Here’s something that’s been puzzling me for a long while. If you soon get confused from this, you’ll know what it’s like to be me.
Lightning states that he wants to be the first rookie to win the Piston Cup. Doc is a 1951 model, and he won his first Piston Cup in 1951. Wouldn’t that make Doc be the first rookie to win a Piston Cup and make Lightning’s dream a little pointless? Tell me what you think about this brain boggler.
Whoa. Ultimate Brain Boggler!
I don’t know (and I’m not a automotive fanatic), but I thought car models come out a year before their model year. For example, these days, 2009 model cars came out last year. So it’s possible that Lightning McQueen could still possibly the youngest rookie to win a Piston Cup…
And, now, I bet everyone is just going “What the heck?”, and now I look like a complete idiot by saying that, sigh, at least I tried to explain 
But, yeah, great mind boggler LighningAndDoc, that’s a good one!
That’s a very good point! Phileas’ explanation does work, though it also puts into question the definition of ‘rookie’- how long would it take for a car to not be considered a rookie anymore whilst competing for the Piston Cup? Because if what you’re saying is correct Phileas, then Doc would still have only been a year old when he won the Piston Cup, and so he could still have been considered as a rookie.
There is the chance that Pixar just made a mistake, though. 
Nice catch, LightningAndDoc!
models aren’t released a year before the actual year. so 2009 cars will be model 2009, the 2010 ones will be model 2010 etc.
HOWEVER A rookie is someone who wins the cup in his first year he competes in the tournament, perhaps Doc already had some races under his belt before he won his first one?
Yeah, I guess Doc was born in early 51’, but then he’d have to grow up real fast to participate in the race (we know cars grow from the purple ‘kid’ sedan in the final race).
Even then, we know Piston Cups are hosted annually, so even if he managed to participate in the race the same year he was born, that would still make it his first race.
I guess cars in this universe mature really fast (Sally’s only a 2002 model, when the film takes place in 2006!), and live to a ripe old age (Lizzie’s a 1923 Model T).
For folks who want to know more about the model and year of production, the IMCDB page could prove useful. Even I, a self-professed car geek (I hope!), didn’t know Doc was a '51 until LightningAndDoc pointed it out. 
I’ve puzzled about this one too! The way I see it is probably they arent given model numbers for the year they were ‘born’ (which, as it was pointed out, would make Sally 4 years old at the time of the movie, when I would say she’s probably in her late 20s at least). I’m thinking maybe the model year is a right of passage, a “once-you-reach-adulthood” thing. So I’d say the model number is given to them once they reach a certain age, like 18 or 21 or something. So for me it’s very possible to think Doc would have raced a season or two in his late teens or early 20s before winning the Piston Cup (and in my mind, reaching legal adulthood) in 1951.
That’s very interesting lennonluver9. I can kinda see that. It is a unique concept. I hope one of these days to meet John Lasseter and if I do, I’ll ask him about that.
Wow 
Good thinking!
I would have never thought of that on my own 