The Sally Carrera character debuted in the 2006 Pixar film Cars as an attorney who abandons her fast-paced life in Los Angeles for the small town of Radiator Springs along Route 66. Modeled after Dawn Welch of Rock Cafe in Oklahoma, Sally wasn’t a person, but rather a car—specifically, a 996-generation 2002 Porsche 911 Carrera with a shortened wheelbase. Benevolent and sassy, the film’s baby blue Porsche plays the love interest of Lightning McQueen, a bright red Piston Cup race car with an appetite for speeding.
For the 20th anniversary of Sally Carrera—well, her original model year, not her turn in the movie—Porsche and Pixar Animation Studios have teamed up for a one-of-a-kind project to transform the animated character into a real-life, street-legal car. To be presented at the 2022 South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, the Pixar-inspired Sally 2.0 will be a one-off model based on the latest 992-generation Porsche 911.
Once completed, the 992-based Sally 2.0 is heading to auction for charity, with proceeds going to Girls Inc., a non-profit organization supporting girls and young women. Additionally, through the USA for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, auction proceeds will aid families—namely women and children—affected by the conflict in Ukraine. To that end, and by coincidence, Sally’s robins-egg-blue (Sally Blue) paint bears a striking resemblance to the blue hue used by Ukraine’s flag.
Spearheaded by Cars production designer Bob Pauley and franchise creative director Jay Ward, together with Style Porsche and Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur, what started as a fun project is now coming to fruition. In the film, Sally Carrera devotes herself to helping the community. Those charitable qualities made her the ideal source for creating this one-off Porsche supporting humanitarian causes.
Inspired by Sally Carrera, the Porsche factory in Zuffenhausen will be building the one-of-one roadgoing car, with RM Sotheby’s hosting the auction. Helping to pitch in, Porsche Design is producing a limited-edition timepiece to accompany the 911 Sally 2.0; it will feature unique styling and design elements from the car.
We look forward to seeing the real-life Sally 2.0 when Porsche pulls the cover off, especially given the cheeky design notes and sketches Porsche released (pictured above) loaded with happy clues such as “shift!” (arrow pointing to what looks like a manual transmission shift lever!), “custom updated Sally wheels! Cool,” and “tattoo on wing!” Stay tuned for future updates.
Keyword: Porsche and Pixar Bringing Sally Carrera From "Cars" To Life