By: Kristin Shaw
Chevrolet + Pixar and Disney: Transforming a Colorado and a Bolt into Cars characters
2026-08-26
It has already been 20 years since the animated movie Cars debuted at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures and released in U.S. theaters on June 9, 2006, Cars has remained a favorite of adults and kids around the world. With Lightning McQueen’s iconic “Ka-Chow” firmly implanted in American lexicon, Cars isn’t going anywhere.
This month at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, GM featured two Cars character-inspired wrapped vehicles at the Chevy-branded booth. Designed by Disney and wrapped by Graphix Concepts, characters Ramone and Flo got a modern take as a 2026 Chevy Colorado and 2027 Chevy Bolt, respectively.
D23 is Disney's flagship convention, where the company brings together some of its most engaged fans for three days of major announcements, experiences and brand activations. GM and Disney have been longtime collaborators dating back to 1982’s World of Motion attraction at EPCOT. Today, GM is the Official Vehicle Sponsor of Walt Disney World® Resort and the Presenting Sponsor of the Test Track attraction, bringing its vision for the future of mobility to guests.
Iconic duos have been a common theme throughout D23 fan club experiences this year, and Flo and Ramone were identified as a natural fit for both the Cars 20th anniversary and the duos theme. Disney wanted to connect Ramone to the Chevy experience since he is a low-riding 1959 Chevy Impala in his original form. Flo was inspired in part by the 1951 Buick XP-300 and rounds out the famous pair.
It was an intentional choice to feature one internal combustion vehicle and one EV to reflect GM's focus on choice, leading in EVs while continuing to serve strong gas-powered vehicle demand. Through the process, Disney led with the creative idea while GM worked closely to adapt it to real vehicles.
GM focused on ensuring graphics allowed the vehicles themselves to shine through without completely covering or obscuring the design; striking the right balance between character presences and product visibility; and keeping the wraps fun and character-forward while still showcasing GM design and sheet metal.
Prior to their transformation into Ramone and Flo, the new vehicles were washed thoroughly by the prep team. The Bolt and Colorado had to be squeaky clean with a mirror-like finish, removing all contaminants and fingerprint oils that could cause hiccups during the wrap installation.
In the meantime, the graphic designers created production-ready files for the vinyl wraps. It takes several years of experience to expertly apply vinyl, meaning years of knowledge are passed down from previous installers to new employees.
For Flo—the Bolt—the wrap was a continuous color, so installers divided the vinyl into panels depending on the size of the area they were wrapping. For the Colorado, the team had to be more strategic about how they paneled it due to the gradient hues and more complex design; even the door handles were separate printed panels. The team opted for a wrap film for the Bolt, and they used a silver metallic printable specialty film for the Colorado that mimics paint accented with metallic flake.
In total, it took the team about a week to install the wraps on both vehicles. The firm is small and specialized with just 12 people in total, and each person contributed to the project at some point. The result is a celebration of Cars as represented by life-size versions of characters Flo and Ramone.
It has already been 20 years since the animated movie Cars debuted at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures and released in U.S. theaters on June 9, 2006, Cars has remained a favorite of adults and kids around the world. With Lightning McQueen’s iconic “Ka-Chow” firmly implanted in American lexicon, Cars isn’t going anywhere.
This month at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, GM featured two Cars character-inspired wrapped vehicles at the Chevy-branded booth. Designed by Disney and wrapped by Graphix Concepts, characters Ramone and Flo got a modern take as a 2026 Chevy Colorado and 2027 Chevy Bolt, respectively.
D23 is Disney's flagship convention, where the company brings together some of its most engaged fans for three days of major announcements, experiences and brand activations. GM and Disney have been longtime collaborators dating back to 1982’s World of Motion attraction at EPCOT. Today, GM is the Official Vehicle Sponsor of Walt Disney World® Resort and the Presenting Sponsor of the Test Track attraction, bringing its vision for the future of mobility to guests.
Iconic duos have been a common theme throughout D23 fan club experiences this year, and Flo and Ramone were identified as a natural fit for both the Cars 20th anniversary and the duos theme. Disney wanted to connect Ramone to the Chevy experience since he is a low-riding 1959 Chevy Impala in his original form. Flo was inspired in part by the 1951 Buick XP-300 and rounds out the famous pair.
It was an intentional choice to feature one internal combustion vehicle and one EV to reflect GM's focus on choice, leading in EVs while continuing to serve strong gas-powered vehicle demand. Through the process, Disney led with the creative idea while GM worked closely to adapt it to real vehicles.
GM focused on ensuring graphics allowed the vehicles themselves to shine through without completely covering or obscuring the design; striking the right balance between character presences and product visibility; and keeping the wraps fun and character-forward while still showcasing GM design and sheet metal.
Prior to their transformation into Ramone and Flo, the new vehicles were washed thoroughly by the prep team. The Bolt and Colorado had to be squeaky clean with a mirror-like finish, removing all contaminants and fingerprint oils that could cause hiccups during the wrap installation.
In the meantime, the graphic designers created production-ready files for the vinyl wraps. It takes several years of experience to expertly apply vinyl, meaning years of knowledge are passed down from previous installers to new employees.
For Flo—the Bolt—the wrap was a continuous color, so installers divided the vinyl into panels depending on the size of the area they were wrapping. For the Colorado, the team had to be more strategic about how they paneled it due to the gradient hues and more complex design; even the door handles were separate printed panels. The team opted for a wrap film for the Bolt, and they used a silver metallic printable specialty film for the Colorado that mimics paint accented with metallic flake.
In total, it took the team about a week to install the wraps on both vehicles. The firm is small and specialized with just 12 people in total, and each person contributed to the project at some point. The result is a celebration of Cars as represented by life-size versions of characters Flo and Ramone.