Tomber (pronounced tom-bay, not tom-brrr) is a character in Cars 2.
Cars 2[]
Tomber is a dubious little French car with an unusual, and very unstable, three-wheeled design that befits the meaning of his name – to fall. By trade, he deals car parts from a stall in a Parisian market—though his questionable merchandise sources have led to his reluctant acquaintance with British secret agent Finn McMissile.
In the film Tomber is seen at the Marché Aux Pièces located in Paris, talking to someone when he spots Finn McMissile's reflection through a mirror. As he spots him, Tomber makes a run for it which leads to a chase. Tomber then crashes and is tazed by Holley Shiftwell, but is stopped by Finn who reveals Tomber is actually his secret informant, which Holley didn't know. Tomber is then towed by Mater to a more secret area. There, Tomber helps Finn and Holley by giving them info on some of the car parts in the photo they show him of the head of the lemons. Tomber and Mater hit it off right away because of them mutually respecting the other's knowledge of engines and parts.
Design[]
Reliant Regal alongside Mattel's Tomber die-cast.
Tomber largely resembles the English Reliant Regal three-wheeler, but also bears similarities to a French Citroën AMI, most notably in his double-headlight structure. The Citroën DS also seems to have been an inspiration, mainly for the position of his rear turning indicators, which are situated in the upper corners of his rear window.
John Lasseter said about Tomber's design: "we made up our own [three-wheeler]. I love French auto design of the early ’50s, ’60s, early ’70s of Citroëns, Renaults, and Peugeots. They’re so unique. So we kind of pulled from a lot of our favorite older French cars and kind of merged it together into this car."[1]
Trivia[]
- Tomber's license plate is PCS NO1R, an abbreviation for the French "pièces noires," a reference to the black market parts which he deals. Strangely, in the video game, it reads 3PNY BIT.
- A promotional artwork for this film (see below) actually incorrectly portrayed Tomber as a Lemon and therefore, Finn McMissile's enemy. In the actual movie, he is McMissile's ally.
- Three-wheeled cars were first meant to be part of the Lemons group.[2]
- His name is French for "Fall".
