2010 Aston Martin Rapide official images
February 4, 2009 by George Skentzos
In its second debut for the day, Aston Martin has released the first two official images of its upcoming Rapide which was first previewed at the 2006 Detroit auto show.
The Rapide proves that the four-door coupe genre is no oxymoron, seamlessly blending the iconic styling of Aston Martin with ample room for four passengers.
Previous attempts by Porsche and Lamborghini to create a similar proportioned vehicle have produced mixed results, once again proving the versatility of Aston Martin design.
The wheelbase has been extended by 25cm making its overall length roughly the same as most benchmark luxury sedans such as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
Despite its swooping coupe silhouette, the Rapide is just over six centimeters taller than a DB9, ensuring balanced styling and practical rear headroom.
While the rear seats are specified for ‘smaller adults’, two individual bucket seats on either side of the transmission tunnel are more than suitable for children, making the Rapide a justifiable prospect for small families with a rather healthy budget.
The rear doors have been hinged with a swan-neck design similar to the front doors, but open to a much wider angle to improve accessibility to the rear seats, with rear leg room improved by relocating the electric motors for the front passenger seats.
The production model is near identical to the original concept, with only a few subtle differences recognizable from these images such as the deleted side air intakes and the addition of a side crease, matching the new generation V8 Vantage.
Powering the Rapide is a slightly more powerful version of the DB9’s 6.0-litre V12 engine, mated to a six-speed ZF automatic transmission with Aston’s Touchtronic control.
The Rapide is a portly 130kg heavier than its two-door sibling which is sure to blunt its performance somewhat, reaching 100km/h in around 4.6 seconds from a standing start and on to a top speed of more than 290km/h.
It is unclear where the Aston Martin Rapide will make its official public debut, with speculation suggesting either the Frankfurt motor show in September or the Los Angeles auto show a few months later.
Source: AutomotiveNews
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Looks kind of like a jag XF. Definatly the best looking of these 4 door coupe ultra-pricey mobiles coming out. The rims suck though.
Funny you say that (about the Jag, my current passion). My view is that unless the aston has decent rear legroom, there is no point getting the 4 door, you may as well have the 4 seat coupe. If you need to put bigger kids in the back, but want an ultra fast 4 door car with the coupe look, the Jag XF-R with the 5 litre supercharged might be an alternative, when it comes out. Doesnt have the pedigree or the front end looks, but it has bucketloads of room in the back, has the same gearbox, and does the tonne in around 4.7 seconds, probably at half the cost (not that prospective aston owners would worry too much about that)
Beautiful, I love it. I hope it is significantly cheaper than the DB9 though, you have to keep the high class coolness going with the DB9 or it becomes pointless.
PS – I told you all that the “official images” that were put up a few months ago were of the concept. None of you believed me, despite the Detroit number plates, but I did say and it looks as if I was right.
Ehhh Im so bored of Aston Martin’s designes. They used to look good, now they just look boring and the same on each model.
Would much rather the 3 door Lambo.
Im with Tim, AM design is so old. DBS looks like a deformed fetus with two mouths.
Not to mention,
“Previous attempts by Porsche and Lamborghini to create a similar proportioned vehicle have produced mixed results, once again proving the versatility of Aston Martin design.”
Moderated
I’ll take the CLS63 until the Estoque and A7 come out.
I’m with Tim as well, AM’s design is getting boring, they all look the same and are becoming quite bland. Not to mention they are consistently under powered compared to the rivals, i think a sports car should be able to extract more than this little power from 6 litre (which is actually an 5.9 litre)
To all the people saying Aston Martin are getting boring and samey in their styling, I do see where you are coming from but I think there is a reasonable explanation for this one. The concept was in 2006. They couldn’t have made it drastically different from the concept because the concept is what they were working on, what they had had feedback from. They already made it more interesting and exciting looking. It’s just bad development times.
I wouldn’t count on Aston Martin keeping this look for the next generation of cars. I think they will start to look more like the One 77 and probably a bit different from that too. Apart from anything, Aston Martin have just got a new head designer and I doubt he is just going to rip off the last guy’s work.
My point is that this is just the last in this generation of design for this company. Perhaps the most worrying part is that going by Aston Martin’s previous sale times for a car, this could well be on the market until 2020!
Whether you think it’s boring or not, it’s still beautiful.
I cant really tell one aston from another in photos, but there are plenty of them where I get my car serviced, and in the flesh the models seem very different. I was getting bored of the shortish stubby type that you tend to see a bit (dunno which one, probably the cheapest), but last time I was there I saw a bigger lowered one that looked far more agro (in black), and I reckon it was the best car I’d ever seen (aside from the engine noise which was ear splitting). Even my missus could take her eyes off it.
Agreed Alex.
Devil666; Are you serious? The Mercedes CLS has to be the ugliest car available for sale at the moment. It looks like a banana on wheels.
ahhhhh not the rims!!!!!!!!!!!!!