John Lassetire

John Lassetire
[[File: Jeff Gorvette's Crew Chief Radiator Springs |280px]]
Vehicle type	Luxomatic JL-57
Color	Yellow, red, white, blue
Occupation	Jeff Gorvette's crew chief, Pixar filmmaker and chief creative officer
Main portrayer(s)	John Lasseter
First appearance	Cars 2
Latest appearance	Cars Land Grand Opening Ceremony
Character information Gender Male

"Jeff, your tires..."

—John Lassetire, Cars 2

John Lassetire is Jeff Gorvette's crew chief.

Bio

Everyone knows that high-profile races are fueled by the cars behind the racecars. Joining the ranks of the World Grand Prix is John Lassetire, who’s the pit crew chief behind #24 Jeff Gorvette, a U.S. champion and a contender in the global competition.

John is a legendary crew chief, having extensive team experience in both the Piston Cup and the American Grand Touring Sports racing classes. Known for a cool head under stress, decisive leadership, and the ability to get the job done, John has that golden clutch. All these skills led to his being paired with his longtime friend in racing, Jeff Gorvette. Now the winning pair is gearing up to take it all at the World Grand Prix.

John Lassetire, the Truck with the Golden Clutch, is a legendary crew chief know around the world for his successful partnership with Jeff Gorvette. After all the excitement of the World Grand Prix, John decided it was time for a vacation, and he thought what better place to cool your tires than Radiator Springs? Upon his arrival, Ramone gave him a fresh coat of paint and vintage wood siding, then Luigi and Guido set him up with the best set of whitewalls money could buy. Even though he was on vacation, John couldn't steer himself away from the racing world for very long, and as luck would have it, the Radiator Springs Grand Prix came to town while he was visiting. Unsurprisingly, John Lassetire took a liking to the charming town and decided to rest his bumpers there after the races were over.

John can be spotted in his pit stop at each of the World Grand Prix races. He also appears in Radiator Springs attending at the town's Grand Prix, sporting a very different paint job, decked in green, with wood panels. Surely, this truck is John Lassetire because there's a diecast model of John Lassetire that is the same of the truck at the end of Cars 2.

Cars Land Grand Opening Ceremony

John Lassetire at the grand opening of Cars Land.

John Lassetire made an appearance at the grand opening ceremony of Cars Land. While John Lasseter was talking, John Lassetire appeared on the screen, telling him about an idea for a new Cars Toons, which would be about a green truck with wooden doors (himself). However, John Lasseter tells him that he's busy and that he can call his office later on.

This appearance fully confirms that the green wood-paneled pick-up truck at the end of Cars 2 is really another appearance of John Lassetire, which implies he changed his paint job after the WGP ended.

Livery

John is painted yellow, with an American flag design on his doors when he is at each WGP race.

When he is not on duty, he is painted green, with wooden doors. He has gray rims surrounded by whitewall tire treads. He has a chrome bumper, grille, and headlights.

Model

John Lassetire is a Luxomatic JL-57, a model based on the early 1980s Ford F-Series.

There is a big plastic car of John Lassetire which reveals his license plate to be 01 12 57, which is the same exact as John Lasseter's and also Mater's birth date.

Gallery

Design variants

• Jeff Gorvette's Crew Chief

  Jeff Gorvette's Crew Chief

• 

  Radiator Springs

Screenshots

• File:Cars-2-image-07.jpg
• Attending the Radiator Springs Grand Prix

  Attending the Radiator Springs Grand Prix

• 
• 
• John at the World Grand Prix

  John at the World Grand Prix

• John talking to Jeff

  John talking to Jeff

Merchandise

• Diecast

  Diecast

• Diecast(Radiator Springs)

  Diecast(Radiator Springs)

• 

  2011 release with Jeff Gorvette

• 

  2014 release with Jeff Gorvette

• 

  Disney Store

• 

  Disney Store(Radiator Springs)

Names in other languages

• Lithuanian: Džonas Lastiras
• Russian:
  • Джон Лассетир (transcription: Dzhon Lassitr)
  • Джон Лэсстайр (transcription: Dzhon Lesstayr)

Trivia

• John Lassetire is based on the director, John Lasseter.
  • The former's last name also comes from "tire".
• Cars 2 producer Denise Ream came up with the idea of having John in the film to celebrate Pixar's 25th Anniversary. She says she got the idea from George Lucas' brief appearance in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, on which she served as the visual effects executive producer.
• The play on John Lasseter's last name is reused in an advertisement in London, for a brand named "Lassetyre" instead.
• Although John Lassetire had brown eyes in his World Grand Prix customization, his eyes are blue in his Radiator Springs form. John Lasseter has blue eyes, but this was most likely an error.
• A special diecast version of the character was created to be given out to those who worked on Cars 2. The model had a "Hawaiian shirt" paint job and a surfboard in the truck bed.
• The signature grill design was most likely inspired by the Silverliner Coach from the first Cars film, which is Larry's model.

Quotes

• "Psst, John! John! John!! Up here!"
  • John Lasseter: "Oh, boy. Yeah, hi, oh boy. Okay, ladies and gentlemen, I want to introduce you to John Lassetire, my alter-ego from Cars 2. How is it going?"
• "Hey, I got a great idea for a new Cars Toon. It's about a pick-up truck with wood paneling. Huh?"
  • John Lasseter: "Oh, wow. That sounds really great, John. Um, I'm going to have to think about it a little bit."
• "Oh, come on! Pick-up trucks with wooden paneling is the next big thing, dude!"
  • John Lasseter:' "Okay, okay, okay. We'll definitely get together. I'm a little busy right now opening Cars Land. . . , call my office."
• "Okay, I'll call your office. I'll.. I'll get on your schedule. You know... it's gonna be like next year some time. You're gonna love it when you hear it! Enjoy the rest of the ceremony, dude! Bye, everybody!" (drives away)
  • John Lasseter: "See you later, John Lasse-"tire" from Cars 2."