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Land Rover confirms end of Defender production

It's been all but a foregone conclusion for some time now, but Land Rover has confirmed to our sister publication Automotive News Europe that the aging Defender won't live to see 2020. Originally conceived as an agricultural machine, the first Land Rover prototype used scavenged Willys Jeep bits left over from World War II. American kids of a certain age may have been captivated by the Land Rover's mystique while watching Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom back in the '70s.

NASCAR: Rule changes to be clarified

The 29th annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Media Tour opens on Monday in the Charlotte, N.C., area. It's a four-day smorgasbord of announcements, team-shop tours, optimistic predictions and the unveiling of new race-car paint schemes, team members and sponsorships. More than 150 writers, broadcasters and photographers will get a steady diet of claims such as “we're excited,” “we've been working harder than ever,” “we feel we've got everything in place” and “we can't wait to get started.” The tour will visit almost every team that plans to run the full series schedule in 2011, teams such as Earnhardt-Ganassi, Stewart-Haas, Penske, Michael Waltrip, Richard Childress, Kevin Buckler's TRG, Team Red Bull, Furniture Row, Richard Petty, Hendrick, Roush-Fenway and Joe Gibbs.

GM, Fiat considered merging Europe operations, report says

General Motors Co. and Fiat S.p.A. "briefly" discussed a merger of their European operations earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the talks.