Lightning McQueen
Encyclopedia
Lightning McQueen, typically referred to by his surname McQueen, and occasionally called "Stickers" by his girlfriend Sally , is an anthropomorphic
racecar and the main protagonist in the 2006 animated Pixar
film Cars
, and the deuteragonist of its sequel Cars 2
. He was named after Pixar
animator Glenn McQueen
who died from skin cancer
in 2002; it was erroneously believed after the film debuted that the name was influenced by actor and noted racing buff Steve McQueen
. He is based on generic NASCAR
vehicles, but with design influences from the Mazda Miata and Dodge Viper
. Late in the film, he is painted much like the Chevrolet Corvette C1
. It is revealed on Lightning McQueen's Facebook page, after the events of the 1st movie, he won the Piston Cup from 2007-2010. He is voiced by actor Owen Wilson
in the films, Mater and the Ghostlight
, the video game
and Keith Ferguson
in Cars Toons, Cars Mater-National
, and Cars Race-O-Rama
.
On route to California
for a tie-breaker race, he becomes detoured off U.S. Route 66
in New Mexico
because of The Delinquent Road Hazards and finds himself in Radiator Springs, a nearly abandoned town which saw its livelihood largely disappear due to the construction of Interstate 40
decades ago. McQueen accidentally destroys the town's main road because of his fear of the sheriff (he mistook the old cruiser's backfiring for gunshots). The town's judge sentences McQueen to repair the road before he may return to Los Angeles, where the 3-way tie-breaker race is being held.
Over the course of his stay in the town, he comes to form friendships with the residents of the town. He falls in love with a former city-dwelling attorney named Sally, and gains a deep respect and reverence for the town's judge and doctor, an ex-race car
named Doc Hudson. These experiences lead McQueen to understand the importance of friendship and love, and that fame is not the most important thing in life.
It is established that while en route to California, and when he went with Sally to see the Wheel Well Hotel, that not only did McQueen not have close to any friends at the beginning of the movie, but that he also secretly found his life unhappy to a certain extent. When Sally told McQueen the reason for leaving her lifestyle as an attorney, being that she wasn't happy, McQueen began to agree, but immediately puts on a surprised emotion to hide it.
As the tie-breaker race begins, McQueen's thoughts keep drifting back to Radiator Springs and he is distracted from performing well. However, he is surprised to discover that his new friends have come along to serve as his pit crew along with Mack, as well as Doc – once again outfitted in his old racing colors – serving as McQueen's new crew chief. Heartened by their presence and recalling the tricks they taught him, McQueen is able to counteract Chick Hicks' dirty driving tactics and take the lead of the race. McQueen manages to make it to the finish line before Chick and The King, but after seeing The King being deliberately spun out of control by Chick, and remembering the crash that had ended Doc's career, McQueen stops before the finish line, which allows Chick to win and take the Piston Cup.
McQueen reverses to help push The King 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. After the King reminds him how he just gave up the Piston Cup, Lightning recalls Doc's statement earlier in the film that; "It's just an empty cup." McQueen gains a large measure of respect from the public for his act of sportsmanship, leaving Chick to be booed and jeered by the crowd for his reckless cheating. McQueen is offered the Dinoco sponsorship but turns it down, saying that he would rather stay with the Rust-Eze team that brought him this far. McQueen returns to Radiator Springs and decides to move his team's headquarters there, helping to revitalize the town and its businesses. The movie ends with Lightning and Sally racing to Flo's and Mater flying on a Dinoco helicopter (as Lightning had promised him earlier in the movie).
. With his new skills, Lightning once again makes a championship run in the Piston Cup, much to the irritation of Chick Hicks.
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 McQueen to Radiator Springs, to hijack McQueen's racing gear from Mack on Interstate 40
. Lightning is able to retrieve his equipment and bring the delinquents to justice before winning the next race, which sends Chick into a frenzy. Lightning 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, revealed to be at Doc Hudson's clinic next to the racing legend's own three Piston Cups.
Though 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.
Although he is invited to join, Lightning had declined, until he sees on television the Grand Prix's favorite to win, Francesco Bernoulli, taunting McQueen. Only after Mater calls in on the television show to defend McQueen does Lightning intervene and decides to join the race after all, having his friends in Radiator Springs as his pit crew, with Mater joining only when Sally convinces Lightning to let him come as his spotter.
Upon arriving in Tokyo, Japan for the pre-race party, Lightning becomes embarrassed by Mater's antics throughout the party, making him start to regret bringing him along. It continues in the first race through Tokyo. Lightning initially dominates the race, but Mater, unwittingly caught up in a spy mission with Finn McMissile and Holly Shiftwell, has a miscommunication with McQueen that ultimately costs him the race. Angered, McQueen confronts Mater afterwards, telling him that he doesn't need Mater's help anymore, explaining this as his reason of why he doesn't take Mater along to his races.
Hurt, Mater decides to head back home, only to end up continuing his "mission" with McMissile and Shiftwell and McQueen ends up feeling guilty that he would mistreat his best friend and continues feeling sad about it as the Grand Prix continues to Italy. There, while at a party for his pit crew members Luigi and Guido, who have met up with their family, he is told by Luigi's aunt and uncle that even the best of friends will argue every now and then, which inspires Lightning to patch things up with Mater.
McQueen wins the second race in Rome, Italy, though many cars end up damaged, which causes the public to blame Allinol, which is fueling all the cars in the race, but is actually due to the evil Prof. Zündapp sabotaging the cars' race by igniting Allinol with EMP weapons designed as World Grand Pirx cameras. Zundapp and a criminal organization of lemon cars are planning to sabotage the Grand Prix under their unseen superior to turn all vehicles in the world against alternative energy and rely on gasoline. Miles Axelrod decides to remove Allinol from the final race, allowing the cars to choose their fuel. Lightning decides to stay with Allinol based on advice from his pit crew member Fillmore. Upon hearing this, Zündapp gets his orders from his superior that McQueen mustn't win the last race and instead be killed. Mater overhears this and tries to warn McQueen, but is captured along with McMissile and Shiftwell before doing so.
Lightning goes on with the third and final race of the Grand Prix, in London, England, with Sally and most of the friends from Radiator Springs coming to London to help support him and find Mater (with the help from Scotland Yard and the Royal Army). Axelrod also paid a temporary visit to McQueen, giving his full support to win the final race and show the world what Allinol can do. The race begins and Zündapp tries to destroy McQueen with the infrared beam that he had used to sabotage the cars in the previous races, but it inexplicably fails for some unknown reason. This causes Zündapp to go with plan B, which turns out to be using a bomb that had been planted on Mater's air filter to blow up McQueen as a backup plan. Mater, who is unaware of the bomb planted on him, escapes and tries to warn McQueen when he comes for a pit stop, until McMissile and Shiftwell inform him of Zündapp's plan.
McQueen, upon seeing Mater, tries to apologize to him, but Mater, terrified, tries to drive away to avoid possibly killing McQueen, though McQueen takes pursuit, until the bomb is out of range of Zündapp's detonator. After stopping in an empty intersection, McQueen finally realizes what's happening when Mater, Shiftwell and McMissile tell him, and they fight off Zündapp and his henchmen, with help from their friends from Radiator Springs, as well as Scotland Yard and the Royal Army. Just as hope is become all lost, as no one cannot diffuse the bomb from Mater (not even Professor Zündapp or his henchmen can deactivate it), Mater realized the final clues pointing out to the true identity of Zündapp's superior behind the criminal plot of sabotaging the World Grand Prix, Miles Axelrod himself. Mater also figured out that Axelrod came up with the idea of creating Allinol to give alternative energy a bad name to the world, as he still owns the largest untapped oil reserves in the world alongside the lemon criminals.
Upon learning this, Mater is initially unable to take action, seeing that people take him as a fool because of his silly personality, but McQueen covinces him to stand up for them in order to prove his point. It was then Mater races to the Buckingham Palace with McQueen, where he confronts Axelrod of the plot, pointing out the leaking oil incident back in the party in Japan and the bolts depicted in the photo of the unseen mastermind. Axelrod attempts to deny Mater's claims, calling Mater insane and delusional, but eventually was forced to deactivate the bomb with a voice command to prevent killing himself, proving Mater's claims correct. After Mater shows that Axelrod's engine and the engine of the unseen mastermind proving to be a perfect match, Axelrod is arrested, along with Zündapp and his henchmen, on the charges of conspiracy to crime, murder, arson, and embezzlement, as well as an investigation over the Grand Prix and the Allinol. Amazed that Mater has actually foiled a criminal conspiracy plot by using his own wits, McQueen officially declares to Mater that he can come to all of his races around the world from now on, much to Mater's delight. McQueen also served as a witness alongside his friends as Mater gets knighted by the Queen for foiling Axelrod's plans for good.
After McQueen and Mater return to Radiator Springs with their friends, they receive a visit from Finn and Holley, who wishes to pick up Mater for a new mission (to which Mater respectfully declines). With the World Grand Prix unfinished (due to the investigation following Axelrod's arrest), Lightning gets the other racecars in the race (including Francesco) to join him in a race at Radiator Springs with nothing at stake. Before the race begins, Fillmore reveals that Sarge actually replaced McQueen's Allinol supply with Fillmore's organic bio-fuel, since he was skeptical what Allinol can really do after what happened in Japan and Italy, which explains why McQueen escaped the radiation. This was backed up when Holley pointed out that the investigation concluded that Allinol was actually gasoline engineered to ignite by the EMP beams to discredit alternative energy, just as Mater earlier suspected. The film ends with Lightning taking first place during the Radiator Springs Grand Prix, and Mater ends up joining, thanks to rocket boosters that he had gotten from Finn and Holley.
Lightning's paint job at the beginning of the movie is the same as it was in the first movie (Except for the fact his lightning bolt appears to be thinner), though it is modified for the World Grand Prix with green-tinted flames instead of yellow and a Piston Cup logo on the hood instead of his usual Rust-Eze logo, and his reflective lightning decals are removed as well and replaced with actual headlights.
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
racecar and the main protagonist in the 2006 animated Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
film Cars
Cars (film)
Cars is a 2006 American animated family film produced by Pixar and directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Joe Ranft. It is the seventh Disney·Pixar feature film, and Pixar's final, independently-produced motion picture before its purchase by Disney...
, and the deuteragonist of its sequel Cars 2
Cars 2
Cars 2 is a 2011 American computer-animated action film produced by Pixar, and it is the sequel to the 2006 film, Cars. In the film, race car Lightning McQueen and tow truck Mater head to Japan and Europe to compete in the World Grand Prix, but Mater becomes sidetracked with international espionage...
. He was named after Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
animator Glenn McQueen
Glenn McQueen
Glenn John McQueen was a Canadian supervisor of digital animation and supervising character animator at Pixar and PDI.-Private life:...
who died from skin cancer
Skin cancer
Skin neoplasms are skin growths with differing causes and varying degrees of malignancy. The three most common malignant skin cancers are basal cell cancer, squamous cell cancer, and melanoma, each of which is named after the type of skin cell from which it arises...
in 2002; it was erroneously believed after the film debuted that the name was influenced by actor and noted racing buff Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
. He is based on generic NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
vehicles, but with design influences from the Mazda Miata and Dodge Viper
Dodge Viper
The first prototype was tested in January 1989. It debuted in 1991 with two pre-production models as the pace car for the Indianapolis 500 when Dodge was forced to substitute it in place of the Japanese-built Stealth because of complaints from the United Auto Workers, and went on sale in January...
. Late in the film, he is painted much like the Chevrolet Corvette C1
Chevrolet Corvette C1
The Chevrolet Corvette is the first generation of the sports car by the Chevrolet division of General Motors introduced late in the 1953 model year and produced through 1962. It is commonly referred to as the "solid-axle" generation, as the independent rear suspension didn't appear until the 1963...
. It is revealed on Lightning McQueen's Facebook page, after the events of the 1st movie, he won the Piston Cup from 2007-2010. He is voiced by actor Owen Wilson
Owen Wilson
Owen Cunningham Wilson is an American actor and writer, known for his roles in the films The Haunting, The Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander, Meet the Parents, Wedding Crashers, You, Me and Dupree, Bottle Rocket, the Cars series, The Darjeeling Limited, Marley & Me, Midnight in Paris, Shanghai Noon,...
in the films, Mater and the Ghostlight
Mater and the Ghostlight
Mater and the Ghostlight is a 2006 Pixar computer-animated short created for the DVD of Cars, which was released on October 25, 2006 in Australia and in the United States on November 7, 2006...
, the video game
Cars (video game)
Cars is a video game based on and considered a sequel to the film of the same name. It is available Mac, Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS....
and Keith Ferguson
Keith Ferguson
Keith James Ferguson is an American voice actor, well known as the voice of Blooregard Q. Kazoo on the Cartoon Network animated series Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends...
in Cars Toons, Cars Mater-National
Cars Mater-National
Cars Mater-National is a title for video game consoles and handhelds released on October 30, 2007 by Play THQ. It is the sequel to the Cars video game based on the Cars film from Pixar...
, and Cars Race-O-Rama
Cars Race-O-Rama
Cars Race-O-Rama is a racing game that was released on October 12, 2009. Cars Race-o-Rama is the sequel to Cars Mater-National, which was released on October 27, 2007. The PSP and DS versions of the game were created by Tantalus Media in Melbourne and Brisbane, Australia...
.
Cars movie
In the beginning of the film, Lightning McQueen is a skilled but arrogant, self-centered rookie racer. Hoping to be the first rookie to win the Piston Cup trophy and gain a lucrative endorsement deal from Dinoco Oil, he finishes in a three-way tie with perennial runner-up Chick Hicks and veteran Strip "The King" Weathers.On route to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
for a tie-breaker race, he becomes detoured off U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 66 was a highway within the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926 -- with road signs erected the following year...
in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
because of The Delinquent Road Hazards and finds himself in Radiator Springs, a nearly abandoned town which saw its livelihood largely disappear due to the construction of Interstate 40
Interstate 40
Interstate 40 is the third-longest major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90 and I-80. Its western end is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern end is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina...
decades ago. McQueen accidentally destroys the town's main road because of his fear of the sheriff (he mistook the old cruiser's backfiring for gunshots). The town's judge sentences McQueen to repair the road before he may return to Los Angeles, where the 3-way tie-breaker race is being held.
Over the course of his stay in the town, he comes to form friendships with the residents of the town. He falls in love with a former city-dwelling attorney named Sally, and gains a deep respect and reverence for the town's judge and doctor, an ex-race car
Fabulous Hudson Hornet
The Fabulous Hudson Hornet was a famous NASCAR Grand National and AAA stock car produced by the Hudson Motor Car Company. Marshall Teague and Herb Thomas each drove in a Hudson Hornet that they nicknamed the "Fabulous Hudson Hornet"....
named Doc Hudson. These experiences lead McQueen to understand the importance of friendship and love, and that fame is not the most important thing in life.
It is established that while en route to California, and when he went with Sally to see the Wheel Well Hotel, that not only did McQueen not have close to any friends at the beginning of the movie, but that he also secretly found his life unhappy to a certain extent. When Sally told McQueen the reason for leaving her lifestyle as an attorney, being that she wasn't happy, McQueen began to agree, but immediately puts on a surprised emotion to hide it.
As the tie-breaker race begins, McQueen's thoughts keep drifting back to Radiator Springs and he is distracted from performing well. However, he is surprised to discover that his new friends have come along to serve as his pit crew along with Mack, as well as Doc – once again outfitted in his old racing colors – serving as McQueen's new crew chief. Heartened by their presence and recalling the tricks they taught him, McQueen is able to counteract Chick Hicks' dirty driving tactics and take the lead of the race. McQueen manages to make it to the finish line before Chick and The King, but after seeing The King being deliberately spun out of control by Chick, and remembering the crash that had ended Doc's career, McQueen stops before the finish line, which allows Chick to win and take the Piston Cup.
McQueen reverses to help push The King 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. After the King reminds him how he just gave up the Piston Cup, Lightning recalls Doc's statement earlier in the film that; "It's just an empty cup." McQueen gains a large measure of respect from the public for his act of sportsmanship, leaving Chick to be booed and jeered by the crowd for his reckless cheating. McQueen is offered the Dinoco sponsorship but turns it down, saying that he would rather stay with the Rust-Eze team that brought him this far. McQueen returns to Radiator Springs and decides to move his team's headquarters there, helping to revitalize the town and its businesses. The movie ends with Lightning and Sally racing to Flo's and Mater flying on a Dinoco helicopter (as Lightning had promised him earlier in the movie).
Cars video game
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 Fillmore, and racing backwards from MaterMater (Cars)
Sir Tow Mater or better known as Mater is the deuteragonist in the 2006 animated Pixar film Cars and the main protagonist in its sequel...
. With his new skills, Lightning once again makes a championship run in the Piston Cup, much to the irritation of Chick Hicks.
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 McQueen to Radiator Springs, to hijack McQueen's racing gear from Mack on Interstate 40
Interstate 40
Interstate 40 is the third-longest major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90 and I-80. Its western end is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern end is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina...
. Lightning is able to retrieve his equipment and bring the delinquents to justice before winning the next race, which sends Chick into a frenzy. Lightning challenges Chick to a Grand Prix in Radiator Springs, followed by one more Piston Cup race in L.A.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. 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, revealed to be at Doc Hudson's clinic next to the racing legend's own three Piston Cups.
Though 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.
Cars 2 movie
At the beginning of the movie, Lightning McQueen is shown to have won 4 Piston Cup titles in a row and has returned to Radiator Springs in the off-season, even sending his pit crew away on vacation. While McQueen is happy with his victories, he misses his friend and mentor, Doc Hudson, who had passed away sometime between the first and second Cars movies. McQueen enjoys his time with his best friend Mater and his girlfriend Sally Carrera before learning about the first World Grand Prix, sponsored by former oil tycoon Miles Axelrod to promote his new biofuel, Allinol.Although he is invited to join, Lightning had declined, until he sees on television the Grand Prix's favorite to win, Francesco Bernoulli, taunting McQueen. Only after Mater calls in on the television show to defend McQueen does Lightning intervene and decides to join the race after all, having his friends in Radiator Springs as his pit crew, with Mater joining only when Sally convinces Lightning to let him come as his spotter.
Upon arriving in Tokyo, Japan for the pre-race party, Lightning becomes embarrassed by Mater's antics throughout the party, making him start to regret bringing him along. It continues in the first race through Tokyo. Lightning initially dominates the race, but Mater, unwittingly caught up in a spy mission with Finn McMissile and Holly Shiftwell, has a miscommunication with McQueen that ultimately costs him the race. Angered, McQueen confronts Mater afterwards, telling him that he doesn't need Mater's help anymore, explaining this as his reason of why he doesn't take Mater along to his races.
Hurt, Mater decides to head back home, only to end up continuing his "mission" with McMissile and Shiftwell and McQueen ends up feeling guilty that he would mistreat his best friend and continues feeling sad about it as the Grand Prix continues to Italy. There, while at a party for his pit crew members Luigi and Guido, who have met up with their family, he is told by Luigi's aunt and uncle that even the best of friends will argue every now and then, which inspires Lightning to patch things up with Mater.
McQueen wins the second race in Rome, Italy, though many cars end up damaged, which causes the public to blame Allinol, which is fueling all the cars in the race, but is actually due to the evil Prof. Zündapp sabotaging the cars' race by igniting Allinol with EMP weapons designed as World Grand Pirx cameras. Zundapp and a criminal organization of lemon cars are planning to sabotage the Grand Prix under their unseen superior to turn all vehicles in the world against alternative energy and rely on gasoline. Miles Axelrod decides to remove Allinol from the final race, allowing the cars to choose their fuel. Lightning decides to stay with Allinol based on advice from his pit crew member Fillmore. Upon hearing this, Zündapp gets his orders from his superior that McQueen mustn't win the last race and instead be killed. Mater overhears this and tries to warn McQueen, but is captured along with McMissile and Shiftwell before doing so.
Lightning goes on with the third and final race of the Grand Prix, in London, England, with Sally and most of the friends from Radiator Springs coming to London to help support him and find Mater (with the help from Scotland Yard and the Royal Army). Axelrod also paid a temporary visit to McQueen, giving his full support to win the final race and show the world what Allinol can do. The race begins and Zündapp tries to destroy McQueen with the infrared beam that he had used to sabotage the cars in the previous races, but it inexplicably fails for some unknown reason. This causes Zündapp to go with plan B, which turns out to be using a bomb that had been planted on Mater's air filter to blow up McQueen as a backup plan. Mater, who is unaware of the bomb planted on him, escapes and tries to warn McQueen when he comes for a pit stop, until McMissile and Shiftwell inform him of Zündapp's plan.
McQueen, upon seeing Mater, tries to apologize to him, but Mater, terrified, tries to drive away to avoid possibly killing McQueen, though McQueen takes pursuit, until the bomb is out of range of Zündapp's detonator. After stopping in an empty intersection, McQueen finally realizes what's happening when Mater, Shiftwell and McMissile tell him, and they fight off Zündapp and his henchmen, with help from their friends from Radiator Springs, as well as Scotland Yard and the Royal Army. Just as hope is become all lost, as no one cannot diffuse the bomb from Mater (not even Professor Zündapp or his henchmen can deactivate it), Mater realized the final clues pointing out to the true identity of Zündapp's superior behind the criminal plot of sabotaging the World Grand Prix, Miles Axelrod himself. Mater also figured out that Axelrod came up with the idea of creating Allinol to give alternative energy a bad name to the world, as he still owns the largest untapped oil reserves in the world alongside the lemon criminals.
Upon learning this, Mater is initially unable to take action, seeing that people take him as a fool because of his silly personality, but McQueen covinces him to stand up for them in order to prove his point. It was then Mater races to the Buckingham Palace with McQueen, where he confronts Axelrod of the plot, pointing out the leaking oil incident back in the party in Japan and the bolts depicted in the photo of the unseen mastermind. Axelrod attempts to deny Mater's claims, calling Mater insane and delusional, but eventually was forced to deactivate the bomb with a voice command to prevent killing himself, proving Mater's claims correct. After Mater shows that Axelrod's engine and the engine of the unseen mastermind proving to be a perfect match, Axelrod is arrested, along with Zündapp and his henchmen, on the charges of conspiracy to crime, murder, arson, and embezzlement, as well as an investigation over the Grand Prix and the Allinol. Amazed that Mater has actually foiled a criminal conspiracy plot by using his own wits, McQueen officially declares to Mater that he can come to all of his races around the world from now on, much to Mater's delight. McQueen also served as a witness alongside his friends as Mater gets knighted by the Queen for foiling Axelrod's plans for good.
After McQueen and Mater return to Radiator Springs with their friends, they receive a visit from Finn and Holley, who wishes to pick up Mater for a new mission (to which Mater respectfully declines). With the World Grand Prix unfinished (due to the investigation following Axelrod's arrest), Lightning gets the other racecars in the race (including Francesco) to join him in a race at Radiator Springs with nothing at stake. Before the race begins, Fillmore reveals that Sarge actually replaced McQueen's Allinol supply with Fillmore's organic bio-fuel, since he was skeptical what Allinol can really do after what happened in Japan and Italy, which explains why McQueen escaped the radiation. This was backed up when Holley pointed out that the investigation concluded that Allinol was actually gasoline engineered to ignite by the EMP beams to discredit alternative energy, just as Mater earlier suspected. The film ends with Lightning taking first place during the Radiator Springs Grand Prix, and Mater ends up joining, thanks to rocket boosters that he had gotten from Finn and Holley.
Lightning's paint job at the beginning of the movie is the same as it was in the first movie (Except for the fact his lightning bolt appears to be thinner), though it is modified for the World Grand Prix with green-tinted flames instead of yellow and a Piston Cup logo on the hood instead of his usual Rust-Eze logo, and his reflective lightning decals are removed as well and replaced with actual headlights.
External links
- "Cars" webpage on Lightning McQueen
- Lightning McQueen's pages on the Internet Movie Cars Database.
- Lightning McQueen Photo of "real life" car on tour in Monaco
- Lightning McQueen 1:55 Diecasts Overview