In Cars, Sally owns the Cozy Cone Motel, a newly refurbished tourist court similar in design to a Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona but with each individual motel room constructed as an oversized traffic cone. She has cones all around the motel, inside and out; even the lamps, planters and alarm clocks follow the theme. Neon lighting at the Cozy Cone, one of the first historic restoration efforts in Radiator Springs, displays the "100% Refrigerated Air" slogan of Tucumcari's historic US 66 Blue Swallow Motel.
She once was a successful California lawyer but, unhappy, chose to leave the state and eventually came upon Radiator Springs, immediately falling in love with the town.
"Well, it's really pretty simple. I was an attorney in LA. Livin' life in the fast lane. Well, that was my life, and you know what? It never felt happy. So I left California. Just drove and drove and finally broke down right here. Doc fixed me up, Flo took me in. Well, they all did. And I never left."
Sally is a 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera on a slightly-shortened wheelbase[2][3] and has a pinstripe tattoo on her back. Pixar had initially wanted a classic Porsche for the role, but were convinced by Bob Carlson at Porsche to make her the latest model. Pixar's animators, modelers and sound crews obtained access to real Porsche 911 vehicles to meticulously create an animated Sally who looks, moves, and responds in a similar manner to the real-life automobile.[4]
"It's the nicest body I've ever had on film. I'm telling you, it's a luxury. I really thought they were going to cast me as a Buick."
According to director John Lasseter. "Sally is the one modern car in the town of Radiator Springs. She's beautiful. It's interesting that people mostly think of a Porsche as powerful and a guy's car, but the lines on a Porsche are so beautiful that it fits perfectly for the character of Sally."[6]
Her character is based on Dawn Welch of the historic Rock Café on U.S. Route 66 in Oklahoma,[7] an advocate of the promotion and restoration of Stroud, Oklahoma after the town had been both bypassed by the Turner Turnpike and heavily damaged by a 1999 F3 tornado. Welch had long traveled cross-country promoting Route 66 and rallying support for keeping it alive.[8] Like Sally, Dawn Welch is a relative newcomer to U.S. Route 66, having left the travel industry to purchase the Rock Café in 1993 and list it on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. Originally, Sally was going to be a Ford Mustang, but Pixar animators found that the large grill too closely resembled a mustache.[9]
"We met people out on Route 66 and we're thinking, at first, 'What are you doing here? You've travelled the world. You're educated. You speak three languages. But you run a restaurant out in the middle of nowhere.' But then, after an hour of having dinner with this person, you think, 'Wow, this is perfect. I'm so glad you're here because you're keeping it alive.'"
Sally is instrumental in convincing Doc Hudson to direct Lightning McQueen to repair the town's Main Street, a section of the now-bypassed U.S. Route 66, as a community service obligation upon his conviction in traffic court. Sally often calls Lightning McQueen "Stickers", at first because of his fake headlights and later as a friendly nickname. Her desire that McQueen stay to assist in rebuilding the town places her at odds with Doc's intransigence that "I want him out of my courtroom. I want him out of our town!", motivated by his desire to break all ties with a racing community which once abandoned him.
Sally leads McQueen on a leisurely drive on picturesque but serpentine mountain roads through Tailfin Pass to the vacant Wheel Well Motel,[11] an abandoned motor court and filling station near a scenic lookout point with a wide panoramic view of Ornament Valley, Radiator Springs and the entire surrounding region (including US 66 and I-40). Surrounding scenery strongly resembles Arizona landmarks such as Havasu Falls near Grand Canyon National Park or Monument Valley.[12]
She explains the history of the town with a nostalgic flashback, describing the two-lane Route 66's busy heyday and the construction of the parallel but unconnected six-lane I-40; the fact that it would not connect with Radiator Springs was unknown to the excited locals, who were expecting a new influx of visitors. The disappearance of cars from Main Street on the new highway's completion is every bit as abrupt as that (described to the film's makers by Arizona business people Angel and Juan Delgadillo) when I-40 opened in Seligman on September 22, 1978.[13] When Interstate 40 is completed, US 66, Radiator Springs and Ornament Valley are all seen to simultaneously vanish from road maps as all highway traffic on 66 disappears and local businesses close, their business names fading into the underlying brickwork.
Forty years ago, that Interstate down there didn't exist. Back then, cars came across the country a whole different way. Well, the road didn't cut through the land like that Interstate. It moved with the land, it rose, it fell, it curved. Cars didn't drive on it to make great time. They drove on it to have a great time.
— Sally Carrera
Sally as Eddie Paul custom vehicle for Cars promotional tour
Lamenting that "the town got bypassed just to save ten minutes of driving", she often wishes to have seen the community in its heyday. Her efforts are devoted to historic restoration and tireless promotion of "Radiator Springs, the glorious jewel strung on the necklace of Route 66, the Mother Road". The town has been without visitors for years despite the fact that many businesses are still open. As the task of rebuilding is huge (the Rock Café, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, represented a $60,000 restoration effort) she needs to convince a long-demoralized local populace not only that the town can be fixed but also that "we're a town worth fixing" and that "someday, we'll find a way to get this place back on the map."
Her ultimate objective is to get the once busy and neon-lit 1950s main street rebuilt to its former historic glory and obtain much-needed publicity for the town to restore "Radiator Springs" to highway signage and "Historic Route 66" to standard printed road maps. Sally serves as a vehicle to deliver a message which individual small towns, historic preservationists, route 66 associations, chambers of commerce, route 66 businesspeople and various long-time fans of the mother road have tried to convey for many years since US 66 became a decommissioned highway in 1985, largely removing the route from maps.
After the big race is complete, McQueen and Sally rebuild and reopen the Wheel Well as a bed and breakfast, restoring the historic 1930s fuel pumps to its forecourt.
In Cars, Sally is the local attorney who convinces Doc Hudson to sentence Lightning McQueen to repave the main road of Radiator Springs as community service. When Lightning first sees Sally in the courtroom, he mistakes her as being from his own attorneys office and attempts to flirt with her. Sally is unfazed by Lightning's actions at first and asks Doc to sentence him to fix the road, arguing that the town would never attract customers with a broken road. Sally is later appalled at Lightning after he fails to repave the road correctly, and attends the race between Lightning and Doc at Willie's Butte, in which Lightning loses and crashes into cacti.
Later, Sally starts to warm up to Lightning McQueen after seeing what a good job he has done repaving the road. She offers him to stay at her motel for the night instead of Mater's impound; Lightning readily agrees. The next day, Sally offers Lightning to take a drive with her. She leads him to the Wheel Well Motel, an abandoned motor court in Tailfin Pass that was once the most popular stop on Route 66. It is at the Wheel Well Motel that Sally tells Lightning the story of how she left her life in California for Radiator Springs, and how the town got bypassed and taken off the map by the interstate to save 10 minutes of driving. When Lightning and Sally arrive back to Radiator Springs, she tells him how much she longs to see the town back on the map again with customers and its neon lights shining, which broke down at an unknown time before the events of the film.
When Lightning finishes repaving the road, he surprises everyone in town by saying that he will stay one extra day. When night falls, Sally arrives at the town center to find Lightning stripped of his racing spoiler and outfitted with a new paintjob and whitewall tires. Radiator Springs' neon lights start shining, and the whole town starts cruising to Sh-boom, fulfilling Sally's wish and opening up her love for Lightning McQueen. Suddenly, a swarm of news reporter cars and race officials enter the town and reveal Lightning McQueen's true identity as a famous Piston Cup racer. Sally confronts Lightning before he leaves and parts ways with him, thinking that she will never see him again. After Sally finds out that Doc Hudson gave the authorities Lightning McQueen's location, she admonishes him for sending Lightning away and returns to her motel, turning off the lights at the thought of losing the car who changed her and the other resident's lives.
Sally later watches the tiebreaker race from Radiator Springs with Lizzie and Red while Doc and the other cars go to help Lightning McQueen. She witnesses Lightning help The King after suffering a rollover crash caused by Chick Hicks, and later greets Lightning again at the Wheel Well Motel. Lightning tells Sally that the town has been put back on the map and that he is setting up his racing headquarters there. The two attempt to kiss, but are interrupted by Mater flying in a Dinoco helicopter. The two later race back to Radiator Springs to celebrate the town's newfound popularity.
In Cars 2, Sally's relationship with Lightning McQueen has grown stronger over time. After Lightning returns to Radiator Springs from a successful Piston Cup season, the two go on a date at the Wheel Well Motel, which has been converted into a restaurant. Soon Sally and Lightning find Mater arguing with Italian racer and World Grand Prix competitor Francesco Bernoulli, who Sally reveals to have an interest in. Lightning goes to defend Mater, and winds up entering himself into the World Grand Prix, which is taking place overseas in three countries. Sally agrees to let Lightning compete but asks him to bring Mater along, telling him that he has never let Mater attend any of his races. Lightning agrees, and Team McQueen heads out to Japan for the first race, leaving Sally with Red, Sheriff, Ramone, Flo, and Lizzie to run Radiator Springs.
Later, Sally travels to London after Lightning calls her asking where Mater is. She stays in the pits when Lightning finds Mater and goes after him trying to apologize, and is shocked when she sees on TV that Mater has rocket jets that allow him to travel at an incredible speed with Lightning McQueen in tow. Sally witnesses Mater uncover Miles Axelrod as the mastermind behind the plot against alternative fuel at Buckingham Palace, and attends Mater's royal knighthood by the Queen of England.
In Cars 3, Sally continues to be the love-interest of Lightning McQueen, and attends his races to show support. She is present when Lightning crashes while trying to keep up with the nextgens, and gives Lightning the inspiration to continue racing after he is rebuilt. When Lightning is summoned to the Rust-eze Training Center, Sally chooses to stay with the other cars in Radiator Springs.
At the Florida 500, Sally witnesses firsthand Jackson Storm's rude behavior. Later, Sally celebrates with Lightning after it is revealed that he won the race despite being replaced with Cruz Ramirez, and returns to Radiator Springs where Lightning reveals that he would continue racing but act as Cruz's crew chief for the rest of the season.
^Disney Pixar's The World of Cars: Meet the Cars. Disney Press. 2008. p. 9. ISBN978-142311925-8. Charming, intelligent and witty, she became the town attorney.
