Dragon wheels

Power and prestige are attributes of the dragon in Chinese folklore. So it's hardly surprising that, in this Year of the Dragon, producers of luxury cars have adopted the symbol to roll out special edition models for the China market.

Conventional wisdom suggests that many mainland customers buy elite foreign cars for their cachet and heritage; Western marques have no place selling China to the Chinese using stereotypical motifs. But the lure of the dragon appears to have proven irresistible among well-heeled mainland car collectors. With the inclusion of other obvious auspicious markers - a livery of lucky red, a dash of gold for wealth - the collections have been selling out even before the motors can be made, carmakers say.

Among the special editions is Aston Martin's Dragon88 collection, unveiled at the annual Beijing motor show in April. As with other limited edition cars, the modifications are purely cosmetic. A dragon motif is hand-stitched onto the headrests of 88 of the British marque's supercars, among them the DBS Volante, Virage coupe and V8 Vantage S coupe. Handmade objects of desire in their own right, the special China models also come with gold-plated Aston badges and other gold interior accents.

Within hours of the cars being unveiled, one was snapped up by an eager buyer, according to Matthew Bennett, Aston Martin's director for the Asia-Pacific region.

Bennett says Aston sees a natural association between the mythical dragon and its legendary cars.

'AML [Aston Martin Lagonda] saw a very close fit between the core values of our brand - power, beauty, soul - and the symbolism of the dragon in Chinese culture: strength, health and harmony,' he says.