ASTON MARTIN'S first, four-door production model, the Rapide, is the latest model to come from the company's Gaydon production centre at Gaydon, Warwickshire. On sale just a month ago, this superb grand tourer sports car model is a ground-breaking move by Aston Martin and should be a winner in the supercar stakes. Coming in at £139,950, the sleek four-door retain's all the expected styling panache that Aston Martin is famous for. Although able to take four adults in comfort, make no mistake, this is still a sports car. It is powered by a 6.0 litre V12 engine which produces 470bhp and the resultant 0-60mph time is 5.1 seconds. The engine is designed and developed by Aston Martin engineers at Gaydon and hand built in a dedicated facility in Koln, Germany. The standard six-speed Touchtronic 2 automatic transmission has been calibrated to ensure that the additional weight of Rapide has had a minimal impact on fuel economy, emissions and performance. Standard equipment includes: Full grain leather interior, walnut fascia trim, electrically operated front seats, dual stage driver and passenger front airbags front occupant side airbags, heated front and rear seats, heated rear screen, automatic front and rear temperature control, trip computer, cruise control, satellite navigation system, Bluetooth telephone preparation, powerfold exterior mirrors, front and rear parking sensors, tyre pressure monitoring, alarm and immobilizer, remote-control central door locking and boot release, Tracking device and even a boot mounted umbrella. The whole machine oozes quality, with a build finish second to none and performance to match. Aston Martin expects to sell around 1,800 units in the Rapide's first year - 30 per cent of them in the UK. If you still want to stick to two-door Astons there's plenty of other models on offer, including the Vantage Coupe and Roadster, starting at £87,101; The DB9 Coupe and Volante, £116,908; and DBS V12 Coupe, £166,872. |
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