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Shuttle-hauling Tundra finds permanent home in science exhibit

The idea of lifting a full-size pickup truck completely off the ground by hand might seem as likely as, say, said pickup truck towing a 150,000-pound space shuttle, but... hurray, physics! The same Toyota Tundra that towed the Space Shuttle Endeavour to its final resting place at the California Science Center is now on permanent display there as an exhibit that shows how a lever works.
Like all levers, this exhibit uses a fulcrum allowing people other than Superman to lift the 5,625-pound pickup (plus an extra 1,000 pounds for the rig). That's almost as impressive as the Tundra pulling 17 times its rated towing capacity back in October. Regardless, Toyota is once again cashing in on the publicity stunt and visitors to the science center get a live demonstration of a simple machine - we call that a win-win.

Impala crashes into Land Cruiser... to hide from a cheetah

What would you do if a wild animal jumped into your vehicle through an open window during an African safari? What if said animal was an impala being chased by cheetahs? Though the scenario seems unbelievable, that's just what happened to a group of tourists in Kruger National Park in South Africa, and it was all caught on video.
With the tour groups stopped, a motorist with a video camera handy happens to catch the unlikely sight of a herd of impalas (not that kind of Impala) jumping over the tarmac while being followed, quickly of course, by two cheetahs. The feline predators thought they had cornered one impala and were closing in for the kill when it jumped through the open window of a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado - South Africa's version of the Lexus GX. Fortunately for the occupants of said vehicle, the cheetahs did not follow.
A short while later, one of the occupants in the Toyota fearlessly opens a door to let the poor animal out. It must have been its lucky day, because the cheetahs didn't take pursuit. Check out the circle life get interrupted by this traffic jam in the video below.

Toyota headed to New York with 2014 Highlander, revised Scion tC

Toyota has given us a look at what the company will bring to the 2013 New York Auto Show. Visitors will get to set their eyes upon the all-new 2014 Highlander, and while the automaker isn't saying much in the way of details, we do get the teaser you see above (click to enlarge) to ponder on until next week. The image shows little more than a headlamp and a bit of grille, but gives us the flavor of what the crossover will bring to the table.
Scion, meanwhile, says it plans to dust off the "new 2014 tC sports coupe." While we don't imagine the two door will have undergone a major surgery, we're interested to see what the automaker has cooked up. The tC last endured a redesign in 2011. Check out the brief press release below and look for the vehicles to bow on March 28.Y