The story of how Sally Carrera from Cars became a real Porsche car (2024)

Porsche x Pixar: meet the real-life Sally Carrera

How the cool, blue star of the Cars movies inspired the 911 Sally Special August 31, 2022

The story of how Sally Carrera from Cars became a real Porsche car (1)

Consumption and emission of the cars mentioned in this article 911 Carrera GTS (WLTP): Fuel consumption combined: 11,4 - 10,4 l/100 km; CO₂ emissions combined: 258 - 236 g/km; CO₂ class: G.

Inspired by the fun-loving Porsche from the Cars animated film franchise, a unique and fun 911 has been brought to fruition by the movie’s creative design team and the experts at Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur and Style Porsche to help raise funds for charity

To Porsche fans, the standout star of Cars, Pixar/Disney’s hit animated movie series, was the beautiful, blue 911 (type 996), Sally Carrera. Up until now Sally was only available in CGI form or a single full-scale, non-working, static model. However, a unique one-off Porsche 911 Carrera GTS, inspired by Sally Carrera, has just been revealed built and will be auctioned off at this year’s Monterey Car Week in California, with proceeds going to two special charities.

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Called the 911 Sally Special, the car was a collaboration between the creative design team from Pixar Animation Studios (producers of the movie series), the Sonderwunsch team at Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur in Stuttgart and designers from Style Porsche in Weissach.

“We decided early on that we wanted to create a completely drivable 911 – inspired by Sally Carrera, but just not an exact copy,” says Jay Ward, Creative Director of Franchise of Pixar Animation Studios. “Sally Carrera loves to drive – that was our inspiration. We asked ourselves: if Sally were built today as a road-approved model, what would she look like?"

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The result is a one-of-a-kind Porsche 911 Carrera GTS full of the bespoke touches and attention to detail that we come to expect from the experts at Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur and their Style Porsche partners. And one lucky person, if they win the auction, will soon own it.

Sally Special colour

The project – which kicked off in November 2021 – took 10 months to complete. Boris Apenbrink, Director, Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur vehicles, says that the 911 Sally Special was one of the most “intense, emotional and detailed” projects that the Porsche Sonderwunsch team has ever worked on. The base 911 Carrera GTS (type 992) car is fitted with a manual gearbox, and its exterior is painted in a unique custom colour – called Sallybluemetallic – created for the project.

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Look closely and you’ll notice that Sally Carrera’s ‘tattoo’ under her rear wing has been recreated for the real-life car, while the movie vehicle’s Turbo-look rims have been brought to life by Porsche designers in Weissach. They have a ‘five-arm design’ rim that has been adapted to the 20-/21-inch wheel dimensions of the current 911 (type 992) generation in a distinct nod to those on the 911 (type 996) on which Sally Carrera is based. Special valve caps featuring the Cars logo complete the look.

Inside the 911 Sally Special

One of the objectives of the project was to create a car that captured the spirit of the movie version of the car, says Daniela Miloševic, Designer, Colour and Trim at Porsche. That meant giving the real-life Sally a sense of fun and down-to-earth nature, while not forgetting the style and elegance the movie version possessed. Easier said than done, of course, but take one look at the finished car and these qualities brilliantly shine through.

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“The special Sallybluemetallic is used in the interior as well, where it creates obvious highlights and subtle details that will hopefully bring a smile to the future owner’s face,” says Daniela. “At the same time, it was important to us not to forget everyday usability and practicality. We developed a special Pepita houndstooth fabric upholstery in three colours, combined with chalk-coloured leather and stitching in Speed Blue.”

There’s plenty of fun on show elsewhere inside the car. The illuminated door sills proudly display the Sally Special name and a debossed Cars logo features on the leather door storage unit. The driving mode switch on the steering wheel has been replaced with one that means you can now engage ‘Kachow!’ mode, in honour of the expression of joy regularly uttered by Lightning McQueen throughout the movies.

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Sally Special on sale

The 911 Sally Special is a great showcase for the skills and innovation of Porsche engineers and designers as well as the ingenuity and creativity of the team at Pixar Animation Studios. However, this one-off car also has another role to play – helping raise money to change lives.

Sally was auctioned off – with the entire proceedings of the sale going to two charities – by auction house RM Sotheby’s during the world-famous Monterey Car Week in August 2022. The car was accompanied by another unique item in the form of a chronograph by Porsche Design, also created in collaboration with Pixar. The watch features a coloured ring painted in Sallybluemetallic, like the car itself, and a chalk-coloured leather strap with Speed Blue stitching. And, as on the passenger glove compartment in the Sally Special car, the unique nature of the chronograph is reflected in a limited edition marking on the back of the case.

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Elsewhere, the auction featured a special indoor car cover from Porsche Tequipment, a wheel rack featuring a set of additional Carrera Exclusive Design wheels and a book on the development and production of the one-off model featuring original drawings.

When Sally Special finally went under the hammer, the winning bid reached $3.6m – a new record for a new Porsche sold at auction, according to RM Sotheby's. “What a night and what a result! It’s fantastic to see a car inspired by my character in Cars do so much good,” said Bonnie Hunt, the voice of Sally Carrera in the movie, who was on stage in Monterey for the live bidding. “The car looked amazing, and I know the team put their heart and souls into creating it. I am thrilled for the new owner who has something very special, and completely unique.”

The proceeds from the sale will go to two charities. One is Girls Inc, a charity that benefits young women in USA and Canada in order to effect positive changes in their lives and become leaders who will change the world. The other charity is USA for UNHCR, an organisation that supports refugees fleeing from the war in Ukraine.

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The story of how Sally Carrera from Cars became a real Porsche car (2024)

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