This just in: 

Presented by State Farm, the “Agents on a Mission” tour hits the road with Disney•Pixar’s “Cars 2” this spring when four-time Piston Cup champion Lightning McQueen and best friend Mater join master British spy Finn McMissile on a 30-city tour that kicked off at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., on March 22. The star cars race off the big screen and into a host of cities—life-size remote-controlled models will light up and rev for fans in Detroit, Toronto, Ottawa, Phoenix, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Washington, DC, and Miami, among others. The tour heats up at the film’s Los Angeles red-carpet premiere on June 18, just in time for the “Cars 2” theatrical opening on June 24.  The tour hits Toronto April 9 – 11 at the NASCAR® SpeedPark at Vaughan Mills Mall and Ottawa on April 14 at Place d’Orléans Shopping Centre.

Here is the exclusive MSN trailer for Cars 2 just in case you have yet to see it:



<br/><a href="http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-trailers/?src=SLPl:embed:&fg=sharenoembed#/video/2b1a776e-e95a-4023-911e-898c72a39e53" target="_new"title="'Cars 2' Trailer">Video: 'Cars 2' Trailer</a>

And here are some interesting facts about the STATE FARM “AGENTS ON A MISSION” TOUR:

• The replica cars are the largest production radio-controlled replica cars ever built.
• At 1000 foot pounds of torque – the electric motors provide enough power to theoretically climb a telephone pole!
• Finn weighs in around 1,760 lbs.
• Lightning McQueen weighs in around 2,250 lbs.
• Mater weighs in at just over 2,700 lbs.
• Because of the unique scale of these vehicles, all the exterior pieces had to be fabricated from scratch. No actual “off- the-shelf” car parts could be used. The sculpting process for each vehicle’s body took 6-10 days, totaling 1000-1600 man hours. After the cars were carved in foam, a fiberglass mold was created, and from that the final bodies were produced.
• The chassis for the cars are Model-T replica frames.
• Mater is hand-painted, using a proprietary system that creates real rust on his cab and bed.
• Because the cars had to reflect the designs of the film’s characters, the control systems (switches, lights etc.) had to be built into the various parts of the car. These have been hidden from view.
• The cars are all electric powered. Each runs on four automotive-style batteries at 48 volts and can run for 30 minutes at full speed.
• The cars can travel up to 10 miles per hour.
• The engine sounds and exhaust sounds are recreated through a 200-watt sound system under the hood.
• The cars are controlled by a high-tech radio-control system normally used for high-end RC hobby cars.
• Lightning McQueen’s tires are one of a kind due to their unique size and were fabricated by Goodyear specifically for the “Agents on a Mission” tour.
• Lightning McQueen is so low to the ground that he needs specially designed ramps to get over even the smallest bumps.
• There are three sets of eyes that are held to the windshield by magnets. The fiberglass windshield is imbedded with iron filings which attracts the magnetic eyes.