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Brian Wilson on the Beach Boys' car songs

Brian Wilson, the musical giant behind so much of the Beach Boys great music, sang at the Petersen gala in Los Angeles last week, and there were plenty of songs about cars and drag racing in the mix. "We're going to do a series of car songs because this place has a lot of cars," Wilson announced before leading his 10-piece band into "Little Deuce Coupe," "409," "All Summer Long" and "Shut Down." The band played to a packed house at the museum's annual fundraiser. Wilson's set was surely the most entertaining in the Petersen's 15 years of fundraising galas.

2012 Honda Civic 2.2-litre i-DTEC with just 110g/km CO2

2012 Honda Civic - cleaner, greener, more powerful & more economical Honda are taking the launch of the new Civic for 2012  properly seriously, and looking to make it a properly good alternative to stuff like the Focus and Golf. That means the 2012 Honda Civic is going to have to handle properly as well as being very well put together. And on that score Honda are promising improved ride and handling for the 2012 Civic (despite a less than cutting-edge suspension at the back) and say it will be more stable and precise. Which all sounds good.

Lexus LF-CC

Lexus is set to debut the LF-CC mid-size coupe concept at next week's Paris motor show that will give us a glimpse of the design and technology ideas that will influence the brand's future models. The LF-CC shares a lot of the same design cues featured on the LF-LC 2+2 sports coupe concept seen in Detroit in January, not least the new spindle-shaped grille that are found on all new Lexus models. It is set in a deep, metal-finish surround and is framed by the hood lip, deep lower spoiler and the projecting front wing tips – this is designed to give it a 3D look.