Toyota tows Shuttle

A US-spec Toyota Tundra half-ton pickup towed the Endeavour across a bridge on one of Los Angeles' busiest motorways - the '405 Freeway'. The Tundra was in stock spec, and wasn't treated to any special modifications for the monster towing job.

The tow over the 405 Freeway was one of the trickiest parts of the shuttle's 19.2-km route along city streets from Los Angeles airport to its new home at the California Science Center (CSC). The section over the Manchester Boulevard Bridge was an area that required a different tow mechanism than other portions of the route for weight distribution purposes.

Toyota did extensive testing and worked with the Sarens Group, a heavy lifting and engineering transport company, to develop a dolly for the delicate manoeuvre of Endeavour over the bridge.

Equivalent to our LandCruiser in terms of size and spec, the Tundra selected for the job was a stock 2012 CrewMax 4x4 version, fitted with Toyota's 5.7-litre iForce V8, producing 381 horsepower (284kW). No modifications were made nor special equipment added for the job.

It was driven by long-time Toyota professional driver Matt McBride. Riding along was Garrett Reisman, one of the NASA astronauts aboard the orbiter when it travelled to the International Space Station in 2008.

"I'm honoured to be part of the space shuttle Endeavour's final mission to the California Science Center," Reisman said. "I appreciate Toyota's support in helping bring this space icon home to the Southern California community."

The Tundra's involvement in the tow was a result of a 20-year partnership between Toyota and the CSC to raise awareness of the space program and continue public education through exhibits and events. The Tundra will also go on display at the CSC as part of an interactive exhibit on the physics of leverage.

Given the Tundra has local market equivalents in the form of the LandCruiser 70 and 200 Series and the HiLux, there are no plans to introduce the Tundra to Australia.