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BMW ready to shift small coupes, convertibles to even-number nameplates

Reports in Europe say that BMW is planning a shake-up in the naming strategy for its smaller coupes and convertibles, as well as planning to shift its 1-series cars onto a front-drive platform. The nameplate shake-up will have coupe and convertible variants of the 1-series become the 2-series, while coupe and convertible variants of the 3-series will become the 4-series. The changeover is expected to start in 2013, according to a report on the Web site of Car magazine.

London underpass to hold flood water

A PEDESTRIAN UNDERPASS is to be turned into an emergency pond to hold hundreds of thousands of litres of floodwater threatening homes and businesses in south London. The Purley Cross underpass will be used to hold water pumped from around 400 under-threat buildings in parts of Kenley and Purley and to stop a water treatment works which supplies tens of thousands of homes from flooding, Croydon Council said. The authority said the plan to use the underground footway to hold around 600,000 litres of water from tonight was approved after its "primary" pond at Purley Depot overflowed last night.

Aston Martin DBS twins emerge from barn

Forgotten Aston Martins still turn up in barns and garages all over with world with some regularity, though rarely are they identical twins. This pair of DBS coupes emerged from more than a decade of storage in a barn just recently, and if it weren't for the license plates, we'd have trouble telling them apart. These two come from a large private collection, but both were tucked away after being acquired in largely original condition more than 10 years ago.