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Toyota To Shoot Truck Ad During Endeavour Trek Through LA

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A full-size pickup truck will share the spotlight with the Space Shuttle Endeavour during its 12-mile trek through the streets of Los Angeles next week.

Japanese automaker Toyota will film a TV commercial as its Tundra pickup tows Endeavour for a portion of the shuttle's two-day journey from LAX to its final resting place at the California Science Center.

The 2012 Tundra - which the automaker claimed will be identical to models found at its dealerships - will safely tow the 300,000-pound Endeavour down Bill Robertson Lane in Exposition Park on the final leg of its journey.

The so-called "Toyota Tow" is part of an ongoing partnership between the automaker and the Science Center, which currently has a Tundra truck on display demonstrating the physics of leverage.

While no official announcement was made as to where specifically on the route the commercial would be filmed, there were reported plans to capture the tow as Endeavour makes its way past the Randy's Donuts shop on Manchester Boulevard, according to the L.A. Times.

And while LAPD officers will be out in force to manage both street traffic and crowds of up hundreds of thousands of people expected to come out for the once-in-a-lifetime sight, Sgt. Rudy Lopez told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO there are a couple of key locations where residents should focus their efforts.

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"One primarily is gonna be in the city of Inglewood, The Forum parking lot there is very large, there will be ample parking at the race track to the north," said Lopez.

Schematic of Toyota Tundra towing Space Shuttle Endeavour
Schematic of Toyota Tundra towing Space Shuttle Endeavour (courtesy Toyota)

There will also be several parking lots dedicated to public viewing at the Science Center along Robertson and Martin Luther King Boulevard, Lopez added.

Police will be implementing "rolling" closures of both streets and sidewalks for about one mile ahead of Endeavour as it weaves its way to the Science Center, which earlier this month offered to double the number of trees that would be planted to replace trees that have been removed to clear a path for the shuttle.

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