This is kind of a weird theory.
Also: SPOILERS FOR CARS 3.

I really enjoyed this movie. There was humour, a little bit of emotion, and as always, the animation was breathtaking. Lightning McQueen's struggle felt real. You know, everything a good movie should contain.

So Lightning's issue in Cars 3 is the fact that times are changing. He's aging, and to make things worse for Lightning, a wave of younger race cars (frequently referred to as the Next Gens) are coming onto the track, and they're incredibly fast. But how? I mean, a car is a car is a car, right? Can't Lightning just upgrade his engine if he needs to be faster? And how are they younger? They're cars!

Most people agree that the Cars universe raises quite a few questions, only a few of which were mentioned above.

Do they need to eat?
What happens if they run out of gas and don't refill for an extended period of time? Do they die, or just develop an inability to move?
How are they created?
Do they reproduce?

I'm not about to focus on that last one. However, if you want an answer to that question (and the others), or at least a theory in answer to the question(s), (plus the fact that I may refer to it at some points), I recommend this video:

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Enjoy.

Anyway, those earlier questions lead into today's topic: the Next Gens.

How are these vehicles younger and faster? There are a few different ideas and theories (that I did not come up with) I've considered. Before I get into those, though, something worth noting is the fact that the reason the cars are alive in the first place is because the humans died off/left Earth aboard the Axiom*. When this happened, the cars became sentient, taking on the personalities of the last person who drove them. This isn't even really a theory, it was confirmed by Jay Ward, the creative director of the Cars franchise. He explained that the cars just became more and more intelligent and eventually decided they didn't need humans anymore. He didn't mention the Pixar Theory, but I'm assuming they do still tie in together, and this is just part of the reasons humans left earth... plus the fact that they really had no choice, seeing as Earth was incapable of supporting life anymore.

*This bit is discussed in further detail in one of my previous parts, "Monsters Inc.- Toxic Children."

Assuming this is true, cars would have originally been manufactured as they are today. Then, shouldn't they be the same "age", or at least have a cutoff age where there aren't any younger cars? You could argue that this new generation will be the last. After all, according to the PT, the humans have gone. There's no one else to manufacture any more of them.

Unless there are doctors and mechanics who have learned how to build new cars, or operate the machines that do so? It's definitely a possibility.

The other possibility is evolution.

The only way for the evolution theory to work is to assume that cars have both ancestors and children. Obviously the first line of cars was manufactured by humans, but once they gained sentience (through human emotion..? still not sure how that works), they may have become more organic, making evolution possible. At this point in the franchise, I'm assuming all the humans are gone, and no new cars are being manufactured or blueprinted. They're out of the picture, meaning that evolution is literally the only means of advancement. 

The only problem I see with the evolution theory is the way the cars are evolving.  There's no threat to them (aside from the energy crisis introduced in Cars 2, but that doesn't seem to be a huge issue). There's really no reason for them to evolve at all. I mean, I guess they could just evolve to be faster in general. It's not just the racers, either. Storm and the other next gens are faster than the older racers, yes, but so is Cruz. (I'm not saying she can't/shouldn't race, but that's literally not what she was built for.) Her max speed is about 210 mph, while Lightning's is 198 mph. She wasn't originally going to be a race are, so why is she so fast? The entire race/species of cars must be getting faster.. right?

The other way the NGs are different is their size and shape. They are bigger than the older racers, and Jackson for sure is lot less smooth-edged. His frame is more about cutting through the wind (I guess) than redirecting it over his cab. All of the new racers are slightly bigger than Lightning, excluding Cruz. However, dimorphism seems to be a functioning concept in this world, so it could just be that. To level things out, she is larger than Sally is, so the pattern still stands. My best guess is that they're getting slightly larger because they're developing more powerful engines?

All of this is without mentioning genetics. Who knows how that could come into play? Are the sharper edges (like Storm has) dominant or recessive? What about the type of engine a car has? Is it maternal or paternal? This is unrelated, but would the colour of paint a car has be determined by their parents?

Okay... I'm done for now.

That's all the evidence I've got to support the evolution theory. The more I think about this, the more I question everything about the Cars franchise, so I'm cutting it off here.There aren't any real concrete answers, so it's difficult to try to figure this world out. Maybe it's best not to think about it? What do you guys think?

Credit to the YT channel SuperCarlinBrothers for the video above, and for inspiring this bit.

Thanks for reading the post! I'll be back soon with something a little more light-hearted!