Working Mercruiser Alpha One Gen 2 Gear Ratio:1.84 on 2040-parts.com

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.

2013 Nissan LEAF updated

Nissan has updated the LEAF EV in Japan for 2013 with better range, less weight and a new LEAF S entry-level model. Revealed in Japan – but likely to come to the UK from 2013 when the LEAF starts rolling out of Nissan’s Sunderland factory – there are significant upgrades to the powertrain which result in both less weight and better range. Nissan has had a play with the electric powertrain and made it both smaller and lighter with a new motor that uses 40 per cent less dysprosium (a rare earth metal) than before, and comes in 30 per cent smaller and 10 per cent lighter, and a new streamline battery case and a few other tweaks drops the LEAF’s weight by 80kg.

New car sales September 2014 best in ten years. But…

The Ford Fiesta was again the best-selling car – September 2014 We’ve got used to new car sales / registration reusing month after month, and September 2014 is no different. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) is reporting new registration for the important plate change month of September at 425,681 units, the strongest September performance since 2004 and the 31st month in a row new car sales have increased. But the SMMT do say that although September’s figures show yet another increase, it only represents a rise of 5.6 per cent compared to the March plate change registrations rise of 18 per cent, an indication that the new car marekt is starting to level off after nearly three years of growth.