In Cars, Stanley died long ago from unknown causes and thus never appeared. McQueen accidentally knocks his statue off his pedestal and starts dragging him down the main road, ripping it up, before it ends up in the right place again.
Cars: The Video Game
In Cars: The Video Game, the statue of Stanley is seen in its usual spot outside of the courthouse, but plays no major role in the game. Unused icons that seem to depict Stanley can also be found in the game's files, implying that he was intended to have a bigger role, but scrapped due to time constraints or other reasons. If you go through the game's localization files - it says that it was a race in which Lizzie and Stanley were involved. It could possibly be a flashback.
Mater and the Ghostlight
In Mater and the Ghostlight, Stanley's statue is seen while Mater is running around Radiator Springs.
In Rescue Squad Mater, right before Mater started telling his story, they passed Red, who was watering flowers around the statue of Stanley.
Heavy Metal Mater
In Heavy Metal Mater, a statue of Stanley can be seen inside of the record studio.
Time Travel Mater
Stanley in his youth.
In Time Travel Mater, Stanley makes his only living appearance. When Mater leaves Taillight Caverns after time traveling, he can't find the town, but he sees Stanley by a nearby spring. Stanley was refilling his radiator, then he met Mater. He showed Mater his collection of radiator caps that he sells to customers. He asks Mater if he wants a cap. Mater says no, so Stanley left to go to California to look for more customers.
Mater realizes that if Stanley doesn't stay, Radiator Springs will never be present, and he effectively just erased his own existence. He gets Lightning from the present, goes back to 1909, and removes Lightning's radiator cap. He calls out to Stanley, saying that there was a car who needs a radiator cap. Stanley comes, and gives Lightning a radiator cap. Then, 2 more cars needing radiator caps arrived. Stanley took those 2 cars to the spring, where they both got a drink. Mater tells Stanley to build a town "right next to this here radiator spring." Stanley likes the idea, and decides to name the town Radiator Springs. He starts planning how the town should be built. Mater and Lightning go further into the future, because they think it will take a while for the town to get built.
Stanley and Lizzie's wedding
Next, they arrive in 1927. Stanley finds them, wondering where they had been. He shows them the town, which included a radiator cap store and a water fountain. Then, all three cars see a Model T, who breaks down. Mater comes to help the car, who turns out to be Lizzie, to the town. Lizzie appears to be falling in love with McQueen. Mater realizes that if Lizzie falls in love with McQueen, then she won't fall in love with Stanley, and then he will leave, which again will result in the town not being created. However, Lizzie asks Lightning to step aside, revealing she had her eye on Stanley. Lightning introduces Stanley and Lizzie to each other. Stanley takes Lizzie to the fountain to get a drink of water, then into the radiator cap store to get her a new radiator cap. Lizzie likes her new cap, then she and Stanley drive away together.
A few years later, Stanley and Lizzie got married and honeymooned at Comfy Caverns.
Hiccups
In Hiccups, the statue of Stanley can be seen when Sheriff quickly reverses down the road, trying to avoid a kiss by Mater.
Bugged
In Bugged, Red is watering flowers near Stanley's statue when a bug arrives, which begins to annoy Red. Red shoots the bug down with his water, who lands underneath the statue, trying its best to recover.
The Radiator Springs 500½
In The Radiator Springs 500½, the Radiator Springs residents are honoring Stanley for founding the town, and are dressed up in costumes and paint jobs that are similar to his time period, with Lightning McQueen dressing up just like him.
Cars: Race-O-Rama
In Cars: Race-O-Rama, Stanley is seen during exploration mode, in his usual spot outside of the courthouse.
Cars 2
Cars 2
At the end of Cars 2, Mater zoomed around the turn with his rockets, causing the statue to spin around, but it landed on its original spot.
Cars 2: The Video Game
In Cars 2: The Video Game, Stanley is seen during most of the races in Radiator Springs.
Stanley appears in the Route 66 Dash comic. In that comic Lizzie told to Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater about the racing tradition of Stanley and his friends. They raced from Chi-Car-Go all the way to Radiator Springs. There are teams of two racers who compete to see who can complete the journey in the least amount of time. First of this races, Stanley won, and after that, thay named the race and trophy Stanley's Cup.
General information
Physical description
The statue of Stanley.
Similar to many other Model Ts of his time, such as Lizzie, Stanley was posted mostly black with some shades of grey, and white tire treads. In place of a trunk, a storage compartment lies on his back, which he uses to carry around spare parts.
Stanley was modeled after a Stanley Steamer, and his license plate read SIOI.
Personality and traits
Stanley's generous personality was a huge factor in his dedication to create Radiator Springs. He had a knack for helping out others when they needed a hubcap or other spare part, which was how he met Lizzie. Many of the current Radiator Springs townsfolk honor Stanley for his kind persona and helpful characteristics.
Powers and abilities
Stanley was very knowledgable with hubcaps and similar parts, which was his initial career idea, before he founded Radiator Springs.
"The statue of Stanley marks the very spot where Radiator Springs was founded. As he was traveling west searching for a place to settle and make his fortune, Stanley stumbled upon a natural spring coming up from the earth. He stopped to fill his radiator and never left. Soon afterward Stanley met Lizzie, the love of his life, and together they founded Radiator Springs, which soon became a legendary resting spot for travelers making their way across Route 66."
"If you don't need a cap, I gotta put a cap on this sale and move along. There's plenty of customers just waiting for a Stanley cap, from here to California!" - Time Travel Mater
Names in other languages
Language
Name
Meaning
Polish
Stasieniek
Stanley
Spanish
Stanley
Stanley
Russian
Стэнли
Stanley
Trivia
File:Стэнли.pngStanley's portraitStanley's name and design are inspired by the Stanley Steamer, made by the Stanley Motor Carriage Company.
A vehicle similar to Stanley is featured in the Pixar short Boundin'.