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End of the road for 'Queen's favourite' car

ONE OF the most-loved and long-lived road vehicles, and a favourite with the Queen, is to cease production. The last Land Rover Defender will be produced by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) at Solihull in the West Midlands in December 2015. Featuring in the Angelina Jolie film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and in the latest James Bond movie, Skyfall, the Defender name can be traced back to the early 1990s.

Aston Martin Vantage gets V12, but we won't get the car

The Aston Martin V12 Vantage, the hottest version of the two-seat coupe, is the latest step in the automaker's new-model offensive for 2009. Revealed just days after the Rapide four-door, the V12 Vantage is the second of four major reveals from Aston this year. Also coming is the DBS convertible, which will share stand space at Geneva with the V12 Vantage and a concept for a new Lagonda, the dormant brand that Aston plans to bring back to life as a super-luxury Rolls-Royce/Maybach challenger.

Pforzheim University Winter Degree Show 2009

Transportation Design students at Germany's Pforzheim University displayed their work in the school's summer degree show last month, one of two graduation shows held every year by the renowned college. The exhibition included work from graduating Diploma and Masters students, first- and second-semester Masters students, as well as exterior and interior projects by the fifth- and seventh-semester BA students. The newly introduced Bachelor course covers the Transportation Design program in seven semesters (replacing the eight-semester Diploma course) with students embarking on specialized transportation projects in their second semester.