| Lightning McQueen - Disney Pixar Cars
Top Speed: Capable of 200 MPH. / 0-60: 4.5 seconds / Engine: V8 Engine, 750 Horsepower / Chief Sponsor: Rust-Eze Medicated Bumper Ointment
His overall profile was inspired by the Ford GT40, but he is a Ford Mustang like race car in some ways. A hybrid between a stock car and a more curvaceous Le Mans endurance car. Cars McQueen also looks like a Mazda RX8, especially if you notice the headlights. His number, 95, is a reference to the year Pixar released its first feature-length movie.
Disney Pixar Cars Lightning McQueen is a rookie racing car who has burst onto the scene to grab the limelight and is on the verge of becoming the first newcomer to lift the prestigious The Piston Cup. With the catchphrase of ‘Float like a Cadillac, sting like a Beemer,’ Lightning is one cocky car. His best friend is Mater the Tow Truck, a 1951 International Harvester L-170 "boom" truck.
Called the ‘stickers’ by Sally Carrera (A 2002 Porsche 911 on Cars Movie), or also ‘Bling-Bling McQueen’, nothing is more important to Cars McQueen than winning and the sponsorship deals, parties and groupies that come with it. Will an unscheduled stop in the backwater town of Radiator Springs change his outlook?
Lightning McQueen is a young, quick racecar. Throughout his rookie season, he was known as a "One man show", constantly firing crew chiefs and forcing other crew members to quit. Lightning had the lead in the Piston Cup, ahead of Strip Weathers(a.k.a. The King) and Chick Hicks by about half a lap, and beating the other racers as well. When McQueen refused to have his tires changed, his tires began to wear out and pop on the final stretch. This allowed The King and Hicks to catch up, and the race ended with a three-way tie. On his way to California for the tie-breaker and a shot with Dinoco, McQueen became separated from his driver. McQueen found himself in a small town, Radiator Springs, on the historic root 66. By the time McQueen got out or Radiator Springs, he had made new friends, and learned there's more than winning. In the final three-way tie breaking race, Hicks bumped into the King, and sent the King out of control. It was a fatal crash, and McQueen was too far ahead for Hicks to catch up. It appeared that McQueen had earned the Piston Cup. However, McQueen stopped just before the finish line, went back to the King, and helped him cross the finish line. Although McQueen did not cross the finish line first, many say that he was the true winner. McQueen will return once again for another season of racing.
Lightning "Stickers" McQueen is the star of the 2006 Pixar film Cars. He is a red racecar sponsored by Rust-eze Medicated Bumper Ointment ("With Just a Little Rust-eze, you can look like Lightning McQueen!"). He is #95 in the Disney Cars movie, and at the beginning of the movie, he is racing his first Piston Cup race in Nashville, Tennessee, and is winning. At the end of the film, he lost the race out of good intentions, and got a new paint job, and still sponsored by Rust-eze, although at the beginning of the film, he wanted a Dinoco sponsorship. He really likes Sally Carrera, a Porsche 911. Lightning McQueen is based on John Lasseter.
His racing number, "95" is a reference to the year 1995, when Pixar's first feature-length film, "Toy Story" was released, and his last name "McQueen" is a reference to Glenn McQueen, a supervising animator at Pixar who passed away in 2002. In the Cars video game, written by Pixar and considered a continuation to the story started in the movie, Lightning McQueen finds himself at the start of the next Piston Cup season. With the help of the citizens of Radiator Springs, McQueen readies to start his quest for the Piston Cup, taking lessons in powersliding from Doc, boosting from Filmore, and racing backwards from Mater.
With his skills, Lightning once again makes a championship run in the Piston Cup, much to the irritation of Chick Hicks, who hates him. Fearing his title is in jeopardy, Chick enlists the assistance of The Delinquent Road Hazards - DJ, Boost, Wingo and Snot Rod - the same rowdy cars who detoured Lightning McQueen to Radiator Springs, to hijack Cars McQueen's racing gear from Mack on Interstate 40. Lightning is able to retrieve the goods and bring the delinquents to justice before winning the next race, which sends Chick into a frenzy. Lightning McQueen challenges Chick to a Grand Prix in Radiator Springs, followed by one more Piston Cup race in L.A.. Lightning wins these events, taking the Piston Cup in his sophomore season.
At the end, Lightning, Mater, and Sally decide to take a celebratory trip across the country. When asked if he brought his trophy, Lightning notes he did not, but left it in a good place, at Doc Hudson's clinic next to the legend's own three Piston Cups. Though Cars Lightning McQueen is still sponsored by Rust-eze, players are able to unlock McQueen with a Dinoco paint job while playing as him in Story Mode, Arcade Mode, and VS. Mode.
The Ford GT40 was a high performance sports car and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969 (in 1967 with a different body, though). It was built to win long-distance sports car races against Ferrari (who won at Le Mans six times in a row from 1960 to 1965).
The car was named the GT (for Grand Tourisme) with the 40 representing its overall height of 40 inches (1.02 m, measured at the windshield) as required by the rules. Large displacement Ford V8 engines (4.7 L and 7 L) were used, compared with the Ferrari V12 which displaced 3.0 L or 4.0 L.
Early cars were simply named "Ford GT". The name "GT40" was the name of Ford's project to prepare the cars for the international endurance racing circuit, and the quest to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The first 12 "prototype" vehicles carried serial numbers GT-101 through GT-112. The "production" began and the subsequent cars, the MkI, MkIIs, MkIIIs, and MkVs, numbered GT40-P-1000 through GT40-P-1145, were officially "GT40s". The name of Ford's project, and the serial numbers dispel the story that "GT40" was "only a nickname."
The contemporary Ford GT is a modern homage to the GT40.
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