Price is right for Aston Rapide

By Will McManus

09th December 2009

It's Aston Martin’s first four-door sports car – and if you’ve got the cash to afford one, it could prove to be a steal.

Prices for the Rapide, which will hit UK roads in April, were expected to come in at around £150,000. But it’s been announced that the car will cost £139,950. Standard kit includes a Bang & Olufsen Beosound audio package, which has been custom-made for the new model. Heated memory seats, dual cast brakes and adaptive damping also feature.

Power comes from the DB9’s 6.0-litre V12 engine, but in the Rapide this will transfer its 470bhp to the rear wheels through an ultra-responsive Touchtronic box. That will give the saloon a 0-60mph sprint time of less than five seconds.

Setting the newcomer apart in Aston’s line-up is its huge load bay. This expands from 317 litres with the rear seats in place to 886 litres when they are folded.

The four-door is the first car from the firm to be built outside Britain. Although the DB9, DBS and V8 and V12 Vantage are made at Aston’s Gaydon headquarters in Warwickshire, the saloon will be hand-crafted at a brand new Magna Steyr facility in Graz, Austria.

A total of 2,000 Rapides will roll off the line during the first year of production, with each taking 220 man hours to complete. Customers can place an order for the model at their local dealer now.

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