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Road Trip! "Cars" stars depart on promotional tour that will take these full-sized replicas to over 40 U.S. cities






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Road Trip! "Cars" stars depart on promotional tour that will take these full-sized replicas to over 40 U.S. cities

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Mon, Apr 17 2006 9:40 PM
  • Comments 22

Don't you just hate it when you drive into work and discover that some thoughtless jerk has parked in your parking space?

Well, look at what the folks who work at Goodyear Tire & Rubber in Akron, OH had to endure yesterday morning when they arrived at work. First some boob with a big rig blocks the main entrance to Goodyear's corporate headquarters ...


Photo by Chuck Nilson

... Then some idiot left these cars parked right in the middle on the sidewalk!


Photo by Chuck Nilson

Okay. Enough with the imitation ire. The pretend outrage ... Yep, these vehicles really are what they appear to be, people. Full-sized replicas of Lightning McQueen and Sally the 2002 Porsche, the "stars" of that upcoming Disney / Pixar release, "Cars."


Photo by Chuck Nilson

These vehicles (and the big rig that transports them) were parked right outside of Goodyear corporate headquarters yesterday morning because Lightning & Sally were beginning "Cars Road Trip '06." Which is a nationwide promotional tour for this forthcoming motion picture that is being sponsored by State Farm Insurance.


Photo by Chuck Nilson

Speaking of State Farm ... In addition to underwriting the cost of "Road Trip '06," this insurance giant is also sponsoring the "Countdown to Cars" contest. Which will giving away free brand-new Ford Mustangs to 25 lucky people who sign up for this sweepstakes before June 19th.  To officially enter the "Countdown to Cars" contest, please click on this link.


Photo by Chuck Nilson

Anyway ... Getting back to the "Cars" stars who were parked in front of Goodyear Headquarters yesterday ...

These full-scale versions of Lightning McQueen & Sally were actually created by Customs by Eddie Paul, the El Segundo-based company that – for over 30 years now – has been building famous film & TV cars like the General Lee from the original “Dukes of Hazzard” TV show as well as the racers featured in “The Fast and the Furious” & “xXx.”

The "eyes" on the windshield were a vinyl applique, while Sally's "mouth" was formed out of a piece of molded bodywork. Pretty neat, huh?


Photo by Chuck Nilson

As to Goodyear's ties to this particular motion picture ... Well, if you look at Lightning McQueen's tires, you'll see that they use the Goodyear brand name as a stepping-off point for an inside joke that pays tribute to Buzz Lightyear, the star of Pixar's first animated feature, "Toy Story."

More to the point, Goodyear will be using several characters from "Cars" as part of a sales promotional effort later this summer. You can see some of the "Calling All Cars Tire Sale" banners & signage in the photo directly above.


Photo by Chuck Nilson

By 11 a.m., it was finally time to pack up. Roll Lightning & Sally back into their big rig (FYI: The truck that these two travel around in is actually modeled after the character, Mack [As in “Mack Truck"] from "Cars") so that they then head out to the next city on their nationwide tour.

Speaking of which, here's a copy of the " Cars Road Trip '06" intinerary:

April 17                                   Akron, OH

April 18                                   Washington DC

April 19                                   Baltimore, MD

April 20                                   Philadelphia, PA

April 21                                   Allentown, PA

April 22                                   Hartford, CT

April 23                                   Boston, MA

April 24                                   Toronto, CN

April 26                                   Detroit, MI

April 27                                   Chicago, IL

April 28-29                              Minneapolis, MN

May 1                                      Denver, CO

May 2                                      Salt Lake City, UT

May 4                                      DuPont, WA

May 5                                      Seattle, WA

May 6                                      Portland, OR

May 7                                      San Francisco, CA

May 8                                      Bakersfield, CA

May 10-12                               Los Angeles, CA

May 15                                    Houston, TX

May 17-18                               Atlanta, GA

May 20-21                               Orlando, FL

May 22-23                               Jacksonville, FL

May 24-28                               Charlotte, NC

 “Cars” World Premiere / NASCAR Coca Cola 600

May 30                                    Charlottesville, VA

May 31                                    Parsippany, NJ

June 1-6                                   New York, NY

June 11-18                               Los Angeles, CA

June 19                                    Phoenix, AZ

June 21                                    San Antonio, TX

June 22                                    Dallas, TX

June 23-24                               Tulsa, OK

June 26                                    St. Louis, MO

June 27                                    Erlanger, KY

June 28                                    Cincinnati, OH

June 29                                    Lexington, KY

June 30                                    Columbus, OH

July 5                                       Battle Creek, MI

July 6                                       Oakbrook, IL

July 7                                       Bloomington, IL

July 8-11                                  Chicago, IL

 

Here's hoping that the "Cars Road Trip '06" (Which is being managed by the Becker Group) rolls through a city or town near you very soon. So that you too can get a chance to get up-close and personal with these amazing looking automotive celebrities.

Special thanks to loyal JHM reader Chuck Nilson for sharing these photos with us today.

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  • Tue, Apr 18 2006 3:47 AM
    That's a great promotional campaign!  Those cars look really cool.  Not that I'm complaining, but it'd be cool to see Lightning McQueen's and Mack's faces.  It's a great idea!  I wonder what they'll do with these cars when the promotion is over...
  • Tue, Apr 18 2006 5:35 AM
    I have to wait until June 22 to see these firsthand?  Oh well...
  • Tue, Apr 18 2006 8:13 AM
    Insane! That the CARS tour is not coming to the MECCA of Racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway!! Home of the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 ( also a F1 race).
    (and Indy Racing is broadcasted on ABC)

    What A Joke!
  • Tue, Apr 18 2006 10:37 AM
    I live in SF and would love to go see the cars when they come to my area.  How can we find the specific locations of the tour stops???  
  • Wed, Apr 19 2006 11:43 AM
    I haven't been able to find out specific locations, but the Yahoo!Finance press release (http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060417/lam102.html) gives contacts for further information:

    Dave Wong                                
    Vice President, National Publicity      
    Buena Vista Pictures Marketing          
    (818) 560-7291                          

    Mia Jazo-Harris
    Media Relations
    State Farm
    (309) 766-5242

    Additionally, the link to Becker Group lists:
    Becker Group Sales / Customer Service
    Phone: 800.999.1830
    Fax: 410.752.8377
    Email: sales@beckergroup.com
  • Wed, Apr 19 2006 1:38 PM
    A bit more information for folks interested in where the "Cars Road Trip 06" will appear in their area:

    - I had no luck with the Buena Vista number - they transferred me to their 'Field Publicity Office', where the phone rang without anyone picking up.

    - The Becker Group transferred me a couple of times before taking my number.  They called back to let me know the Detroit appearance of the 'Cars Road Trip '06' will be held at April 26 at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan (former home of "Behind the Magic: 50 Years of Disneyland" exhibit).

    The Becker Group was unaware that only city / date information has been released for the tour, and is working on getting a more complete listing posted on the web.
  • Wed, Apr 19 2006 1:52 PM
    thanks for this info, I too have contacted several of the sources you listed including The Becker group -all to no avail.

    Hopefully they'll get a "more complete" listing posted soon... -I really want to see these cars in person!! :)
  • Sun, Apr 23 2006 7:20 AM
    The Cars Road Tour 06 will only be at the Henry Ford from 8AM - 11AM on Wednesday, April 26th, most likely near the IMAX theatre.
  • Mon, Apr 24 2006 6:20 AM
    On Friday, April 24th, I was able to see the tour when it stopped at the Mack Truck World Headquarters in Allentown, PA.  I took a lot of pictures (including closeups of the 'advertisements' decals and Sally's license plate.  I even was included in a picture taken by a local newspaper (Morning Call, Saturday, April 25th, Page 3; I am the one bent over taking a picture of the decals on Lightning McQueen.  Not a good view of me ;)  ).

    At this stop, they were giving away packs of cards (9 cards with pictures and information about 10 cars (one had 2 cars on it)), key rings with Sally or Mater on them, movie poster, and (because this is Mack Trucks) a picture of 'Mack', and the Mack Trucks company newsletter with a couple of pictures of 'Mack' (one with John Lassiter) and a short article about loaning the truck for the tour.

    Now, here is what you want to know:  HOW DO I FIND WHERE THE TOUR IS STOPPING AT EACH OF THE ABOVE CITIES:
    Contact a local State Farm Agent.  Apparently, State Farm (sponser of the tour) contacts the local agents so they can (if they wish) use the stops for promotional purposes.  Also, according to one of the two guys doing the tour, a number of stops will be at State Farm locations.  (I was able to find out where the Allentown stop was by simply calling and asking my local agent.)

    A couple more things:  The two guys driving the truck and loading/unloading the cars are partially there for P.R.  You can talk to them and they will tell you what they can.  That is how I found out Mater is to join the tour at aprx. the L.A stop.  (It is also how I found out Lightning McQueen has no doors (gotta climb in/out a window) and has a very poor turning radius but has the regular Trans Am engine, and Sally was cut-down, but is drives normally for a Porsche.  The older guy mainly talks to the press and local connections, but the younger guy will talk to anyone who is interested.

    I hope this all helps.

    BTW, some of those advertisement decals a kind-of cute.  Most are on the side of the truck, but I think there are a couple on Lightning McQueen not represented on the truck.
  • Mon, Apr 24 2006 3:43 PM
    blackcouldron85, I have been reading mouseplanet lately and they report that the cars will be joining the stars and motor cars parade at the mgm studios after the tour.
  • Wed, Apr 26 2006 8:09 AM
    RLS Legacy, thanks for the info about Detoirt but I don't think it ever showed up. I drove by at 7:30 and saw no one setting anything up. I called the Henry Ford at 9am and they said in their morning meeting that the truck hadn't showed up yet. I drove through the parking lot at 10:45 am and saw nothing, eventhough it was being advertised on Radio Disney

    I wonder what happened.
  • Thu, Apr 27 2006 1:29 AM
    Detroit CARS event...or lack there of....
    My son and I drove down from Flint (about an hour) to the Detroit area event.  When we got there we went inside the IMax lobby where State Farm was set up.  We got posters, keychains and a really cool Road Atlas....BUT we were told that the Truck with the Cars in it was delayed at the Canada border because of some VIN # problem with "Sally".  They told us they were very sorry but they were not exactly sure if or when the cars would make it to Michigan.  While my son was disappointed, he really wanted to see Lightning and Sally, He got to go look around the Henry Ford and see all the old/new cars they had inside...it turned out to be a great Dad/Son day afterall.

    Hope this helps those who wondered what was going on.
    God Bless, Joe
  • Thu, Apr 27 2006 4:32 AM
    The evening before the event, I received confirmation from the Henry Ford that the event would be held on time - no one knew about the Customs situation.  I didn't know about the VIN# problem with Sally; the HF staff told me there was a problem at Customs, and they weren't sure if it would be resolved in time for the Chicago appearance.  

    Since Sally was heavily modified from a production Porsche 911 and her windshield angle was changed, it seems likely the VIN# next to the windshield had to be removed or cut & replaced, which may have been why Customs was nervous about letting the CARS Road Trip pass.  (There's an online article about Sally's substantial conversion at http://www.gizmag.com/go/5406/1/)

    The State Farm folks were very nice and did a great job at smoothing things over.  Oh well - there's always the Battle Creek, MI appearance on July 5th; maybe Eddie Paul will have the Mater vehicle finished by then...


  • Thu, Apr 27 2006 7:17 AM
    Thanks for the update. I guess I should have went inside, rather than just drive around the parking lot looking for the semi. But I work in Dearborn, so it wasn't a big deal.

    Thanks Again,
    Paul
  • Fri, Apr 28 2006 12:16 AM
    I didn't realize that they were coming back to michigan......Maybe me and the son will have to make another trip!  By then the movie will be out and I am sure he will be even more excited!  Seeing Mater would be most excellent!  I love Larry the Cable Guy!  Thanks for the info.
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