Detroit News has an in depth article with Car’s director John Lasseter and Ford’s chief designer J Mays, who became friends during the production of the upcoming Pixar film. The article gives a ton of information about the film, including this about the film’s genesis and an overview:

“This is a very personal story,” [Lasseter] said. “It’s about a character that discovers that the journey in life is the reward. It’s about growing up.” The theme emerged during a cross-country road trip Lasseter took with his wife and five sons in the summer of 2000… He became fascinated with the legendary stretch of road known as Route 66, the main artery through the heartland until the big highways were built in the 1950s. The towns along Route 66, with their kitschy diners and wigwam-shaped motels, had faded into obscurity. Lasseter decided that one of those places, the mythical town of Radiator Springs, would become the setting for Cars.

It’s the saga of Lightning McQueen, a hot-shot animated stock-car voiced by actor Owen Wilson. En route to a big race, the cocky McQueen gets waylaid in Radiator Springs, where he finds the true meaning of friendship and family… “The cars are alive,” Lasseter said. “There’re no humans in this world. We took a dive into the culture of the ’50s, when you could do anything you wanted in a car.” His characters see the world through their “eyes” in the windshield — rock formations resemble hood ornaments, clouds look like auto parts, a butte jutting up in the desert is shaped like a giant radiator. “A gas station to a car is like a restaurant to us,” Lasseter said. “The mechanic is the doctor, and the tire store is like a shoe store.”

Lasseter, who will be in Detroit tomorrow addressing an auto design forum at the 2005 North American International Auto Show, calls his latest film “our love letter to the car”.