was an instant winner on the amateur circuit and soon became an international Formula Racer champion. The ladies love Francesco’s open wheels, youngsters look up to his winning spirit and fellow racers envy his speed. But Francesco’s biggest fan is Francesco himself, as evidenced by his racing number. As the most famous race car in Europe, No.1 Francesco is a favorite to win the World Grand Prix, which also makes him Lightning McQueen’s chief rival. Francesco often refers to himself in the third person.
He resembles a modern Formula One car and is painted in the colors of the Italian flag.
Jeff Gorvette (voiced by Jeff Gordon) is an American Corvette C6 Le Mans Sports car and the #24 race car of the World Grand Prix.
The character does not appear in international versions of Cars 2. In two scenes (one where Lightning meets him at the party in Tokyo, and another when that scene appears in Mater's nightmare), Gorvette is replaced by a completely different character, voiced by a regionally better known racer than Jeff Gordon. Most of them use the same body shape as Max Schnell.
Lewis Hamilton (voiced by Lewis Hamilton) is a British/Grenadan McLaren MP4-12C World Sports Touring Champion and is the #2 contender in the World Grand Prix and represents Great Britain and Grenada.
"Nigel Gearsley" (voiced by Greg Ellis) is a racer in the World Grand Prix. He is an Aston Martin DBR9, and races as number 9. He finished in 5th place in the Tokyo Grand Prix, but is one of the cars whose engine explodes in Italy. He recovers in time to race in the London Grand Prix and the celebrity race at Radiator Springs.
Mama Topolino (voiced by Vanessa Redgrave) is the aunt of Luigi. She resembles a 1950s Renault (or maybe Alfa Romeo) Dauphine.
Uncle Topolino (voiced by Franco Nero) is the uncle of Luigi. He is a Fiat 500 "Topolino" from 1948 or earlier. ("Topolino", which translates as "Little Mouse", is Mickey Mouse's Italian name.) The cover on his top resembles a hair style, similar to Luigi's.
Prince Wheeliam is the grandson of the Queen of the United Kingdom. He is an avid racing fan. He cannot believe his luck that the final race of the one-of-a-kind World Grand Prix is happening on the streets of London. Though he must remain impartial when by his grandmother’s side, he is privately rooting for his fellow Brits Lewis Hamilton and Nigel Gearsley to cross the finish line first. Wheeliam is based on Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. He is a Bentley Continental GT.
The Queen Elizabeth II (voiced by Vanessa Redgrave) is a classic Rolls Royce Phantom car watching the race from Buckingham Palace. She later knights Mater for his bravery in foiling Axlerod's plot. The rack on her roof is made to look like a crown. Throughout the film, it is known that Queen Elizabeth II knighted him for creating Allinol.
Crabby the Boat (voiced by Sig Hansen) is a fishing vessel that is based on the F/V Northwestern, a boat captained by Hansen and featured in the American reality TV series Deadliest Catch. Crabby is painted and designed like the Northwestern. He is seen in the beginning of the film with Finn McMissile aboard him. Finn has paid Crabby to bring him to a certain location in the ocean so he can look for a car, a request that greatly puzzles Crabby. Once they reach the spot, Tony Trihull (see below) intercepts Crabby and threatens him with a missile launcher, forcing him to turn back. Crabby apologizes to Finn as he heads home, not knowing that Finn has already slipped off board and hitched onto Tony to continue his mission.
Tony Trihull (voiced by Lloyd Sherr) is a large combat ship (modeled after the USS Independence (LCS-2)) who works for Professor Zündapp. He first appears in the beginning when he notices Crabby and Finn in the oil reserve, ordering Crabby to leave. When Crabby refuses, Tony threatens him with a missile battery (based on the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile). As a result, Crabby leaves, but Finn hitches a ride on the back of Tony, without him knowing. He later appears again near the end of the film in London when Professor Z tries to escape from being caught by Finn McMissile, yelling for the Professor to hurry and get aboard him. When Finn McMissile stops the Professor, Tony uses a magnetic device pulling the Professor to him. McMissile then shoots out several mini-bombs out of his wheels that cling on to Tony's magnet, resulting in a huge explosion destroying Tony. Trihull has heavy metal teeth, evidently inspired by the legendary James Bond villain Jaws.
Victor Hugo (voiced by Stanley Townsend) is the head lemon of the "Hugo" family, being referred to as "the boss" by fellow Hugos. He and his Hugos work with Professor Zündapp. During the film, Victor uses Ivan, a blue tow truck (which Mater masquerades as to infiltrate the lemons' meeting), as his own personal transportation that tows him place to place instead of having to drive on his own. He attends the meeting with the other main heads of the three lemon families (Gremlin, Pacer, Trunkov) in Porto Corsa with Professor Z to discuss their evil plans about discrediting the Allinol by using the radiation disguised camera to crash out the racers in the World Grand Prix that use the gas, and ensure that all cars keep using conventional fuel to secure the profits of their "lemon" organization who managed to secure the largest unexplored oil resources in the world. Near the end of the film, Victor is arrested in London with his fellow lemons. Victor is modeled after the Yugo car, with some adjustments: the logo V on his front bumper and two separate headlights on each side. His name is the same as that of a famous writer.
Tubbs Pacer (voiced by Brad Lewis) is the head lemon of the "Pacer" family. He and his Pacers work with Professor Zündapp. During the film, Tubbs and the other main heads of the three lemon families (Gremlin, Trunkov, Hugo) attend a meeting with Professor Z in Porto Corsa to discuss their evil plans about discrediting the Allinol by using the radiation disguised camera to crash out the racers in the World Grand Prix that use the gas, and ensure that all cars keep using conventional fuel to secure the profits of their "lemon" organization who managed to secure the largest unexplored oil resources in the world. Tubbs is seen smiling at the idea and cannot wait. Tubbs last name "Pacer" is the model of his car. During the final fight in London, Tubbs tries to fight against McQueen to kill him, only to be stopped by Mater, who then uses his tow cable to swing Tubbs on the other side of the intersection, where Ramone violently throws in his spray paint on Tubbs. Without hesistation, Pacer and some of the lemons are forced to retreat, only to be halted and arrested by the British Army (thanks to a tipoff from Sarge).
Vladimir Trunkov (voiced by Stanley Townsend) is the head lemon of the "Trunkov" family. He and his Trunkovs work with Professor Zündapp. During the film, Vladimir and the other main heads of the three lemon families (Gremlin, Pacer, Hugo) attend a meeting with Professor Z in Porto Corsa to discuss their evil plans about discrediting the Allinol by using the radiation disguised camera to crash out the racers in the World Grand Prix that use the gas, and ensure that all cars keep using conventional fuel to secure the profits of their "lemon" organization who managed to secure the largest unexplored oil resources in the world. Vladimir is seen smiling at the idea. Near the end of the film, Vladimir and the lemons surround Mater, McQueen and the British agents in an intersection, confirming them of the lemons' intent to kill McQueen, saying that it's nothing peronsal. He is eventually arrested by Sheriff in London with fellow lemons. Vladimir is modeled after a ZAZ-968M Zaporozhets car, with the some adjustments: the logo T on his front bumper, that stands for his last name; Trunkov.
J. Curby Gremlin (voiced by John Mainieri) is the head lemon of the "Gremlin" family. He and his Gremlins work with Professor Zündapp. J. Curby, along with the other main heads of the three lemon families (Pacer, Trunkov, Hugo), attend a meeting with Professor Z in Porto Corsa to discuss their evil plans about discrediting the Allinol by using the radiation disguised camera to crash out the racers in the World Grand Prix that use the gas, and ensure that all cars keep using conventional fuel to secure the profits of their "lemon" organization who managed to secure the largest unexplored oil resources in the world. J. Curby is seen smiling at the idea. Near the end of the fim, J. Curby is sprayed by Red from behind, being thrown in the air. He is arrested in London with fellow lemons. J. Curby's last name "Gremlin" is the make of his model.
Ivan (voiced by Stanley Townsend) is a blue tow truck who serves as Victor Hugo's mode of transportation, towing him around. He resembles Mater greatly, in fact, Mater disguises as Ivan in order to infiltrate a lemon crime meeting. The real Ivan was previously tazed by Holly. He later awoke and captured Holly. In the end, he is defeated with his lemon allies in London by being arrested.
Signora Bernoulli is Francesco's mother. She is seen at the Porto Corsa race cheering her son on. She is an older Formula One race car and, as evidenced by her number, his biggest fan other than himself.
Alexander Hugo (voiced by Velibor Topic) is part of the Hugo family that works for Professor Z and Miles Axlerod. He is the only black Hugo in the entire movie to talk, making him and Victor the only Hugo family members that talk. Despite his young age, he does dirty work (like Victor and Ivan) and attends the lemon meeting. He also is one of the lemons attempting to round up Mater so that the bomb would explode, killing both Mater and Lightning.
Host of the "Mel Dorado Show" where he interviews Miles Axlerod and Francesco Bernoulli. Mater calls the show and eventually gets McQueen into the World Grand Prix. As his name indicates he is a Cadillac Eldorado.
Brent Mustangburger, an excitable 1964½ Ford Mustang in traditional racing blue, is an American sports broadcasting icon; widely considered one of the most recognizable voices in the history of automobile sports television and associated with some of the most memorable moments in modern sports. His character is based on the real life ESPN/ABC sportscaster Brent Musburger, who provides the character's voice.
David Hobbscap, a handsome British racing green 1963 Jaguar Coombs Lightweight E-Type, is a worldwide racing luminary originally from Royal Leamington Spa, England. His 30-year career in professional racing spans the globe and all types of motorsports. Now David shares that priceless knowledge as an announcer, where he’s also well known for providing comic relief during race broadcasts. A former champion with 20 starts at the 24 Heures du Mans, his storytelling comes from personal experience. Anything but your ordinary television sportscaster, David cannot wait to enlighten and entertain the World Grand Prix audiences. His character is based on the real life former British racing driver and current Speed Channel commentator David Hobbs, who provides the character's voice.
Chevrolet Monte Carlo, and a former Piston Cup Racer. His character is based on former NASCAR racer and Fox Sports commentator Darrell Waltrip, who also provides the character's voice.
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