I have a Web site
that’s devoted to the real-life Route 66. Here’s a report I did a few weeks ago that shows the “Cars”
characters and landmarks and their real-life inspirations on Route
-
rwarn17588.wordpress.com/2006/06 … ars-movie/
Since I’ve
traveled Route 66 numerous times, I can probably answer any questions you might have about the Mother Road, too.
Michael Wallis, who portrayed the Sheriff of Radiator Springs in the movie, lives in the same town as I
do, and I’m usually able to get a lot of good inside information about Pixar from him.
Wow, fantastic site! You certainly seem to
know your road!! 
Just a little question. What does
“Ka-chow” mean? Lightning uses that all the time
I heard it was something that Owen Wilson ad-libbed during a recording session, and the Pixar folks liked it
so much they kept it as part of the dialogue.
It refers to the lightning bolt sticker on his fenders.
“Ka-Chow” is sort of the sound a real lightning bolt makes. But the saying serves the purpose of
razzing fellow athletes, like “I gotcha good” or “I’m so great!”
He sounds funny saying that. I didn’t know lightning makes that
kind of sound. Does anyone know how many times that word is said
Wow, that’s an amazing article! Thanks for sharing
it! It almost makes the movie seem a little more… authentic.
You live in the same town as Michael Wallis? 
Wow! Does he get bothered a
lot for information about Cars?
Did he ever! He told us in mid-June that he did 600-700 interviews about
“Cars.”
jawdrop Oh my gosh! That’s… quite a lot of interviews! 
AJD08
#9
that’s so cool! thank you for sharing!