ASTON MARTIN RAPIDE CONCEPT (new)

Can you notice how low the car is. If it was a ’60s Le Mans racer, Rapide would be badged GT52—just 12 inches taller than a GT40. For a four-door in a driving world hijacked by legislation, that’s incredibly low—half an inch lower than a Ferrari Scaglietti.

The Aston Martin Rapide is a four-door, high-performance sport sedan, which British luxury marque Aston Martin plans to introduce in late 2009 to compete with the Maserati Quattroporte and Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class, along with the upcoming Audi A7, Porsche Panamera and BMW Gran Turismo. It was first presented as a concept car at the North American International Auto Show in 2006. The Rapide name is a reference to the Lagonda Rapide, a sedan produced by Lagonda, now part of Aston Martin. The car is based on an Aston Martin DB9.

Aston Martin has announced that the Rapide will be built at a dedicated plant at the Magna Steyr facility in Graz, Austria. Production will start in 2009. One new feature that may appear on the production version is a full-length glass roof.

The handsome Rapide concept, for many the star of the NAIAS, is no ordinary Aston.

Manufacturer Aston Martin
Production 2009–
Predecessor Aston Martin Lagonda
Class Grand tourer
Body style(s) 4-door sedan
Platform FR AM VH platform
Engine(s) 6.0 L V12