Behind the Loveable Mechanics in Cars

The charming Italian mechanics Luigi and Guido in the Cars franchise are modeled after real-life Italian-designed classic cars, the Fiat 500 and the BMW Isetta.
Written by Allison Stone
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Did you know that the two mechanics from the hit
movie
Cars, Luigi and Guido, are based on real cars? The backstory on the entertaining best friends goes beyond their role as a comedic foil for hero Lightning McQueen and offers some real insight into the culture that informs the Cars franchise. 
In the Cars universe, the two
mechanics
have an interesting background before meeting the franchise’s protagonist Lightning McQueen. Forty years before the first Cars movie takes place, Guido and Luigi are Ferrari racing fans who dream of one day performing a pit stop on a real race car. Luigi runs the local tire shop, Luigi's Casa Della Tires, and has a reputation of being the go-to source on all things
tire-related
in Radiator Springs, Arizona, a fictional town and the franchise’s principal backdrop. 

Who are Luigi and Guido?

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While Luigi runs the tire shop during the day, his mechanic Guido practices running pit stops on makeshift wooden frames that he built in his garage at night, and hopes to one day set a new record for the fastest pit stop of all time. 
If the Ferrari obsession and Italian accents didn’t tip you off, the two cars are also modeled after classic Italian cars. Read on below to learn more about how these two characters came to be, and the Cars franchise numerous nods to the world of Italian racing. 
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Models of Italian excellence

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Fans of classic Italian cars will instantly recognize Luigi as a
1959 Fiat 500
. He sports a bright yellow paint job, chrome rims, and a black sunroof that is meant to resemble his hair. The compact, two-door coupe was created to meet postwar demand for an inexpensive, small, and practical car. 
Commuters of the narrow streets of Italy happily adopted the Fiat 500, a true city car that came at an affordable retail price that was perfect for a recovering postwar economy. This lends itself well to Luigi’s character as a humble, no-frills kind of mechanic, while also being quintessentially Italian in its design.  
Guido, on the other hand, is an amalgamation of a
1959 BMW Isetta
and an Alza Tutto forklift, a fictional brand that translates to mean “Up Everything.”
The Isetta is memorable for its unique bubble-like shape, making it the world’s first mass-produced microcar. It was originally manufactured by an Italian firm, ISO Rivolta, but was later produced by BMW under license due to its popularity among German consumers. 
The unusual egg-shaped car with bubble windows was an unexpected international success, fitting well with Cars’ scrappy, underdog character Guido. 

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While Luigi and Guido sure are charming onscreen, your real-life car probably won’t have the know-how to fix itself like these handy mechanics. That’s why you need a
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