Aston’s rapid response

Newswheel staff :: 04 January 2006 :: Filed under Four-door coupe, Aston Martin, Aston Martin Rapide, Europe & UK, US

[Click on an image to view]

British sports car maker reveals surprise four-door coupe

Merc’s slinky CLS set the ball rolling. Porsche is planning to join the party by the end of the decade. And now Aston Martin has announced its own take on the modern four-door coupe, the Rapide. And this is no mere show car. Production starts just 12 months from now.

The Rapide’s front wings are pure DB9. Further back, it’s all change

Given the relatively recent launch of both the DB9 and Vantage coupes, not to mention the DB9 Volante and a brace of DB9-derived race cars, you have to wonder how a tiny outfit like Aston Martin can keep wheeling out stunning new metal. All the while Jaguar, part of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group along with Aston, is struggling to knock out a single truly desirable model. The answer, at least in part, is the flexible V/H platform. It’s a bonded/riveted aluminium chassis with a carbon fibre backbone and it forms the basis of every one of those new Astons, including the new Rapide.

In simple terms, the Rapide is a stretched DB9 with 250mm inserted into the wheelbase, a pair of extra doors and 50mm added to the rear overhang. Likewise, the styling is clearly a chip off the DB9 block. It’s painfully sleek and low slung for a four-door when viewed side-on, if a little less convincing from both front and rear three-quarter views.

Totty-packed pics: that’s Aston’s man-of-mystery heritage for you

In part that’s thanks to the 40mm higher roofline compared with the DB9. And that, in turn, is a function of the role Aston has in mind for this new supersaloon. Unlike the virtually useless rear seats in the DB9, the Rapide is a genuine four-seater. At five metres in length, it’s a similar size to the Mercedes S-Class. What’s more, it shares its rear hatchback configuration with its smaller Vantage sibling. And that means truly massive storage capacity. Aston’s supreme being, Dr Ulrich Bez (he of former Porsche and specifically Porsche 993 fame) reckons that with the rear seats folded flat, there’s enough room for a six-footer to kip down for the night. Ideal for a jaunt to Le Mans, apparently. That said, it’s not yet clear just how spacious the rear passenger compartment is.

Not your average hatchback

Whatever, the car certainly drips with gorgeous detailing, including all-round “swan” passenger doors which open at an elegant, slightly upward, angle and another luscious alloy and satinwood Aston interior.

As for power, that’s delivered courtesy of a carried-over DB9 V12, but upgraded to the tune of 30bhp for a more-than-adequate 480bhp total. That’s probably not quite enough to offset the 150 additional kilos the Rapide packs over a standard DB9. But it should still live up to that rather unimaginative and chintzy Rapide moniker. The final tech specs of note on the Detroit showcar are the carbon fibre brakes, though we’re not sure if this feature will be made standard for customer cars.

Hmmm…alloy

According to a Top Gear article, the Rapide could be a response to the hugely successful Bentley Continental GT. Of course, that car is a conventional two-door coupe. But it’s more or less unique at this end of the market in offering genuinely usable rear seats. So, it’ surprising to hear Aston has such modest plans for the Rapide – just 500 to be built starting 12 months from now. Bentley has been offloading thousands of Conti GTs. We fancy Aston is secretly hoping to find rather more than 500 homes for the Rapide. One thing is for sure, however. Once Porsche has stopped sulking about the fact that the Rapide will likely beat its own high performance four-door coupe - the Panamera - to market by several years, it will be watching very closely to see how customers react to this surprising new Aston.

Not quite the parts-bin Aston of old

The Rapide is expected to go on sale in early 2007 for around £150,000 / $250,000.

Linkage:
Top Gear