First "official" images of Aston Martin Rapide... or not
by Jonathon Ramsey on Jan 30th 2009 at 12:58PM 
Click above to see gallery of "official" Aston Martin Rapide renderings
Autocar has what it says are official renderings of the new Aston Martin Rapide. If Autocar has it right, however, the Rapide's front and rear aspects are closest to the Vantage V8, not the DBS or DB9. The front air dam features just one lower intake, the trunk valance is flush with the car, and the tailpipes flank the rear diffuser area. Those are all Vantage cues.
The 5-meter long car will get the firm's 6.0-liter V12, but slot exactly in between the DB9 and DBS in output with 480 hp. Autocar suggests this will get the car to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds, but that could be optimistic – those 30 additional horses over the DB9 have to pull 286 more pounds, which will make it a challenge to outrun the middle sibling.
Not that it's really meant to. The Rapide is Aston luxury for four, so it is taller than the DBS in order to provide more rear headroom for the "young adults" that can fit back there. The rear doors open wider than the front for ease of entry and the front seats have been raised to make room for the feet of back seat passengers. It even has a wagon-like folding rear bulkhead and parcel shelf. The Rapide will be appearing in Autumn when, with all hope, a better buying climate awaits it.
UPDATE: First four official renderings of the production Rapide courtesy of Aston Martin added to gallery.
[Source: Autocar]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ken_aisin 1:07PM (1/30/2009)
Looks much better than the Porsche one.
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Flashpoint 5:03PM (1/30/2009)
When I was driving home today, someone passed me in a sky blue DB9 and at first I saw it coming and didn't know what car it was. Its AWESOME - very sexy in person.
I'd almost take a DB9 over a DBs cause the DB9 is faster and costs a whole lot less.
But The price difference between a DB9 and my S550 is $100,000 + tax. I don't think I can swing that for a car :-(
moyoi 7:40PM (1/30/2009)
by leaps and bounds!
gearhead18 2:29AM (1/31/2009)
Dude my shoe looks like a better four-dour coupe the the Panamera, in fact even a chunk of cheese melting in the sun does too!
Jonathan 1:17PM (1/30/2009)
The DB9 is my favorite car (period), but the line going through the front AND rear door is way too long. I'd rather the Lambo concept.
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Colin 1:19PM (1/30/2009)
The 2009 DB9 actually got a an increase in horsepower to 470, so the Rapide most definitely could achieve the 0-60mph time of 4.5 seconds.
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slicecom 1:19PM (1/30/2009)
Porsche should take notes.
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ronzo 1:25PM (1/30/2009)
Perddy!
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Yaroukh 1:26PM (1/30/2009)
Porsche is lucky to be a level lower than this beauty.
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Torrent 1:26PM (1/30/2009)
It doesn't get my blood pumping anymore. I'm starting to fall in love with the Estoque.
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ugg.tryptophan 2:36PM (1/30/2009)
quattroporte still has my vote
Torrent 2:45PM (1/30/2009)
OH YES. The Quattroporte is in a whole 'nother league. That is the car I would buy if I had 150K
MajorGeek 1:32PM (1/30/2009)
Either way, credit where credit is due, it seems Aston Martin can't draw a bad design.
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wienekec 1:33PM (1/30/2009)
Seriously, they haven't designed a bad car since the DB7.
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Mike 1:36PM (1/30/2009)
At least the fact that it has four doors makes this Aston Martin distinguishable from the rest - I don't know how anyone tells any of the others apart. Even the Jaguar XK looks very similar. Of course the common link there is Ian Callum, a man who designed one car in his life and keeps unveiling it under different badges. And there are scores of other lesser known British cars that are almost identical. I wonder where they got their inspiration from?
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zamafir 1:39PM (1/30/2009)
So the production car images in last month's CAR, taken with Bez, aren't official? Or are these going to be used in marketing sorts of stuff? Odd. This bores me though, nothing could excite more than the forthcoming V12 Vantage.
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Colin Smith 1:54PM (1/30/2009)
So the back seats are designed for "young adults". Sounds to me like the headroom's poor.
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Zane 1:59PM (1/30/2009)
Bleh.. not really feeling it.
When it comes to looks:
V8 Vantage > DBS > DB9 > Rapide
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Nik 2:00PM (1/30/2009)
Mercedes, BMW, or Lexus needs to buy them so that they can be better run.
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wienekec 2:40PM (1/30/2009)
Nik, I don't think you could be anymore wrong in what you said. Dr. Ulrich Bez is doing a fantastic job as the CEO of Aston Martin. Look at the company's huge growth and success since his taking of the position in the year 2000. It is pretty much all thanks to him that the company is the way it is now.