Like most boys and their toys, Cheech Marin was one of those kids who grew up playing with cars, hoping to cruise around in one of his own someday.

But to play a car in a movie -- and a hot rod no less -- was something that Marin's mind's eye never envisioned -- until the Pixar computer-animated comedy "Cars" came along.

"I grew up making little model cars -- the Black Widow Spider, the half-trucks, so to actually play a cool car is a dream come true," Marin recalled for me, beaming, in a recent @ The Movies interview.

Oddly enough, Marin's model work appropriately mirrored the talents of his "Cars" character, Ramone, a 1959 Impala low-rider who's the proud owner of Ramone's House of Body Art.

But since it's located in the lonesome Route 66 dustbowl of Radiator Springs, Ramone is dying to put his paint and metal mastery to work. Until the prospect of a new paint job in hotshot racer Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) shows up thanks to an unexpected detour from his life in the fast lane, Ramone keeps his talents from getting rusty by repainting himself daily.

Like previous Pixar works, the amazing thing about "Cars" is that the characters get you emotionally involved with the action on-screen, so much so that you think that these vehicles are actually living, breathing things -- and that's an achievement that most live-action actors can't pull off.

"You just get totally into it -- those cars are like real people," Marin enthused. "The big debate when the filmmakers first started, was 'Where do we put the eyes?' The natural inclination was to make the headlights the eyes, but putting them in the windshield totally changed things -- it allowed them to develop great personalities."

Marin told me that you know those personalities work when you can look at a project that you were closely involved in the creative process with -- yet lose yourself in the experience when you're watching the film, just like any other audience member.

And in the case of "Cars," Marin wasn't blown away just because he was experiencing the wonder of feature film animation for the first time. A veteran of the Cheech & Chong movies, "Desperado," the "Spy Kids" trilogy and the television hit "Nash Bridges," Marin has had his share of several high profile animated hits as well, including "Oliver and Company" and "The Lion King."

"I'm always surprised when I see these animated flicks for the first time because they're so much better than I anticipated -- and this one is definitely better than I anticipated," Marin said. "Their technique is so amazing. They're inventing new stuff all of the time. As a filmmaker I've looked at what they've done and I'm just amazed."

It's not unusual for a voice actor to record his or her dialogue separately from the other actors in the piece, and most times, the performers aren't even lucky enough to meet each other at all, if not for the press days where they gather to promote the film.

And while Marin is proud to be a part of a voice cast that includes Wilson, Bonnie Hunt, John Ratzenberger, Tony Shalhoub, Michael Keaton, Larry the Cable Guy and racing legend Richard Petty, "Cars" poses the actor a unique opportunity in that it also stars film legend Paul Newman.

At least now, Marin can say he co-starred in a movie with Newman, even though they were never in the same place at the same time. The closest Marin said he came to meeting Newman before was by "eating his popcorn and salad dressing."

"I'm looking forward to meeting him. He's going to be here (at the press day at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.)," Marin said. "He's one of the best."

Reliving Route 66

While Marin is wowed visually by what he's seen in "Cars," he's just as thrilled in the way it can inform viewers, particularly young kids. He said that he hopes kids will "understand the concept of hubris -- and the values of understanding what's important in life" and "what goals are most valued."

Marin, 59, said he learned those values himself as a kid on Route 66, the iconic highway that drives the narrative of "Cars."

"Taking the cross-country trip on 66 really slows you down. I remember taking cross-country trips as a kid, by car. You just get into the rhythm of land because it's going by a lot slower than if you were in a plane." Of course, by doing a movie like "Cars," well, auto-matically qualifies Marin to become an action figure. And while it won't sport Marin's famous mug on it, the toy incarnation of Ramone does feature Marin's distinct voice.

"It's a soft toy -- a plush toy -- that has a vinyl body," Marin said. "You throw it against the wall and it says different stuff." It's not the first time Marin has been immortalized in plastic -- NECA, a company known for bringing action figures from new and classic movies to life, did some action figures a few years back of Cheech & Chong as they appeared in "Up in Smoke."

"Bobble heads, too," Marin added, laughing, "You know you've made it when you have a bobble head figure of you out there."

One of Marin's co-stars in "Cars" is George Carlin, who, for the lack of better words, is a gas as a stoner 1960s-era VW van.

And while Carlin is wonderful in the role, I wondered aloud for Marin how great it would have been to have Tommy Chong in the role.

Marin said that although he's been disappointed at the starts and stops of many reunion gigs, he's still willing to take a crack at something.

"If it would work out I would do it," Marin said.

In the meantime, Marin is hardly spinning his wheels. His busy schedule will next take him to the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., June 23-25, where he'll be Grand Marshall of the Dodge/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series weekend.