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Aston Martin DBS, Virage, V8 Vantage Dragon 88 at Beijing

Aston Martin whipped the covers off a trio of Dragon 88 special editions at the 2012 Beijing motor show - with local-market China-aimed versions of the DBS Volante, Virage coupe and V8 Vantage S coupe. And if you're wondering why Aston is focusing so much of its energies on China, remember this: it is opening 11 - eleven! - new dealerships here in 2012, as it taps into the new found wealth and sales opportunities in this growth market.

Aston Martin teases new car – could this be the ‘Final Edition’ V12 Vantage? (video)

This tease image from the Aston Martin video appears to show a V12 Vantage outline We reported recently that Aston Martin had told its dealers to stop taking orders for the V12 Vantage Coupe, which we took to mean the Vantage is coming to the end of its shelf life, at least in its current iteration. But a tease video Aston Martin has released for a new car perhaps – ‘Coming Soon’ – points to a final edition version of the V12 Vantage Coupe before it gets put out to grass. The video (below) does show what appears to be a V12 Vantage; it’s the right shape, it has bonnet vents, bits of carbon fibre and an exhaust that sounds about right.

Electric cars must get noisier, ICE cars must get quieter

Electric cars will have to make a noise to protect pedestrians It’s four years since the Lotus solution for making electric cars noisy raised its head, since when the US has had a go at the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act in 2010 to do the same thing, the Japanese are playing too, and Toyota revealed the Prius Vehicle Notification System, and now the EU has decided its time to act to make EVs emit ‘noise’. Despite the most appealing part of an EV being that it makes our cities quieter, legislators worry about the blind, partially sighted and distracted pedestrian (think earphones and a Smartphone) being mowed down by a stalking electric car and feel the need to act. So the European Parliament has decided that by 2019 new models of electric vehicle will have to make a noise in cities, and that by 2021 all new hybrids and electrics must be noisy too.