Rapid Launch for Aston Martin's Four-Door Rapide

[BMWDave]

The Star of Detroit: Rapid Launch for Aston Martin's Four-Door Rapide
Date posted: 02-24-2006



BANBURY, England ? Aston Martin has revealed that its Rapide four-door coupe will go into production in mid-2007, at least two years before Porsche's Panamera, the car that is expected to be its main rival.

The Rapide concept ? essentially a stretched DB9 ? was unveiled last month at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in what appeared to be production-ready form. It had been expected to be launched in 2008 or 2009 ? but the number of parts it has in common with the two-door Aston means the car can be hustled into production at a rapid (rapide?) pace.

Meanwhile, more details and photos have emerged about the Aston Martin DBS, the car actor Daniel Craig will drive when he takes over the role of James Bond in the forthcoming Bond movie Casino Royale. The DBS appears to be a version of the Aston Martin Vanquish, with all the requisite gadgets and weapons that the superspy needs.

Craig will also drive the original Bond Aston, the 1964 DB5, in the film ? although, according to U.K. press reports, the actor had problems getting used to the car's clunky stick shift, and an auto box had to be swapped in during filming. How very un-Bondlike that is!

What this means to you: Licensed to kill, but not to use a clutch pedal. There'll be an auto option on the Rapide, too!