Character design

SR II Dodge Viper GTS

Lightning McQueen's design is loosely inspired by NASCAR Generation 4 cars; however, he has a curvaceous body like that of the Plymouth Superbird and Dodge Charger Daytona. His exhaust pipes come from the 1970s Dodge Charger, but with four (two on each side) instead of two on one side or one on both sides.

His body draws cues from the design of the Ford GT40, Chevrolet Corvette, and Dodge Viper along with cab elements from a 1990s Porsche 911.^[4] Briefly in Cars, Lightning takes on a paint job which highly resembles a 1957 Chevrolet Corvette. In Cars 2, he receives new bodywork resembling a Dodge Viper GTS ACR.

His number was originally 57, a reference to John Lasseter's birth year , but was changed to 95, referencing the release year of Pixar's first film Toy Story.^[5] Lightning's engine sounds emulate a Gen 4 in Cars, a mixture of a Gen 5 COT and the Chevrolet Corvette C6.R in Cars 2, and a Gen 6 in Cars 3.

Cars (2006)

Lightning McQueen is a rookie racecar in the Piston Cup series and secretly disdains his sponsor, Rust-eze, hoping to be chosen by the more prestigious Dinoco team. Initially, Lightning is portrayed as ungrateful, obnoxious, selfish, and sarcastic, believing he doesn't need a crew chief or much help from his pit crew to win races. During the final race of the season, Lightning blows his rear tires and finishes in a three-way tie with the soon-to-retire Strip Weathers (The King) and perennial runner-up Chick Hicks. On the road to Los Angeles for a tie-breaker race, Lightning realizes he has no true friends. After an encounter with a quartet of tuner cars, Lightning becomes separated from his transporter, a Mack truck named Mack, and ends up in Radiator Springs, a forgotten town along U.S. Route 66. He is soon arrested for accidentally destroying the town's main road and impounded there.

In Radiator Springs, Lightning meets a tow truck named Tow Mater, who takes a liking to him immediately. The local judge Doc Hudson, Sally, and the other townsfolk vote to have Lightning repave the road he destroyed as community service. He rushes and doesn't repave the road properly at first before reluctantly starting over. In the process, Lightning learns about the history of Radiator Springs and begins to relate to the town and its inhabitants. Lightning soon becomes best friends with Mater and falls in love with Sally. As he becomes friends with the residents, Lightning begins to care more about other cars rather than just himself. He also learns a move called "turn right-to-go-left" from Doc and how to drive backward from Mater, which he later uses in the tie-breaker race.

During the final lap of the race, Lightning witnesses Chick Hicks perform a pit-maneuver on The King, causing him to suffer a rollover crash. He forfeits the win to help The King finish the race and is praised for his sportsmanship, so much so that Dinoco race team owner Tex Dinoco offers to hire him to succeed Weathers. Lightning declines, choosing instead to stay with his Rust-eze sponsors for managing to get him where he is today. Tex respects his decision and instead offers to do him a favor whenever he needs it. Lightning uses the favor on a ride on a Dinoco helicopter for Mater, fulfilling Mater's dream.

Lightning returns to Radiator Springs to take residence there and establish his racing headquarters. He resumes his role as Mater's best friend and Sally's love interest, and becomes Doc Hudson's pupil.

Cars: The Video Game (2006)

Considered a direct continuation of the first film, Lightning finds himself at the start of the next Piston Cup season. With the help of the citizens of Radiator Springs, Lightning prepares to start his quest for the Piston Cup, taking lessons from Doc Hudson, Fillmore, and Mater. With the use of his new skills, Lightning once again finds himself in a position to win the Piston Cup, much to the irritation of Chick Hicks.

Lightning's racing gear is stolen from Mack on Interstate 40 when Chick enlists the aid of the Delinquent Road Hazards. 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 later challenges Chick to a Grand Prix in Radiator Springs, followed by one more Piston Cup race in Los Angeles. Lightning wins these events, taking the Piston Cup in his sophomore season.

In 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's clinic next to the Hornet's own three Piston Cups.

Although Rust-eze still sponsors Lightning, players are able to unlock and use his Dinoco paint job while playing as him in Story Mode, Arcade Mode, and Versus Mode.

Cars 2 (2011)

Lightning McQueen replica promoting Cars 2

Five years after the events of the first film, Lightning McQueen, now a four-time Piston Cup champion,^[6] returns to Radiator Springs to spend his off-season with his friends. Lightning's stay is interrupted when Mater inadvertently causes him to participate in the inaugural World Grand Prix, sponsored by former oil tycoon Miles Axelrod, who hopes to promote his new biofuel, Allinol. Lightning is reluctant to bring Mater along at first, fearing that other cars wouldn't understand Mater, but agrees after being persuaded by Sally.

During the night before the first race in Tokyo, Lightning and Mater enjoy exploring the city together. Later at a pre-race party, Lightning is briefly embarrassed by Mater, who mistook wasabi as pistachio ice cream. After losing the first race on account of Mater's involvement with spies Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell (of which Lightning is unaware), Lightning lashes out at him and tells him he does not need or want his help anymore, causing Mater to feel hurt and leave. Soon after, Lightning receives a note from Mater telling him that he left before he could apologize and begins to regret his actions. Later, Lightning wins the second race in Porto Corsa, Italy; more cars suffer engine damage in the race, causing controversy and increased fears over Allinol's safety. In response, Axelrod decides to remove Allinol as a requirement for the final race in London. Lightning chooses to continue with Allinol on account of Fillmore telling him the fuel is safe and for not trusting Mater in Japan, unknowingly endangering himself.

Before the London race, Lightning considers dropping out so he can look for Mater, but is persuaded by Axelrod to continue. After completing a few laps Lightning spots Mater in the pits and tries to apologize for his outburst in Tokyo. When Lightning approaches him, Mater speeds away because of a bomb planted in his engine that will detonate if Lightning gets too close. Lightning manages to catch up and realizes that Mater was telling the truth about having a girlfriend and being on a spy mission. McQueen then apologizes to Mater and tells him to always be who he truly is, and inspires him to confront Miles Axelrod, who is revealed to be the mastermind behind the plot, and forces him to disarm the bomb. Following the arrest of Axelrod, Lightning happily declares that Mater can come to all races from now on. Back in Radiator Springs, it is revealed that Lightning's Allinol supply was switched with Fillmore's organic fuel by Sarge prior to the start of the World Grand Prix, thereby protecting Lightning from danger during the race in London. A mini grand prix is then held in the town, featuring all the World Grand Prix contenders.

Cars 3 (2017)

Owen Wilson, Lightning McQueen's primary voice actor, at the 2017 Daytona 500

Five years after the events of the second film, Lightning McQueen, now a seven-time Piston Cup champion and racing legend,^[7] races in the series with his long-time racing friends Cal Weathers and Bobby Swift. High-tech rookie racer Jackson Storm appears suddenly as the first of a next-generation of racecars and begins to win race after race. Lightning pushes himself too hard while trying to compete with Storm in the season's final race and damages his engine, causing him to lose control and suffer a rollover crash.

After being rebuilt, Lightning decides to continue racing. He heads to the Rust-eze Training Center and trains with Cruz Ramirez, a yellow high-performance coupe, during the off-season in hopes of increasing his top speed and beating Storm. Lightning's new sponsor Sterling, a successful business car, tells him he will have to retire if he loses his next race, with Sterling planning to profit off Lightning's retirement merchandise. After several unsuccessful attempts at training, Lightning asks Mater for help, who gives him the idea to seek out Doc Hudson's old crew chief and mentor Smokey, a Hudson pick-up truck, and eventually meets him at the Thomasville Motor Speedway in a fictionalized version of Thomasville, Georgia.

After completing training with Smokey, Lightning runs the first half of the Florida 500 with Smokey as his crew chief before pulling out and giving Cruz her chance to become a racer with him as her crew chief. Cruz and Lightning share the victory due to Lightning starting the race, and the pair receive a sponsorship under the merged Dinoco–Rust-eze brand. Lightning decides to continue racing but spends the rest of the season as Cruz's mentor and crew chief.

Notable miscellaneous information

In the book Struck by Lightning, which takes place shortly after Cars 3, McQueen reveals to his friends that his original name was Montgomery (shorthanded to Monty), and that "Lightning" was initially just a nickname.^[8] When called Monty by Mater, McQueen tells him that he prefers to be called "Lightning" from now on, implying that he legally changed his name. This is a reference to series creator John Lasseter originally conceiving McQueen as a generic NASCAR styled stock car resembling a Chevrolet Monte Carlo named Monty in an early version of Cars.