New Scion Program 'Motivate' Offers Career Building Opportunity

Scion today launched its new program, Motivate, targeting young entrepreneurs in the creative arts community with chances to win a personal business mentor, $10,000 and a Scion vehicle to promote career success. Building on the recently launched Scion “What Moves You” brand campaign, applicants between the ages of 18 and 35 are invited to submit written responses and a 60-second video describing career passions and the resources needed to achieve their goals.

Applications are accepted until Jan. 31, 2013, or until 5,000 applications have been received.

“Scion's customers have long been among the youngest in the industry, but many are also characteristically self-starters with strong interest in pursuing their passions,” said Scion Vice President Doug Murtha. “Drawing on the unique strengths of our creative communities and Scion’s commitment to the arts, we designed a powerful way to support young entrepreneurs in pursuing their dreams. We hope to inspire young leaders to seize the day and succeed.”

After a review of applications, 50 semi-finalists will be selected to attend a three-day workshop with industry leaders to learn essential skills they can use to improve their businesses. Participants will be given an opportunity to revise and incorporate the lessons into their entries before 10 winners are selected at the event’s close. Top winners have their choice of any Scion vehicle as part of the prize package. Runners-up each will be given a $1,000 grant.

Throughout almost 10 years in business, Scion has found common identity with the arts community and has supported more than 1,700 artists through galleries, music events and other efforts. The “What Moves You” brand campaign presents the passions of Scion’s many creative partners, and how the carmaker’s support has helped them achieve their goals.

“Supporting emerging artists is a Scion cornerstone, and we are featuring their personal stories as key parts of this brand campaign,” said Scion National Marketing and Communications Manager Owen Peacock. “The recent introductions of the FR-S sports car and the premium micro-subcompact iQ have broadened Scion’s reach to new audiences, and we want our unique passion and business approach to continue to shine through.”

The Motivate program will be supported with TV, print and online ads that begin appearing today on key lifestyle- and business-targeted media platforms across the country.

Courtesy of Scion News

Hurricane Safety Tips!

Hey fans! Make sure you stay safe out there. Hurricane Sandy is sending the winter weather and fast. Be sure to prepare for severe travel conditions. Here is a quick tip.

Keep you gas tank near full to avoid ice in the tank and fuel lines. This will make it easier to travel if you need to move locations due to possible power outages.

Toyota Tundra: Brakes & Cabin

$29.95 Oil Change Special

Before you put all those holiday miles on your car come in for our $29.95 oil change special!

Details: Up to 5 quarts. Synthetic oil extra. Valid only at University Toyota. Cannot be combined with any other specials, discounts, or offers. See University Toyota for complete details. Offer expires 10-31-2012

Click here to print this coupon!

Scion’s ‘What Moves You’ Campaign

Scion today announced the launch of its brand campaign “What Moves You” featuring its own unique “Scion Story.” The campaign launched September 27, 2012 at scion.com and continues with targeting high-profile broadcast, print, online and out-of-home placements.

“The recent introductions of the FR-S sports car and the premium micro-subcompact iQ have expanded Scion’s target audience. While these new products have successfully increased awareness of the lineup, many people have only a vague understanding of Scion’s uncommon brand attributes,” said Doug Murtha, Scion vice president. “With this in mind, the ‘What Moves You’ campaign is the first of several important initiatives designed to better familiarize consumers with the brand.

“People know that Scion makes iconic vehicles that are built with the highest level of quality, but they might not know what Scion stands for and what makes it unique. We’re truly proud to showcase the brand’s story in the new campaign, to clearly tell people who we are, what we support and more importantly, what moves us.”

Appearing prominently on the brand’s website, The Scion Story describes the colorful automotive brand’s history and plainly spells out its core beliefs. For example, it states, “We know that we are not the biggest car brand and we don’t want to be. What we do want is to provide a unique and better alternative that is right for today’s new car buyers.” This story describes Scion’s goal of offering quality cars that owners will want to personalize, with a simple purchase process that is enjoyable, and details the brand’s support of emerging talent in the art, music, design and automotive enthusiast realms.

“Since the brand launched nearly 10 years ago, Scion has had an affinity for the creative arts that has resulted in helping more than 1,700 artists follow their passions,” added Owen Peacock, Scion national marketing and communications manager. “Our support of emerging artists is and always has been a cornerstone of the brand, and we bring that to light by featuring them and their personal stories as key parts of the campaign.”

Specifically, the “What Moves You” campaign incorporates Scion creative partners, their stories of what moves them and how Scion has supported them to achieve their goals. The broadcast spot features Scion collaborators like artist Neil Krug, automotive designer Troy Sumitomo, professional racing driver Michele Abbate, and musician Prince Terrence and his band Hussle Club.

Courtesy of Scion Newsroom

Maintenance Tip #4

Welcome back fans! We have a great Monday Maintenance tip for you today... Tip #4 - Don’t fill up if you see the tanker.
If you happen to see a gasoline tanker filling the tanks at your local gas station, come back another day or go to a different station. As the station’s underground tanks are being filled, the turbulence can stir up sediment. Sediment in your gas can clog fuel filters and fuel injectors, causing poor performance and possibly necessitating repairs.

The Tundra Endeavour -- Mission Accomplished

Did you know?

Did you know that former President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1939 Packard 12 resides in the Toyota Automobile Museum in Japan?

Presidential historians know this car from the iconic images of Roosevelt riding in the back of the open-air convertible. But the 12-cylinder was such a unique piece of technology that Roosevelt said he couldn't do without it. It has the distinction of being the first car to be armored, during FDR's presidency.

Released in 1915, the technology embodied in the Packard Twelve represented a major breakthrougn in the automobile industry. It achieved great fame in its association with the one person who claimed he could not do without it - President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Roosevelt claimed that he chose the Packard for its reliability, but it is said that he was drawn to it by its sheer power. It was one of the last automobiles to come equipped with a 12-cylinder engine, when in 1939 Rollson (popularly known as Rollston) mounted the body. It was the first armored car with bullet-proof glass to be used by an American president. Its , sporty body came to signify American prosperity.

Courtesy of Cars.com & Toyota Automobile Museum

'Buckle Up for Life' - Philadelphia

Responding to disproportionate risks that African American and Hispanic children face in motor vehicle-related crashes, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Toyota and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center today announced that they are bringing the groundbreaking national safety education program Buckle Up for Life – or Abróchate a la Vida in Spanish – to Philadelphia for the first time. The program represents a partnership between two of U.S. News’ top-three children’s hospitals and one of the world’s largest automakers to improve the safety of some of the most vulnerable children on the road. To view a video about the program, please click here.

Research analyzed by Cincinnati Children’s shows that, due to multiple factors, African American and Hispanic children are significantly less likely than non-African American and non-Hispanic children to be buckled up in seat belts or properly installed car seats.

Key Facts

 

• Car crashes are the number one killer of children in the U.S. between the ages of 1 and 12.[i]
• African American and Hispanic children are as much as 10 times less likely than Caucasian children to be restrained while in a car.[ii]
• In crashes involving fatalities in children under 14, seat belt use is lower among African Americans than among all other race or ethnic groups,[iii] and 52 percent of African American children in fatal crashes were unrestrained, the most of any race or ethnic group. [iv]
• Three out of every four car seats are not used or installed correctly (across race and ethnic groups)[v].
• The number of children buckled up nearly tripled among families who participated in one of Buckle Up for Life’s pilot cities.[vi]
• More than 45,000 participants have completed the program and over 20,000 car seats have been distributed.

New Partnership with CHOP Is Part of a National Expansion that Is Doubling Buckle Up for Life’s Reach

The expansion of Buckle Up for Life to Philadelphia is part of an effort by Toyota and Cincinnati Children’s to double the program’s reach. The new partnership with CHOP joins other new Buckle Up for Life programs in Las Vegas, Houston and Orange County, CA. In addition, Buckle Up for Life programs are already in place with local hospital partners in Chicago, Cincinnati, Los Angeles and San Antonio.

“We are pleased to see CHOP’s partnership with Toyota expand to include the Buckle Up for Life program developed by our colleagues at Cincinnati Children’s,” said Dr. Steven Altschuler, Chief Executive Officer, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “Our number one priority is to keep children safe and help save lives. Together with Toyota, we hope to make a real difference in Philadelphia and increase awareness of the need to be properly buckled up.”

“At Toyota, we are strongly committed to the belief that everyone deserves to be safe,” said Patricia Salas Pineda, group vice president of National Philanthropy and the Toyota USA Foundation at Toyota Motor North America. “Through our educational outreach, Toyota’s Collaborative Safety Research Center (CSRC) and numerous partnerships with leading hospitals, nonprofits and research universities nationwide, Toyota is engaged extensively in programs that help ensure that drivers and passengers are safe at every stage of life. Buckle Up for Life is a vital commitment for Toyota, and we are proud to be working with The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to expand its reach.”

Toyota’s support for Buckle Up for Life is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to help make local communities safer and stronger. The company has contributed more than $600 million to nonprofits throughout the U.S. over the past 20 years.

Buckle Up for Life Marks Third Partnership between Toyota and CHOP to Keep Children Safer in Vehicles

Toyota and CHOP have a history of collaborating on cutting-edge research and innovative programs to keep children safer in vehicles. Other current partnerships between Toyota and CHOP include:

 

• Toyota was a founding member of CHOP’s Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies (CChIPS), a research center that focuses exclusively on making children and adolescents safer. Sponsored by the federal National Science Foundation as an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center, CChIPS brings together researchers from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and The Ohio State University to work side by side with industry members to conduct translational research that is practical to industry. As part of CChIPS, Toyota plays a critical role in the direction and progress of research with an ultimate goal of advancing the safety of children through science, education, and action.

• In collaboration with researchers from CChIPS, researchers from the CSRC, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and SAFER, a vehicle safety research center in Sweden, will conduct a study of a youth ice hockey team to better understand the mechanisms of concussion. This injury is the most common injury to children in motor vehicle crashes and researchers will conduct a state-of-the-art analysis of head acceleration data to determine correlations between impacts and injury outcomes.

• Through the CSRC, Toyota and CHOP have collaborated on a multi-year project directed toward establishing a new national database to track detailed information on motor vehicle crash injuries sustained by child passengers.

Courtesy of Toyota Newsroom

How a 2012 Toyota Tundra Towed an Icon.

Late Friday night, near two local icons — the notorious 405 Freeway and popular snack spot Randy’s Donuts — another icon hitched a ride to its new home. For most of the way from LAX to the California Science Center, the Space Shuttle Endeavour was going to ride on a modified version of a NASA overland transporter. According to collectspace.com, this rig had originally been used to take the Shuttles from the plant where they were built in Palmdale, California, to Edwards Air Force Base.

For this Shuttle’s journey, the transporter would be driven by four robotic vehicles. Overseeing it all was a guy operating a joystick used to steer all four as he walked alongside the Shuttle. There was one problem, though: the weight of the four robotic vehicles plus the Endeavour, approximately 650,000 pounds, was going to be too heavy to cross the Manchester Bridge. The California Science Center would have to figure out another way.

The Tundra in question was a bone-stock CrewMax with a 6.5-foot bed and the 381-horsepower, 5.7-liter V-8, rolling off the same line in San Antonio, Texas, as all Toyota Tundras do. This Tundra used the company’s A-TRAC system and four-wheel drive to provide the traction the truck  would need to move the Shuttle from a stop; of course, the Toyota came equipped with the tow package. Toyota had done tests ahead of time with a higher amount of weight than the Shuttle/transporter combo, and it did well there.

Sitting on Manchester Boulevard, ready to roll, there was still plenty of prep work to complete before the tow began. By the time press and VIPs arrived, the Shuttle had been disconnected from the robotic dollys and waited for its connection to the back of the Tundra, where it would be towed not with a gooseneck or fifth-wheel, but with a regular-size steel hitch. The power was disconnected at Randy’s — there would be no donuts for onlookers — and there were portable lights near and on the bridge to illuminate the move. Power lines had been raised to ensure the immense Shuttle wouldn’t snag them. Light poles and signals were rotated out of the way. Hordes of fans stood along the streets in anticipation of this event.

The dollys were so heavy they had to go over the bridge one at a time. They went over first. Then, after Toyota got video crews and GoPro video cameras set up, there were a couple of tests, and the truck was ready. Despite what people may think, this was a bone-stock Tundra. No, it was not pushed from behind. No, it did not have the advantage of going downhill. Stunt driver Matthew McBride was behind the wheel, and it was not his first time in that seat. If you recall the Tundra ad where the truck is being tested on uphill spiraling ramp in the Mojave Desert, McBride was the driver there as well.

So how did the Tundra do it? By going really, really slowly. The truck was set to take the Shuttle over the bridge at 2.5 mph, in 4-Lo. We had heard it would take about 7 minutes for the pair to get to the other side. But from our vantage point (and admittedly without a radar gun), it looked like the Tundra hauled the Endeavour faster than that.

Cheers of “USA! USA! USA!” could be heard from the crowd as the Tundra and Endeavour crossed the bridge. After hours of anticipation on this evening, and weeks of planning, the bridge crossing was over in the blink of an eye. Once it had completely crossed, the 405 reopened, Randy’s was ready to start making donuts again, and the Shuttle would be reconnected to the robotic dollys and go on the final 9 miles of its final journey.

Courtesy of Motor Trend

Space shuttle begins 2-day road trip to California Science Center

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Space shuttle Endeavour has hit the road.
 
The black and white winged orbiter, which is the youngest in NASA's now retired fleet, left Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) atop a self-propelled, overland transporter in the early morning hours on Friday, Oct. 12. The motion signaled the start of a 2-day road trip to deliver Endeavour to its new exhibit at the California Science Center (CSC).
 
Endeavour emerged at 11:25 p.m. PDT (2:25 a.m. EDT; 0625 GMT) Thursday, Oct. 11, from a United Airlines hangar, which served as the space shuttle's temporary shelter since arriving at the airport on a NASA jumbo jet last month.
 
The shuttle then exited LAX through an access road at 2 a.m. PDT (5 a.m. EDT; 0900 GMT), crossed Lincoln Boulevard and turned onto Westchester Parkway, rumbling towards its first "rest stop" along the 12-mile (19 kilometer) route to the science center.
 
At its full speed of 2 miles per hour (3.2 kph), the joystick controlled, blue and yellow transporter slowly but steadily carried the 155,000-pound (70,300-kilogram) Endeavour forward. The shuttle's 78-foot (24-meter) wingspan and 58 foot tall (18-meter) tail required a route that was closed to traffic and cleared of obstacles, including light signals and trees. [Photos: Shuttle Endeavour's California Sightseeing Tour]
 
Endeavour will spend much of the day Friday waiting for crews to raise power lines that are blocking its way.
 
To Infinity (or rather Bed, Bath) and Beyond
Rolling west from the airport on Westchester, Endeavour's route takes it along La Tijera Boulevard to the parking lot of a shopping center on the corner of Sepulveda Parkway, where it will stop for about nine hours.
 
Although not a publicized viewing area for the public, local police departments advised thousands may turn up to see Endeavour waiting for its next move.
 
That won't come until the afternoon, when transformer lines are de-energized and raised. Once ready, Endeavour will travel down Manchester Boulevard, cross into Inglewood and then stop again for six hours as the next set of utility work gets underway.
 
The power line work will result in rolling blackouts following the shuttle's path.
 
Endeavour's second stop of the day, which is expected to span 4:15 p.m. to about 11 p.m. PDT (7:15 p.m. to 2 a.m. EDT; 2315 to 0600 GMT), will park it near the landmark Randy's Donuts with its oversized donut-shaped roof sign. For the shuttle's move, the shop installed a small model of Endeavour inside the hole of the 32-foot-wide (9.7-meter) donut.
 
Tundra crossing
Friday's start and stop moves lead up to the space shuttle Endeavour crossing over the 405 freeway.
 
To meet the weight distribution requirements for traveling the Manchester Boulevard Bridge, Endeavour will trade its computer-controlled transporter for a tow by a 2012 Toyota Tundra pickup truck.
 
The truck, which Toyota says was not modified from what is found on the sale lot, will be driven by Matt McBride, a professional stuntman and precision driver whose credits include numerous car commercials and feature films, such as last year's "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" and "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" coming out in 2013.
 
Astronaut Garrett Reisman, who launched on Endeavour in 2008, will ride in the Tundra with McBride.
Toyota's involvement continues a partnership between the car company's USA division and the California Science Center to provide support and awareness of the space program and education of the public through exhibits and programs. The pickup that will be used to two Endeavour will also go on display at the CSC as part of an interactive exhibit on the physics of leverage.
 
Once over the freeway, Endeavour will be moved back onto its transporter and then will wait on Manchester, out of sight of the public, until daylight Saturday to continue to its first of two celebration events.
 
The road ahead
Endeavour will cover the first 3 miles (4.8 km) of its 12 mile (19 km) journey on Friday. The bulk of its road trip will be accomplished on Saturday (Oct. 13), with its arrival at the science center anticipated around 8:30 p.m. PDT (11:30 p.m. EDT; 0330 GMT).
 
Endeavour's final journey, which the CSC dubbed "Mission 26: The Big Endeavour," will formally get underway with a 30 minute program at The Forum, the former indoor arena of the LA Lakers, on Saturday at 9 a.m. PDT (noon EDT; 1600 GMT). The event, which is expected to draw a crowd as large as 14,000 people, will feature Inglewood's mayor James T. Butts, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Apollo 7 astronaut Walt Cunningham.
 
The celebration is one of three designated public viewing opportunities for Endeavour's move. Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. PDT (5 p.m. EDT; 2100 GMT), the space shuttle will pause again at the corner of Crenshaw Boulevard and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard for an aerial and dance tribute choreographed by "Fame" actress Debbie Allen.
 
The third and final public opportunity to witness Endeavour on the move will be at Exposition Park in Los Angeles, as the shuttle pulls up to the California Science Center.
 
The CSC plans to debut the shuttle on exhibit inside the Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion with its public opening on Oct. 30.
Courtesy of MNN

Toyota Presents: The Tundra Endeavour - Born in America

4th Annual Fall Children’s Festival!

Join us for the 4th Annual Fall Children’s Festival!
October 14, 2012 1-4pm

This year’s featured activity is the construction of fairy houses in the Fairy Garden. Professional photographs will be taken of each child with his or her fairy house.

4th Annual Fall Children’s Festival!

Fall_Children's_Festival_2012.pdf Download this file

Toyota's Dream Build Challenge

TORRANCE, Calif., (Oct. 8, 2012) — Customizing a vehicle can often be broken down into a series of tasks that can then be scheduled and executed—at least until the clock runs out. Then all bets are off. And so it goes for the Toyota Racing Dream Build Challenge teams with time to complete their ambitious builds coming to a close in about two weeks, just before voting begins on October 20. And just like a race car, these one-off rides must be ready to go when the green flag drops.

Kyle Busch's "Rowdy Edition" Camry is "getting close." Busch's team at Detroit Speed has extensively reworked the Camry's body with strong fender flares, a NASCAR-style splitter and front and rear belly pans to direct airflow under the car. All of these parts have been custom designed and fabricated by hand—a painstaking and time-consuming process. More recently, the team has been scrambling to finish custom interior touches with completely redone seats and a custom electronic entertainment package.

Getting a complex collection of custom-built electronics to work seamlessly in his "Tekked-Out Prius" seems to be keeping Clint Bowyer's RKM Performance Center team awake into the wee hours. It's loaded with hi-tech gadgets like side-view cameras that replace the mirrors, 45 feet. of fiber optic interior lighting and a 16-speaker stereo with six crossovers and dual amplifiers. Then there's the suspension which has dropped the Prius "lower than a Sprint Cup car." And, there’s certainly no lack of team spirit as their build will sport no less than 364 copies of the Toyota logo.

Alexis DeJoria's Pre-Runner Tundra concept has her Racer Engineering team working on virtually every aspect of the truck. Long-travel suspension (20 inches in the rear), an elaborate custom roll cage wrapped in leather, and a TRD-supercharged engine are all part of her design to make a serious off-road tool. The team is also squeezing in a JBL audio system and a specially-built fuel cell. It’s all more than enough to keep them busy right up to the due date.

Some builds are more ambitious than others, and Antron Brown's “DragQuoia” is a big concept that's challenging its capable builders. The "family dragster" idea means that whatever they do has to leave room for the family to ride safely and comfortably. And they're doing quite a lot. For starters, the Motorsports Technical Center team is lopping more than 2,000 lbs. off the factory curb weight. A TRD blower and nitrous coax the 5.7-liter V8 to pump out more than 650 hp for those "quick" runs to the supermarket. Massive 21.5-inch wide rear tires put the power to the ground, which in turn need big fender mods—inside and out—to keep the hot rubber bits contained in the wheel wells. Fortunately, Junior will have a comfortable perch in the back to view the scenery rushing by, secured with his own five-point racing harness. And between runs, he can watch his favorite DVD on the seat-back media player.

Every one of the Dream Build vehicle teams has the chops and experience to deliver for their driver. The simple question on delivery day may come down to this: Which team will be the least sleep deprived.

All four of the Toyota Racing Dream Build Challenge vehicles will be unveiled at the Toyota display during the company's press conference on October 30 at the 2012 SEMA Show. Fans can vote for their favorite team beginning on October 20 and may vote once per day through October 29.

Courtesy of Toyota Newsroom

The Radically New 2013 Toyota Avalon

Exclusive Online Offer!

$500.00 Internet Rebate! On New or Used Vehicles!

Print this coupon and bring it in for $500.00 off a new or used vehicle. Coupon is only valid for John, Sarah and Steve. One per customer. Not redeemable with any other incentives. Valid only at University Toyota. Cannot be combined with any other specials, discounts, or offers. See University Toyota for complete details. Offer expires 10-31-2012

Click here to use this great offer on your new vehicle http://on.fb.me/Q6kqyV

Toyota Slashes Nurburgring Electric Car Lap Record

Toyota has set a new Nürburgring lap record for an electric car using its TMG EV P002 prototype racer.

The final time came in at 7:22.329, which is a full 25 seconds faster than the time set by Toyota’s first EV prototype, which set the previous electric car record for the 12.92-mile track in August of last year.

The new TMG EV P002 is the latest development of Cologne-based Toyota Motorsport. and also holds claim to being the fastest electric car to ever ascend Pikes Peak. Driven by Toyota driver Fumio Nutahara, the electric racer set an impressive time of 10:15.380 for the hill climb earlier this year.

This time around, it was German driver Jochen Krumbach who was piloting the TMG EV P002. Some of the cars outmatched by Krumbach's time include the Nissan GT-R and Ferrari Enzo.

Toyota's electric racer features a custom carbon fiber chassis, two electric motors delivering a combined output of 469 horsepower and 663 pound-feet of torque, and a top speed of 158 mph. Powering those electric motors is a 42-kWh lithium-ion battery, which Toyota Motorsport has developed specifically for racing duty.

Courtesy of Auto Spies

Thank you for this five-star review!

Ginny Rae
Hudson Falls, NY
Sep 28, 2012

I had to fly in to get the vehicle and they offered to pick me up an hour away to save me on my flight. Everything was top notch and the car was as promised. Its nice when all goes as it should. Highly recommended!