The 12-acre (4.9 ha) area, built as part of Disney California Adventure's $1.1 billion expansion project, opened on June 13, 2012, a year after the release of Cars 2.

[1] It contains three rides as well as shops and restaurants, all situated in a replica of Radiator Springs, the fictional town in which most of the first film's events take place.

The area's main attraction is Radiator Springs Racers, a racing ride that uses the technology of Epcot's Test Track.

The story goes that Lightning McQueen and his friends from Radiator Springs invited cars from all around the world to come celebrate race day in the town where it all began.

Most of the present-day site of Cars Land had been used as the "Timon" parking lot since 2001; the lot had been designated as future growth space for Disney California Adventure when it was originally designed in the 1990s, and was partially built over with The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the Flik's Fun Fair section of A Bug's Land.

A small portion of Cars Land was built over the site of the Bountiful Valley Farm, one of the park's original attractions.

Cars Land along with the re-designed entrance plaza, Buena Vista Street, were the last features of the 5-year project to be completed, and opened on June 15, 2012.

The attraction takes guests in six-person vehicles through the winding roads up the mountains outside Radiator Springs and by the waterfall scene in the first film.

The technology used is similar to Test Track at Epcot in Walt Disney World in Florida, and Journey to the Center of the Earth at Tokyo DisneySea.

The ride itself is themed to a jamboree held by Mater for the young tractors seen in the first film, featuring several original songs sung by Larry the Cable Guy, along with other singers and musicians.

Decor inside pays tribute to the "Motorama Girls" story from the Cars Storybook and deleted scenes, and to the Fabulous Hudson Hornet's Piston Cup titles.