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Further on our previous news story, Aston Martin has issued the following press release:
INTRODUCTION
The Aston Martin Rapide concept is a four-door, high performance coup’ of remarkable grace and poise. Based on Aston Martin’s unique VH (Vertical/Horizontal) architecture, the Rapide combines the company’s commitment to power, beauty and soul with space and practicality for every eventuality. It stands for stylistic excellence, market innovation and flexible manufacturing. The Rapide is the epitome of Aston Martin’s low-volume, high-technology approach, the synergy of modern methods and materials with traditional skills to create a new form of craftsmanship for the 21st century.
While the Rapide retains Aston Martin’s inherent design characteristics the additional length and extra doors build upon the DB9’s taut, poised stance, generating a natural, even flow and a dynamic sensation that’s conveyed even when the Rapide is standing still.
ARCHITECTURE
Underpinning the Rapide concept is Aston Martin’s VH architecture, developed to offer exceptional manufacturing flexibility. This high-strength, low-mass architecture forms the backbone of the current generation of Aston Martins, spearheaded by the DB9 Coup’ and flanked by the DB9 Volante and the Vantage. — BMW Concept CS.
DESIGN ETHOS: EXTERIOR
The visual language of Aston Martin is highly distinctive. Across a range of three cars, the company’s design team, led by Design Director Marek Reichman, fulfils Aston Martin’s core values ’ power, beauty and soul ’ with bodywork that is taut, poised and muscular.
The Rapide represents the pinnacle of Aston Martin’s design ethos, a formal language developed through the carefully balanced combination of elegance and aggression. In silhouette, three-quarters view and from both the front and rear, the Rapide is instantly recognisable as an Aston Martin, regardless of whether it is wearing the famous winged badge (still faithfully rendered in pewter and enamel on every model). The soft curves of the flank kick up into muscular haunches above the rear wheel arches, with the roofline staying low, true to the distinctive Aston Martin silhouette. The Rapide also features the metal side strakes, another signature feature, while the doors feature Aston Martin’s unique ‘swan wing’ design, opening upwards at a 12-degree angle away from the kerb to provide greater access. The rear doors cut unexpectedly deep into the flank below the C-pillar, increasing the width of the opening to improve access. At 5m long, the Rapide is 30cm longer than a DB9, and only 140kg heavier.
DESIGN ETHOS: INTERIOR
The Rapide continues Aston Martin’s reputation for highly-tailored, individual cockpits. The trademark glass starter button is a small element of theatre that is also beautiful and tactile, the perfect first point of contact with the car. Providing sporty accommodation for four passengers in such a low and beautiful coup’ presents a formidable packaging challenge.
Aston Martin has always been about truth to materials: wood is valued for its structural properties and appearance, as are aluminium, glass and leather, while carbon fibre is utilised for its strength and weight-saving abilities and not just a showy finish. A transparent polycarbonate roof brings an increased sense of spatial awareness, opening up the passengers’ vistas beyond the driver’s focus on the road ahead. This ultra-light transparent material is a first for the company. The Rapide has dual climate zones, and the luxuriously appointed rear seats come with their own DVD screens and controls for the audio system and environmental system. — Audi A4 Coupé Cabrio Concept.
The dashboard is very driver-focused, the three passengers can also be as engaged and involved in the journey. For example, the satellite navigation system is fully accessible to all passengers, with a handheld Bluetooth unit that allows rear seat passengers to add their input to the route ahead. It’s this level of involvement that characterises the Aston Martin experience, and it is vital that both driver and passengers can share it.
The generous rear luggage compartment is accessed via a hatchback, a practical feature shared with the Vantage and the pioneering DB2/4 of 1952. In addition, each rear seat folds down individually, allowing for myriad interior options, be it three players plus three sets of golf clubs, or four people and their skis, which slot neatly above the central console. To give the concept a real sense of occasion, the feeling that every journey ends in an event, the interiors team have incorporated a chiller cabinet in the boot, perfectly shaped to hold a single Magnum of Jacquesson champagne, along with four elegant flutes.
The clock is an integral part of the Rapide’s elegant dashboard. For this element, Aston Martin turned to their existing partners Jaeger-LeCoultre, world leaders in fine timekeeping and original manufacturers of dials in Aston Martins as far back as the 1929 1.5 Litre First Series.
THE JOURNEY
Every journey in an Aston Martin is an occasion, proving that the most enjoyable way of getting between two points isn’t always a straight line. The Vanquish S, DB9 Coup’, DB9 Volante and Vantage are all designed to sharpen the senses, extracting every grain of texture from the road surface, with high levels of driver feedback and involvement. Yet when conditions preclude making progress or spirited driving, an Aston Martin adopts a relaxing, restrained character, with the massive reserves of torque and power combining with the uniquely cosseting interior to envelop the driver and their passengers in the Aston Martin experience. — BMW M3 Concept Car.
The Rapide continues this tradition – a fast, cross-country machine that excels in any driving conditions. The Aston Martin customer doesn’t need to have their choice dissected in minute detail: these are cars which appeal primarily to the heart, strong emotional design that is also subtle and discrete. The Rapide is a uniquely personal machine, its interior representing the very best of the company’s immensely skilled workforce, demonstrating how each Aston Martin is still tailored to a customer’s precise requirements. It also represents the high degree of personalisation offered by ultra-modern production facilities and a model line-up underpinned by a flexible architecture – a new model that could broaden the range to cater for every requirement.
Like all Aston Martins, the Rapide is a superlative performer. Powered by the V12 engine from the DB9 but uprated to 480 brake horsepower mated to a ZF Touchtronic gearbox, the car has performance equivalent to the DB9, although the gearing has been adjusted to suit the longer wheelbase and more refined ride. Carbon brakes and callipers, a first for Aston Martin, give the Rapide immense stability and stopping power. ’A sports car is not simply characterised by the number of doors,’ says Dr Bez, ’so a four door car can still have the looks and performance of a sports car and the Rapide is certainly true to its name, providing an unrivalled way of taking four adults on a long-distance journey along any type of road.’
Aston Martin begins the 21st century with almost limitless potential. As one of the strongest and most recognisable brands in automotive history, the company now has the products, technology, production facilities and distribution network to offer unparalleled choice in this market segment, able to move rapidly from prototyping to concept to production. The company’s fast-expanding global dealership network continues to revolutionise the high-performance sales environment, with a series of crisp, contemporary showrooms that highlight the very best in modern architecture and design, making them the perfect backdrop for the product.
