Future Models - Aston Martin 2010 Rapide
First look: Aston’s lithe limo
Wealthy stealthy: Behind the Rapide’s coupe-like lines are four doors, four seats and plenty of Aston Martin Lagonda baggage.
The Rapide concept revives more than just Lagonda memories for Aston lovers
5 January 2006
By BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS
ASTON MARTIN has sprung a four-door limousine surprise.
Based on the VH platform that underpins the Vanquish and DB9, the Rapide is set to be one of the stars of next week’s Detroit motor show.
In a brief press release, the Ford-owned British marque says that “… the Rapide, a four-seater high-performance coupe, illustrates the flexibility of Aston Martin’s unique VH (Vertical/Horizontal) architecture.
Rivals to the Rapide include Porsche’s still-secret Panamera four-door sedan scheduled for release by 2009, as well as the Bentley Continental Flying Spur, Maserati Quattroporte and Audi S8.
It is likely that the Rapide will feature a variation of the Vanquish S’ 6.0-litre V12.
In the sports car this engine currently produces 388kW of power and 577Nm of torque, and is linked to a six-speed gearbox operated via a Formula One-style paddle shift.
Aston Martin chairman Ulrich Bez told GoAuto recently that a proper four-door sports/luxury car like the Rapide was only a remote possibility.
He added that resurrecting the Lagonda name for such a car was also out of the question.
“It is literally unknown to the public,” he said at the time. “Maybe three people in Australia, 10 people in America and 50 people in England know the name.”
He pointed to the billion-plus dollars DaimlerChrysler has had to spend on the similarly obscure Maybach moniker.
“We do not have that kind of money,” he said, adding that his main priority was for Aston Martin to make a profit.
Aston Martin has a chequered history with the four-seater, four-door sedan. And the Rapide name isn’t new to it either, dating back to the late 1930s on the elegant Lagonda Rapid convertible.
In 1961 Aston released a Humber Super Snipe-style sedan built on the contemporary DB4 platform.
Aimed at the fulsome Bentley Continental, it was quite advanced for the time, employing aluminium construction, disc brakes and an automatic gearbox.
Just 55 were commissioned up until 1965, using a 4.0-litre six-cylinder engine destined for the immortal DB5 model a few years later as well as a version of the complex de Dion rear suspension that also made it on to the DBS models from 1967 to 1972.
In 1976 the firm unveiled the Lagonda, a seriously futuristic wedge-shaped sedan designed by Sir William Towns, the same person responsible for the look of the 1975 Jaguar XJ-S.
It snared the world’s attention with its pioneering electronics – including a computerised dashboard display.
Endless hitches for the small-time, independent Aston Martin delayed deliveries to wealthy customers until 1978, and were subsequently treated to a spectacularly unreliable car.
Later cars improved substantially, but the performance from the 5.3-litre V8 engine was adequate at best while rear passenger space was appalling.
Yet the Lagonda’s eye-searing styling helped it gain a foothold in the go-go 1980s, particularly among Arab oil barons, leading one English car magazine to proclaim it suitable only “for chic sheiks!”
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