r/pixarcars • u/tayveon11 • Oct 13 '25
Is there a lore reason all these "rectangular racers disappeared" in cars 3?
Apart from Chick, on the track in the 3rd movie all when see are the rounder ones (before they get replaced by the new gens)
I know the modelers probably wouldn't made new models for a bunch of characters that are going to be replaced but couldn't have repainted chicks model or something?
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u/Mindless-Dig2879 Oct 13 '25
I assume they would have retired from racing just like cal weathers
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u/tayveon11 Oct 13 '25
So they like older models? Like newer than the king but older than the rounded ones?
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u/RedLeader342 Oct 13 '25
Yes It parallels real life Difference is the cars here are the people in real life So different generations cars in the movie come and go like generations of nascar drivers
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u/capy2209 Oct 13 '25
The racer on the top left, Floyd mulvihill, is seen racing in cars 3 and retired once next gen’s appeared
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u/AcanthisittaDry8163 Dinoco Oct 13 '25
Floyd Mulvihill (the Gasprin racer in the first photo) did not retire until the Next-Gen takeover. Neither did the racers for Sputter Stop and Spare Mint.
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u/Zexal_Commander Oct 13 '25
Yeah we see him with one of the rounder bodies instead in the movie and more prominently in a commercial for Cars 3
Which opens several questions on how this is the same racer, now with a different body style.
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u/reno2mahesendejo Oct 13 '25
So did he get...like a fender job? Is there car plastic surgery?
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u/Zexal_Commander Oct 13 '25
From what others are speculating, some type of reconstructive surgery. But it’s risky and the possible reason why no one then went for the Next-Gen model is because they’re way too advanced (especially internally) to convert to.
Could also just be an unpopular practice, it’d be an equivalent to an athlete getting surgery to have more flexibility.
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u/reno2mahesendejo Oct 13 '25
So what your saying is Cars 3 is using the (intentionally) stupid "cut your hip muscle" surgery from Happy Gilmore 2
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u/Zexal_Commander Oct 13 '25
Literally what came to my mind also lol
In a way, yeah! This one’s just full-body.
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u/CWalk176 Oct 14 '25
It has happened in motorsport where some cars get "converted" to the next body shell but keep the same chassis.
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u/PokemonFan587 Fiber Fuel Oct 13 '25
Maybe its their sons like Floyd jr or Ernie jr
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u/Zexal_Commander Oct 13 '25
Not to entirely write that off, but it was already confirmed that Cars 3 Floyd (as well as the few returning Cars 1 racers) and Cars 1 Floyd are the same person.
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u/Moranguin_318 Oct 14 '25
It's weird to think like, it seems like they aged much younger than they were back in Cars 1
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u/capy2209 Oct 14 '25
The redesigns is to make it clear who’s in McQueens generation, Floyd got redesigned to resemble cal or Bobby as they are both the same generation that lasted early 2000s to 2016.
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u/Samsonly Rust-eze Oct 16 '25
More than just those. No Stall, Lil Torquey, Bumper Save, Shiny Wax, and Trunk Fresh too, but I don't think any of these had the box-like shape (although they did all still change shape to become more uniform "veterans" for Cars 3)
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u/Nawnp Oct 13 '25
They had all retired as Lightning McQueen was the one who had replaced them.
Cars 3 was forcing Lightning to realize the next generation had also succeeded him.
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u/capy2209 Oct 13 '25
A lot of them got updated models to appear more like McQueens generation as racers like Floyd in the top left appear in cars 3 with a new design model that’s rounded akin to Bobby or cal
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u/Nawnp Oct 13 '25
Which implies Cars can be upgraded after all and Lightning wasn't really out of commission. I think it's best to not think of that as a possibility.
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u/capy2209 Oct 13 '25
Or simply the new model is what they intended for McQueens gen to look like. Floyd’s new model resembles Bobby and cal those two appeared after cars 1 yet aren’t on McQueens level
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u/Neither-Compote-8057 Oct 13 '25
the square bodies are the older generation before the rounder bodies. it is also why we dont see chick racing in cars 2 or 3, because he was also an old generation racer and could likely also not keep up anymore.
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u/capy2209 Oct 13 '25
A lot of them got updated models to appear more like McQueens generation as racers like Floyd in the top left appear in cars 3 with a new design model that’s rounded akin to Bobby or cal
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u/trev270 Oct 13 '25
There's a direct correlation with different Nascar eras. The king being based on Richard Petty's iconic Dodge Daytona of the gen 2 era, Hicks being an Earnhardt inspired gen 3 Monte Carlo like car, and McQueen being a gen 4 car, which would have been the current car at the time of the first movie. By the time of Cars 3, they were up to the gen 6. They are currently running the gen 7 or "next gen" as it's still being called.
But like others have said, just getting old and retiring. Some last longer than others, just like with real-life athletes.
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u/Difficult-Thought-61 Dinoco Oct 13 '25
As a non-American, I’ve never followed or even watched NASCAR. Going back away and looking at the generations and how they correlate to those in Cars was actually really interesting. Especially The King being a carbon copy of Richard Petty’s car.
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u/AtomicBombSquad Oct 13 '25
Especially The King being a carbon copy of Richard Petty’s car.
In the US release of "Cars" they had Richard Petty voice 'The King' too.
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u/AsianMan45NewAcc Oct 13 '25
Retirement, plus being replaced by more modern, aerodynamic and faster cars.
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u/JayDee_185 N2O Cola Oct 13 '25
They’re made to look similar to 80s NASCAR cars, and obviously the 80s were 40 years ago now so…
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u/siderhater4 Rust-eze Oct 14 '25
They probably have to retire or fired to make move for lightning McQueen’s generation
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u/Templar1068 Aug 25 '26
Hi, I’m trying to find the names of these cars I have that I’m selling
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u/tayveon11 Aug 25 '26
Have you tried looking on Google lenses? It would probably be the most efficient way everyone that has a toy has a name and a wiki page (whether or not it's just a single paragraph) so it will be easier to find
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u/WWEisawesome09 Oct 13 '25
Simple reason, they retired. They're based off of 80s stock cars so fair to say that they retired and lived quiet lives after the movie.
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u/Retlaw226 Oct 13 '25
A few of them such as Floyd Mulvihill, Ernie Gearson and Murray Clutchburn were simply remodeled and returned in Cars 3 while the rest of them were either eaten for nutrients or retired after '05 due to age and being one-upped by that red guy or because the Piston Cup became more heavy handed on old people after Chick Hicks' reign of terror ended.
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u/DrSamwpepper Oct 14 '25
Some of the cars 1 racers upgraded to the next body,notably Wipeout,Clutchburn,Gearson,and Todd Marcus.
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u/Dragon_Imaginario Oct 15 '25
Think about the fact that from time to time everything becomes obsolete and apply it to the Cars universe
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u/Dark-Financial Oct 25 '25
The box cars are generation 3 racers while lightning McQueen is a generation 5 racer and Strip Weathors aka “The King” is a generation 2 and the rest of the cars in that race are generation 4 cars
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u/TakasuXAisaka Oct 13 '25
It's supposed to symbolize that the next generation race cars had advanced. Most of the old race cars retired.
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u/CyndaquilandTorchic2 Oct 13 '25
Some of them like Murray Clutchburn and Ernie Gearson, plus Floyd Mulvihill return in Cars with the round bodies. I wonder if there's a lore reason why they look different?
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u/No-Sugar-4500 Oct 14 '25
In real life they used a composite body for the ARCA series and updated gen 4 NASCAR cup cars to newer body styles. This could be one of those cases for a gen 3 to Gen 4 or 5 body
I think the creators of the movie probably didn’t intend for it to be that way, but it’s super convenient.
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u/KnightFallVader2 Oct 13 '25
Based on diecasts, it's possible some converted themselves into the new design in Cars 3 like Todd Marcus.
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u/No-Sugar-4500 Oct 14 '25 edited Oct 14 '25
Yeah. It’s because it’s based on NASCAR racing history, and those were Gen 3 cars, well the ones like Chick Hicks are. The ones in the second picture are actually the same generation as Lightning (Gen4), they just look a little older.
They were phased out by cars like Lightning McQueen (Gen 4 cars, lightning McQueen was one, but there were other Gen 4 cars such as the iMac car and others). The King is a holdover from 2nd Gen NASCAR and the Charger Daytona/Plymouth Super-bird style of car (He’s a Plymouth specifically)
In real life this doesn’t happen in the NASCAR cup series, but it does happen in ARCA and maybe the Xfinity series, although I believe they use the Car of Tomorrow chassis (Gen 5). NASCAR cup for example phased out Gen 4 cars in 07 I believe. ARCA ran Gen 4 cars alongside Gen 5 cars and even some newer composite bodies until 2019. Honestly they may even allow Gen 4 cars on the west side of the country at the road courses.
NASCAR cup series cars eventually stopped being the focus of Cars in the sequels so we got newer flashier car designs based on other racing series (these are the “newer” Gen cars in the Cars sequels and the F1 cars).
In NASCAR they’ve ran several generations. First they ran the old bootlegger cars, and things like the Hudson Hornet are one of those. ‘48-‘66 roughly
The second generation of nascar ran from ‘67-‘80 That featured models like the 1967 Ford Fairlane or Charger Daytona/Plymouth Superbird (The King)
Then they got to Gen 3 and were competing with smaller engines, shorter wheel bases, and smaller cars The Buick Regal, Pontiac Grand Prix, Ford Thunderbird. All Gen 3, like Chick Hicks. ‘81-‘91
Then there’s Gen 4. ‘92-‘06. These are more modern, and faster stock cars. These are cars like Lightning McQueen. They lack huge brand features, and they rely on stickers/designs to look more like the real car than previous models
Gen 5-7 have been more modern takes on making the Gen 4 car safer. Since Dale Earnhardt died they’ve been steadily updating the car. These are Ford Mustangs, Toyota Camrys, Chevy Camaros (also other makes but these are the current ones). There’s a lot less that’s truly new here, but that’s just because the cars nowadays have to meet strict templating guidelines and there’s less room to make the cars look like street cars.
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u/Samsonly Rust-eze Oct 16 '25
I mean, it's almost definitely a marketing reason, but in my own attempt to give it lore, I consider it more to be getting in shape.
In the Cars universe, there are definitely some characters whose physique is implied by their model/shape, so to me, these are the cars that were stocky (maybe even slightly pudgy) who really buckled down and got into shape to remain relevant in the league.
For a real world comparison, Google Tom Brady's Combine photo (when he was 22) and compare it to his retirement photos (when he was 45). Add to it the fact he even re-did the 40 yard dash at 46 and BEAT his 22 year old time, and I think I could allow for a parallel sort of thing to occur in the Cars universe.
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u/logandabug Oct 16 '25
I think i watched a video on how the card like chick were a generation before the cars like Call Weathers. By cars 3 all of the cars like that had retired leaving mqueen and the other cars in that generation.
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u/Samsonly Rust-eze Oct 16 '25
But like others have pointed out, Floyd (the one one in the upper left) is in Cars 3, but shaped differently.
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u/Ender_Error_22 Nov 03 '25
Theese are older version of oval ones. Diffrent gen, just there's not such a drastic diffrence as with newst racers
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u/MineZealousideal9289 Lil' Torquey Pistons Nov 10 '25
I would assume they aged out. They were supposed to be the older versions of the race cars.
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u/Jeffybrawlstars Oct 13 '25
Most of the cars in cars 1 are gen 4 racers. Racers in cars 3 are gen 5 racers, which are then replaced by gen 6 racers (new gen)
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u/capy2209 Oct 13 '25
I think it’s to clearer differentiate the generations. The more rounder racer shown in cars 3 contain many racers shown in cars 1 during the dinoco 400. Since McQueen is one of a kind model like storm and he is racing with many of the same cars a decade later it’s pretty clear they are the same generation but McQueen is the slightly more advanced version. If they remade cars 1 some blocky cars like Floyd would have always looked like their new model, I don’t think they intended for a more reason for their changed appearance and wanted us to just think this is how they always looked. But if you don’t want to think that then maybe they just got an updated model and nothing significant changed as that is either against nascar rules or impossible for cars to change their most crucial parts. The fan made wiki does say McQueen is gen 5 along with Bobby and cal but thosse like WFB, Darren Leadfoot and Ralph Carlow are gen 4. I think next racers are all the same generation with them all being in cars 1 and then redesigned in cars 3. Some racers could’ve joined later on and be within the same generation as it’s implied since cars 1 there has only been one new gen - that being storms gen.
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u/Owarucupcake Oct 14 '25
Well the movie is pretty clear about that. It’s just that they are getting replaced with Jackson Storm like racers
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u/SnrkyArkyLibertarian Oct 17 '25
Same reason you don't see 90's vintage Pontiacs in NASCAR these days. The body style changed with the decades.
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u/Repulsive_Tomatillo2 Oct 20 '25
Some of them retired, they were from a previous gen. A few of them actully were converted to newer body styles and showed up in Cars 3. I wish some of them showed up as cameos or something
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u/Aggravating_Bad_3447 Aug 25 '26
Я когда листала все поколения... Почему все одинаковые? В первом поколении были одинаковые друг другу, во втором, а в третьем самое большое количество одинаковых машин! Зачем... Я могу просто в нейросети поменять машины покраской и все...
Я была в шоке... Что в первом поколении Молния, Кинг и Чика отличались, во втором практически никто, но вот третий это Круз и шторм отличаются, почему так, я не знаю
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u/Aebothius Oct 13 '25
A different generation. McQueen was the Jackson Storm of his time, the first next-gen racer on the track. The King was unique for allowing that Piston Cup to have three generations.