Inspired by director John Lasseter’s real-life cross-country road trip, Cars still draws families and fans to iconic attractions featured (or riffed on) in the movie. Here are seven real-life locations that inspired the makers of Cars.
Less- Find out moreIndianapolis Motor SpeedwayRacetrackClosed Now9 AM – 5 PM
Although synonymous with Route 66, Cars begins somewhere in the Midwest with the Dinoco 400, the final race of the Piston Cup. It’s not hard to draw comparisons between Dinoco and Sinclair (both oil companies have a prehistoric giant as a mascot) or the Piston Cup and the Indianapolis 500, known as the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
- Alexandra CharitanFind out moreWigwam MotelMotelClosed Now3 – 9 PM
With vintage cars permanently parked around the property, Wigwam Village Motel No. 6, in Holbrook, Arizona, is the most photogenic of the three remaining villages, set along a stretch of the Mother Road full of rock shops, restaurants, and motels. Cars’ Cozy Cone Motel is perhaps the movie’s most clever auto-themed twist on a real-life icon, with each room resembling a bright orange traffic cone, and amenities such as a free “Lincoln Continental breakfast.”
- Sanna BomanFind out moreJack Rabbit Trading PostSouvenir ShopClosed Now9 AM – 5 PM
At the center of Radiator Springs is a large yellow sign with red lettering that says “Here it is,” which is a near copy of the one that stands outside of the real Jack Rabbit Trading Post 5 miles west of Joseph City, Arizona. The souvenir and curio shop has been luring travelers with hand-painted billboards from Missouri to Arizona since 1949. In real life, the sign is adorned with silhouettes of a jack rabbit; in Cars, it’s a Model T Ford.
- Alexandra CharitanFind out moreSand Hills Curiosity ShopAntique StorePermanently Closed
Radiator Springs’ Curios could have been inspired by any number of souvenir and junk shops that line the route, but none is more memorable than the Sandhills Curiosity Shop. Sure, the collection of vintage petrobilia and other odds and ends (most of which are not actually for sale) is worth a trip to the small town of Erick, Oklahoma, alone—but it’s the shop’s proprietor and showman, Harley Russell, who really makes the stop a must-see attraction.
- Alexandra CharitanFind out moreU Drop Inn CafeCafeClosed Now7 AM – 5 PM
The art deco exterior and iconic tower of Ramone’s Body Shop were clearly inspired by the Tower Station and U-Drop Inn located in Shamrock, Texas. Built in 1936 as a gas station and restaurant, today the fully-restored building is on the National Register of Historic Places and operates as a visitor center, chamber of commerce office, and community center.
