Aston Martin’s “practical” exotic, four-seater sports car concept

TRADITION

Aston Martin has always acknowledged the need for elegant, high-speed touring sports cars. The four-door, four-seater saloon displayed at the 1927 Olympia Motor Show began a long tradition of cars that combined elegance, style and power with usability. The Olympia car was a closed-body tourer that sported long, flowing lines for the era, tapering to a luggage trunk and mounted on a tubular frame. The car was also low to the ground, purposeful and sporting. Four years later another four-door saloon was exhibited, with an aluminium-panelled body by Bertelli, finely engineered, detailed and upholstered throughout, with intriguing touches like the roof-mounted opening glass panel above the rear passenger compartment.

Experimentation and innovation continued. The 'Atom' project began in 1939 as a response to materials shortages, packaging design and post-war needs. A four-door saloon, the Atom was built around a steel tube chassis, upon which the bodywork was mounted. The strictly geometrical bodywork drew upon the new science of streamlining, and the car was smaller and lighter than what had gone before, with an innovative chassis design that ensured the company retained its image as a technical ground-breaker. In the decades following the war, the David Brown-era cars created the quintessential image of the grand tourer, two-door fourseaters that remain icons of car design. Beneath the supremely elegant skins there were yet more technological firsts, like the strong chassis-and-tube 'Superleggera' construction of the early DB series. In the 1970s and 80s, Aston Martin was uniquely positioned to accommodate almost any customer request, and four-door variants of the V8 and Virage models were built for a select number of discerning customers.

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 Coupé, 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.

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.”

The Rapide is serious about the business of driving, a chassis that is equally at home amongst winding back roads, mountain passes or high-speed carriageways. It has the expertise to devour trans-continental distances while leaving the driver feeling fresh and alert, however far or fast. The rich exhaust note is intended to be heard echoing off the sheer rock walls of the Alps, the steering demands to be taken to the switchbacks of Austria's Grossglockner Pass, while the engine begs to be opened up along a stretch of German Autobahn. Although the power delivery is unrelenting, this is also a car designed for every day use, with ample space for a golfing weekend for three in Scotland , a lengthy trans-American journey or even a trip to a Bordeaux vineyard, with space to bring back 20 bottles of wine. You can sweep up to a hotel, restaurant or première and the four doors allow your passengers to enter and exit with style.

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