There’s nothing like a little bingle out the front of the Monte Carlo casino in your Bentley Azure to really piss you off on your posh summer shopping trip. In these pics of a supercar pile-up in Monte Carlo a smattering of the world’s rich got their cars scratched by one woman driving said Bentley Azure.

The open-top Bentley managed to plough into a Mercedes S-Class in a prang which created a chain reaction involving a few other expensive vehicles - namely an Aston Martin Rapide, Porsche 911 and a Ferrari F430. That makes for quite an expensive insurance claim. Check out the fun the tourists had taking the pictures below.

Source | Daily Mail

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Here’s another of the episodes in the Aston Martin Rapide video collection in which the story looks like it’s all over before we realised it had begun. As the Rapide powers its way around steep coastal roads, we get a philosophical discussion on what is time and power, before a brief, not-quite car and helicopter chase. Then some strange time travelling invention saves the day before we’re taken back to the scenes of the first video when we get the only decent line in the whole thing: “I think I’ll drive this time”. Roundly criticised on YouTube, we gather this is probably the last in the three videos.

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After one reader commented that the Aston Martin secret agent video series (in a kind of Mission Impossible theme) were a great way to advertise the Aston Martin Rapide, we thought we’d persevere ourselves and post the second video. We’re still unconvinced and scenes of bumping people off, stealing firearms and hand-to-hand combat are probably a bit excessive for a car advertising campaign. But then any criticism levelled at these videos should also be aimed at the Audi A1 Justin Timberlake series, too. There is some of that purring Aston Martin engine noise though, to save the day. We’re guessing that a few more dynamic scenes for the Rapide will be coming up, but we’re not sure we’ll get that far with our viewing.

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This first episode in a series of Aston Martin Rapide videos seems to have the purpose of introducing us to a kind of car movie/commercial in which the Rapide takes part in what looks like a secret agent mission. We don’t get what it’s all about and while we’ll always love the Rapide, it’s just as well it’s as good as it is because this video could be a little damaging, otherwise. Surely they could have come up with something different for the slogan “Time is precious. Share it wisely in the new four door Rapide.”

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The Aston Martin Rapide race car was taken around a track by the guys at Autocar to see how it compares to the road version, and how it would go if it had to enter a British racing series. The biggest change on the Rapide racer is the 500 kg less than the road version, with backseats removed and glass replaced with plastic. The V12 with its 470 hp remains the same and the suspension system is also extremely similar. Curiously, the Aston Martin Rapide racer also keeps its six-speed automatic gearbox which might not be very romantic for race fans, but apparently it works well enough.

The road-going Rapide lends some of its best characteristics to the racing model, including its longer wheelbase which gives better grip and greater stability. While the automatic gearbox has some glitches for a racing model, switching to sports mode rids the car of any surprise up or down shifting and maximises the throttle map. According to final conclusions, the Rapide racer is actually much easier to drive than the road model. It doesn’t look like the most fun or hardcore racer out there, but is clear is that with a few modifications the Rapide can become a well-balanced, smooth and fast race model.

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There’s nothing like seeing the best of British luxury cars in a video challenge and the one above pits the Aston Martin Rapide against the Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed and the Rolls Royce Ghost. There’s no denying the luxurious and fascinating appeal of each of these cars - they all have something to offer. But it will probably depend on your personal taste as to which you prefer.

Ignore the quite terrible and badly delivered script at the beginning and skip to the drive comparisons. There are many to be made and the profiles of each of these cars are on the mark. See which you prefer (and ignore the continuing ridiculous similes like supermodels’ underwear and tap dancing elephants), and which one wins out in the end.

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Aston Martin could launch in the Indian market by the end of this year, expanding the presence of luxury and exotic cars in India. Reports are that Aston Martin will launch its V8 Vantage, DBS and Rapide in Mumbai and Delhi, with the V12 Vantage and the new V8 Vantage N420 (in pics) on hold for the moment.

We can see the luxurious British style of the Aston Martin being a hit in India, with car fans (with fat wallets) only waiting to see whether Ferrari and Maserati will embark for the country, too. Pricing is expected to be about 1.25 crore rupees for the V8 Vantage and up to 2.95 crore rupees for the top-of-the-range DBS. From what we can figure out about crore rupees, that makes pricing equivalent to about 173,000 and 350,000 euros (further confirmation welcomed!).

Source | IndianAutosBlog

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None other than the CEO of Aston Martin, Ulrich Bez, will race this Aston Martin Rapide in the Nurburgring 24 hours race. The V8 and V12 Vantage models have been used in past years, and this time Aston is taking its four-seater saloon and a team of in-house engineers to Germany.

While the Aston Martin Rapide will undergo the necessary safety changes, the mechanics of the car will remain largely the same, underlining the sports capabilities of the series model. As it participates in the endurance race, the Rapide is also now ready for delivery to the lucky customers who have been waiting since it was first presented at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.

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The Aston Martin Cygnet interior is what makes this a special compact, city car. The exterior has been modified just enough to make it more pleasing to the eye than the Toyota iQ, but it hardly screams the Aston brand. The interior, on the other hand, is truly amazing - just like a luxury, 12 cylinder coupé. We won’t hazard a guess as to how successful this will be for Aston, as it seems more like a fun experiment for Aston owners than anything else, but we still enjoyed seeing the Cygnet in the flesh.

The Aston Stand at the Geneva Motor Show also exhibits the DB9 Coupé, DBS Volante, the V12 Vantage and the Rapide sedan. It’s got to be one of the most elegant and sophisticated stands at the show and is well worth a look if you’re there.

Aston Martin Cygnet live at Geneva: the Aston stand

Continue reading: Aston Martin Cygnet live at Geneva motor show: Aston stand pics

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More pics of the Aston Martin Rapide have been released, showing some of the various colour choices available for the Rapide. We think it looks good in all of them, but see some of the combinations for yourself, like the Hardly Green exterior with beige interior, Blonde Silver with cream and blue interior or the lairy Magna Red with ‘tobacco’ interior. These are difficult choices for anyone who can actually afford the lovely sedan-coupe, equipped with a V12 engine at 470 hp.

Continue reading: Aston Martin Rapide new pics

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The Auto Trophy 2009 awards have been given by Auto Zeitung after reader surveys of about 105,000 participants. Obviously the local German cars were very successful, with Audi taking home a total of 40 percent of votes across all categories, but there have been a couple of surprises, too.

A special mention goes to the Opel Astra for its quality-price ratio, while the new BMW 1 Series won the best advertising campaign award. Across the categories, readers voted on 370 different models in total. In the small car category, the Volkswagen Polo won with 32.9 percent, while for imported small cars the Fiat 500 won with 20.6 percent. Among the mid-size range was the Volkswagen Golf 6, and for imported cars in this category, the Skoda Octavia won a divided contest, with 18.5 percent of votes.

The mid-size, top range cars featured some of the larger German models, with the Audi A5 Sportback winning with 27.2 percent of votes, and the Volvo V70 winning in the imported category. The luxury category was dominated by the Mercedes E-Class with 42.7 percent of votes, while the Jaguar XF took the title for imported vehicles. Among the flagship models, the Porsche Panamera won and the Aston Martin Rapide won in the imported category with 33.7 percent.

Continue reading: Auto Zeitung Auto Trophy: SLS AMG top supercar

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The Aston Martin Rapide is lovely, there’s no doubt about it, and this new Rapide gallery shows the Aston four-door in all its detail. While there are some murmurings about the lack of practicality of the rear doors for eventual rear passengers, find me the family who’s using it as their daily car and then I’ll be worried.

The Rapide is equipped with a V12 engine with 470 hp and if you want to see it in action, check out the video of the Rapide on the Stelvio Pass.

Continue reading: Aston Martin Rapide new pics

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