“Cars” news roundup

Kelley Blue Book, as many automotive people may know, is a publication that provides values for used cars.

Well, KBB has given its Blue Book values for a number of "Cars" movie characters, including Lightning McQueen ($1.5 million), Sally ($49,465), Doc ($19,852) and Mater ($2,575). There's also a sweepstakes for an advance screening of the film.

AT&T is doing a promotional tie-in with "Cars" at this site. Here's what it's supposed to have, according to the news release:

Visitors to the site have the chance to race the movie's car characters down a stretch of highway reminiscent of Route 66 while dodging obstacles including mud slicks, rolling tires, construction barriers and other cars. Players are also required to manage their car's performance to account for simulated losses in tire pressure and gas consumption correlating with higher speeds. The number and type of obstacles and the frequency of required pit stops increase through three difficulty tiers.

Site visitors can also customize rock, country, jazz and Latin-inspired tunes for downloading in a special audio lab created for AT&T by Disney. Visitors can also download "Cars" desktop graphics.

When I went there, the audio lab worked OK, but I couldn't find the game.

Finally, Australia's Gizmag has photos of Eddie Paul's rubber-and-metal Mater that's "created to match the animations." Looking at one image posted below, I'd say it's a fine likeness. Here's Eddie's company, EP Industries of El Segundo, Calif.