Cover A for Cars: Radiator Springs #1 – by Allen Gladfelter. (This image was also used for the cover of the Radiator Springs trade paperback collection).
After spending time at the track with CARS: The Rookie, it was time to head to Radiator Springs for the second World of CARS mini-series. The pitch this time around was to tell the stories of how the diverse cast of characters arrived in the sleepy desert town and why they made it home.
Deciding which characters to kick off the series with was relatively easy as the first releases of the CARS movie on DVD included a short on how Flo, owner of the V8 Cafe arrived in town. So for the first script, I adapted and expanded on the groundwork that had already been set.
The story kicks off with the various characters celebrating Ramone and Flo’s anniversary, and Flo being persuaded to tell the story of how they met. I established that Ramone had always been based in Radiator Springs and that Flo had arrived in style as part of a fleet of Detroit Motorama show cars who got stuck in town for a few days. It was a great excuse to do some research on the extravagant fin ladened show cars of the 1950s. As s troop of 1950s showgirls on a road trip, Flo and her friends sure knew how to have some fun, and the young Ramone was quick to offer new paint jobs, pin-striping, and all the things to make a girl look good. – But there was one car that Ramone refused to paint – that was Flo as in his eyes she was perfect as she was. (We actually got a couple of complaints that this love story between two cars was “too sensuous” !)
Covers B and C for CARS: Radiator Springs #1 by Allen Gladfelter
One of the fun parts of developing this script was put in a one-panel cameo of a small car called Susie, who isn’t featured in the movie. She was the star of an animated short called “Susie the Little Blue Coupe” produced Disney in 1952, and her design style is a direct precursor to the one used in CARS. 
Alan J. Porter - Writer 