Autoblog

The Disney/Pixar movie Cars didn't have the box office appeal of movies like Wall·e and Toy Story, but on toy store shelves, the autos-only flick was a grand slam. Merchandising and the recent boon for sequels are two great reasons for film executives to make Cars 2. Disney and Pixar are so excited about an encore for Lightning McQueen and his buddy Mater that the 3D sequel has been moved up from 2012 to the summer of 2011. The highly anticipated (at least by us) Cars 2 will reportedly feature both carry-over and all-new characters, but we're assuming Lightning McQueen and Mater will be central to the plot. Hopefully Paul Newman will be well enough to come back for a second helping of Hudson Hornet.

Antz and Ratatoulie director Brad Lewis will take the reigns for Cars 2, and a big part of his job is to wow us with 3D race scenes and super high-def imagery while keeping all-ages storyline that made Cars such a good flick. To keep a new generation of adolescents interested five years after the original hit the silver screen, Pixar will release a series of shorts before the movie comes out, starting with Mater's Tall Tales. The movie is still three years away, and we'll spend that time hoping some automaker doesn't hijack the movie and make it a 90-minute marketing exercise.


[Source: Reuters]

Follow the jump to watch the short

Thanks to frequent commenter and tipster "catgirlshyla" for sending in a link to Walt Disney's Susie the Little Blue Coupe, an animated short that originally debuted theatrically in 1952. As you can plainly see, the Disney/Pixar gang used Susie as the inspiration for how to give life to the rides in 2006's Cars -- eyes in the windshield; grilles and bumpers forming mouths. It's just as effective and charming (perhaps even more so) in decades-old hand-drawn animation as it is in 21st-century CGI. The story's very straightforward -- it chronicles Susie's life cycle from new car to used car to junk heap. Don't worry, there's still a happy ending -- it's vintage Disney, remember. Anyway, this is good stuff. Follow the jump and enjoy.

[Source: YouTube]

Lightning McQueen came home 13th in his first race in the Japanese Super GT-300 Championship, one place ahead of new rival, Speed Racer Mach Go Go Go.

The rookie, who looks suspiciously like last year's Team Toy Story APR Toyota MR-S, has apparently been lured away from The Piston Cup by a company that makes products under license of Pixar and Disney. No matter, my three-year-old was beside himself with joy when he saw number 95 hit the track, and I suspect he was not alone.

14th pace finisher, the Mach Go VEMAC 320R (below), is far from new to Super GT's 300hp class, but may get a little more attention internationally once Speed Racer is released Stateside.

We're shooting from the hip this week for Podcast #71. Rather than prepare, we're going with gut reactions. Starting it off, we mull over the loss of the USGP from Indianapolis, and postulate on where else F1 may pop up in the US. An F1 race on the Vegas strip would be the bomb. Staying with motorsports, we marvel at how Team SARD spanked everyone extremely hard at Tokachi with a hybridized Supra GT. We're sure that racing will improve the hybrid breed at a much steeper pace than conventional powerplants. In other racing news, Dale Junior has split from Budweiser, so he'll have new livery to plaster all over his left-turn machine.

Moving on from racing, we ponder the leakage and eventual announcement of the Porsche 911 GT2. It's as unassuming as a Porsche can get, but it packs 530 horsepower and uses the rear wheels to push top speed to the 200 MPH realm, while being a docile everyday car. While Porsches always make us giddy little schoolboys, Subaru's recent model line revisions have us alternating between cheers and jeers. The good: the Legacy SUS, or whatever the heck they call their Outback sedan is kaput. The bad: so is the straight Legacy wagon. We devolve into a styling review of Subaru's new corporate language for a while before surfacing again to discuss the inanity surrounding presidential candidates and hybrid vehicles. Idiocy, 'nuff said.

On a lighter note, we discuss the rumored sequel to Disney/Pixar's "Cars." Not surprising when you consider how lucrative the tie-ins usually are. Off entertainment and on to entertaining cars, we ogle the leaked pictures of the FPV Falcon, and discuss the future plans of that platform here in the US. It does look mean, so thanks to that janitor who picked these renderings out of the trash. Our pithy cavalcade keeps rolling along, and we chew over Bob Lutz's latest comments about the future of diesel powerplants in the US. It's odd that Bob is cool on diesel just as GM is poised to roll out new oil-burners. Wrapping up, we put out the call to action again for the Reader Ride - add your pix to the Flickr pool and include details! The hour duration of Podcast #71 will give you enjoyment to and from work, enjoy!

SUBSCRIBE to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes
LISTEN to the show now
ADD the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator

Our sister site Cinematical reports that a sequel to Disney/Pixar's Cars is apparently in the works, and could arrive as early as Summer 2009. If that's the case, we should expect to see a trailer for Cars 2 attached to next summer's Pixar entry, Wall-E. The rumor really built up steam when Paul Newman made comments to reporters about a possible sequel at the Indy 500. Our friends at Cinematical seem to be disappointed that Lightning McQueen and friends appear to be getting a sequel, as it's not one of their fave Pixar flicks. They also wonder why Cars could get another go-round when its box-office grosses were low compared to the great Pixar successes. We think it's merchandising, where Cars appears to be quite the juggernaut, what with the toys, video games, bed sheets, etc. that continue to appear in stores everywhere. Anyway, you won't hear a peep of complaining from us. Cars was one of our favorites last summer, as the talking rides were very cool, and there were plenty of subtle and not-so-subtle references in there to make any pistonhead a happy camper. Seriously, any movie where Richard Petty voices an animated Plymouth Superbird sporting the #43 that's named "The King" is A-OK in our book. Sequel? Bring it on.

[Source: Cinematical]

It's nice to see romance flourishing in this increasingly jaundiced world. Nick Pointing's wife, Carolyn, fell in love with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the tender age of three. She'd already accumulated quite the collection of Chitty memorabilia when Nick and Carolyn struck upon the idea to build a Chitty of their own one lazy Sunday morning. Presumably, that was the last time the couple took the opportunity to laze around. Fashioning bespoke bodywork is a decidedly deliberate process for even expert metalsmiths. The Pointings were not experts. Nick taught himself to weld and found a 1973 Series III Land Rover to donate its frame and running gear. Using stills from the Disney film and a Corgi scale model of the car, the Pointing's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang came to life in a less magical, more deliberate birthing process than Dick Van Dyke pulled off. Parts were sourced from all over the place. There's wood from a boatyard, bits of Mitsubishi Galant, headlamps from a retail store's housewares department, even pieces from a Singer sewing machine.

Mrs. Pointing's teenage daughter has told her mum to get out more. In pursuit of that interest, Nick and Carolyn will be taking a 12,000 mile journey to Australia, raising money for the Earl Mountbatten hospice, Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the World Wildlife Fund along the way. The replica has passed the MoT, and the Solihull undercarriage should ensure a safe arrival at the end of the expected four-months the journey will take. Now, what children's movie had a magical Porsche 912? Maybe we can argue that it's mostly like Herbie, but better. Doubtful.

[Source: Daily Mail]

map from last year's treasure hunt

Just like it did last year, Volvo appears to be launching another treasure hunt wherein one lucky buccaneer will escape with the ultimate automotive treasure - a new car! The online clue board is located here, and with a new installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise set to debut May 25th, the Disney website is a part of the hunt, as well. At World's End isn't just the name of the new Pirates movie, it just might also be the location of this year's dig as well.

This bit from the current contest entry leads us to wonder what will be at the end of your shovel when you finally strike gold: "The treasure this year will shock even the toughest swashbucklers out there." Could it be one of the SEMA C30s? All of them? We can only hope and pray, though last year's XC90 was hardly a bad prize in its own right. As we said in our post on last year's contest (one of the most commented on Autoblog posts of all time with 1,271 comments), tying into a hit movie franchise, giving away a vehicle or two and doing it in such a fun and different way is a refreshing change for Volvo. Now, all for one and... that's it, go get your car.

[Source: Volvo via GTChannel.com]

Sure, "Bullitt" had a few nice cars in it. So did "Gone in 60 Seconds". But in Pixar's, "Cars", nothing but sweet, sweet animated automobilia. November 7 is the day you can park a copy right in the middle of all your other DVD tributes to transportation. Unless they're alphabetized, of course. Then "Cars" would be more toward one side or the other. But we digress.

One Amazon reviewer says the "Cars" DVD is somewhat slim on the extras we've come to expect from Pixar releases, but buyers at least get a new short, a behind-the-scenes, some deleted footage, and at least one Easter egg bonus. Australians got their copies on Oct. 25, and if you don't mind spoilers, here's a complete review of the disc and all its extras.

"Cars" on DVD should be in U.S. stores Nov. 7, several online retailers are taking pre-orders now.

Though I and my generation weren't raised during Hudson's heyday, we can thank Pixar and Disney for picking up and dusting off the automaker's most famous model – the Hornet. The Hudson Hornet is experiencing a revival right now thanks to the animated film CARS that featured a Hornet named Doc who has all the answers.

A man who wears his affection for Hornets on his sleeve owns this gorgeous 1951 model; he goes by the Flickr handle Proud Hornet Owner. The car has been in his family since 1968, ever since his father bought the green machine from the original owner for $500. As a matter of fact, Proud Hornet Owner's first car ride ever was a trip home from the hospital on a cold winter's day in his father's Hornet. Nowadays, the Hornet only sees sunny weather. Proud Hornet Owner also tells us that the car is quite a celebrity now thanks to CARS, as little kids want to get their picture taken with the one and only Doc.

If you'd like to see your own ride featured here, simply upload photos of your ride into our Flickr group. We select one image to highlight each week day, and on the weekend let you vote for the RR of the Week. Detailed instructions can be found after the jump.

Think you've seen a lot of tie-ins involving Disney/Pixar's Cars this summer? Well, here's one more, in which the stars of the Opel lineup get a Pixar-style rfacelift.

Click here and you'll be brought to an Opel/Cars minisite that shows the characters from Pixar's latest tour de force interacting with the Opel Astra (above), Opel Meriva, and Opel Zafira. In addition to the intro movie that plays automatically when you enter the site, you can click on a link to watch a Euro-market TV commercial that shows the three GM cars auditioning for the part of Mater.

The spot is well done, and it's pretty neat seeing how the Pixar folks gave life to the Opels. Each car has it's own personality: Astra is very sporty and aggressive, Zafira is slick and stylish, and Meriva ... well Meriva's a little more shy. If you saw Cars and liked it, you'll get a kick out of it.

Desktop wallpapers, a screensaver, behind-the-scenes podcasts, and a PDF coloring book are also available for download.

Addendum: Thanks to reader/commenter Scott K for finding the direct link to the minisite!

(Additional images after the jump)

[Source: Opel]