The V12 sedan is still as beautiful a decade later.
Aston Martin’s attempt at taking on the Porsche Panamera was unsuccessful. This is despite the high expectations Gaydon placed on the V12 luxury barge. Aston Martin’s full-size five-door model had to compete with the Mercedes CLS 63, before Affalterbach girls and boys replaced it with the more powerful AMG GT 63 4-Door Coupe.
Poor fuel economy, cramped seating, high sticker prices, poor ergonomics and other problems plague the industry. Rapide. The original combustion-engined Rapide E was to be replaced with a fully-electric version. Aston Martin decided to pull the plug on it.
This is the original Rapide, not the later-generation S and AMR derivatives. The large and powerful Rapide had four doors, a 5.9-liter V12, a six-speed auto and rear-wheel drive. It was one of the fastest cars to ever have four doors in the world when it first came out in 2010.
The car was quoted at 188 mph (303 km/h), but this is a relatively low-mileage example. 173 mph (278 km/h), however, is not something to be sneezed at considering its size and weight. It is not often that we can see a four-door Aston Martin driving on public roads without any violations of laws. It is rare to see an analog speedometer needle climb from 0 to nearly 280 km/h, with digital instrument clusters taking control of almost all market segments.
Much-anticipated DBX is now Aston Martin’s family-oriented model. This has adversely affected sedan sales. Despite its faults, Rapide is still a beautiful and fast car. It’s also a great deal on the used market, compared to its original price.