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

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

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

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

Here’s a look at the Aston Martin Rapide on the Stelvio Pass, in a video in which you can hear some of the sound of the 470 hp of the V12 engine. The high quality production video has plenty of really stunning scenery, and we’re not talking just the mountains. The jury is still out as to four-door sedan Astons, but the Rapide undisputably looks very very good. It will be interesting to see how its fortune plays out.

Continue reading: Aston Martin Rapide Stelvio Pass

The Aston Martin Rapide was presented at the Frankfurt motor show to much acclaim, due to classic British lines and V12 engine with 470 hp. There is a strong offering from UK manufacturers in the coupe/saloon sector, with the new Jaguar XJ also debuting at the Frankfurt show.

The rear seats of the Rapide are probably not where you want to find yourself on a long trip, but then if I was purchasing one, I don’t think I’d really care what the backseat situation was like (unless, of course….). Its sports sedan label then, can probably be attributed to the number of doors and not internal space. Check out the video to see a close up of this lovely Aston.

Continue reading: New Aston Martin Rapide video

After live pics of the Aston Martin Rapide at the Frankfurt motor show, we though we’d take another look at the beautiful Rapide with the full press materials. For your Friday afternoon literature, you can check out the very long press release below.

The new Aston Martin Rapide cetainly gets 10/10 from us in the looks department and if it’s anything as good to drive, it could turn around the fortunes of four-door Astons. Here’s waiting for drive impressions to hit the press.

Continue reading: Aston Martin rapide more pics

The Aston Martin Rapide Frankfurt debut is in these pics, and it could be a contender for our vote on the most beautiful car at the Frankfurt motor show. Really, what to say about the Aston Martin coupé-sedan? This is one stunning vehicle. In a new segment for Aston Martin, the first impression is of a very sleek automobile - long, wide and very, very low. The Rapide is beyond elegance, really, with a stylish British DNA that is guaranteed.

Despite the extremely classic exterior, the Rapide interior is very modern with a minimalist design but opulent finishings in terms of the material used. It’s been design in a kind of private jet style.

The aim of the Rapide is to marry Aston Martin extreme luxury with a pinch of practicality, as is the trend in luxury sedans these days. Fit for four adults, driving pleasure can be compared to a DB9, and in a touch of curious exclusivity, the doors open in a “swan wing” fashion.

The Aston Martin Rapide is equipped with a V12 5.9-litre engine with 476 hp and 600 Nm at 5,000 rpm, Touchtronic 2 six-speed automatic transmission, autobloc rear differential, and carbon fibre and alluminium parts. Not to mention plenty of that indelible Aston aura that we were utterly enchanted.

Continue reading: Aston Martin Rapide live pics at Frankfurt

The Aston Martin Rapide production version will make an appearance at the Frankfurt motor show, alongside the V12 Vantage, in a motor show that is shaping up to be something seriously exciting. We’ve already said it, but this is one motor show not to be missed.

We’ll have live pics of the Rapide from the show, but in the meantime will enjoy this gallery of renders. I’m not necessarily sold on the sedan, though I like it more than Panamera, and at 25,000 pounds less the V12 Vantage, it might be more of an option for those in the market (clearly not me).

Source | Channel 4 via Autoblog

Continue reading: Aston Martin Rapide at Frankfurt

The lovely Aston Martin Rapide has returned as a protagonist of recent spy shots, in these pics that show it testing around the Nurburgring. The sleek looking sedan has appeared entirely without camouflage, as we already know what there is to know about her.

The Rapide has reached the final stages of its testing program and receiving the tick of approval is likely to be just a formality at this late stage. The detaisl of the Aston Martin sedan-coupé were released a while ago, but for the record it reaches 100 km/hr in five seconds, has a 5.9-litre V12 engine with 476 hp, and a ZF, Touchtronic, six speed sequential transmission.

Source | SpyShots.nl

Continue reading: Aston Martin Rapide spy shots from the Nürburgring

A reader of Car photographed the new Aston Martin Rapide uncovered, a real scoop before the UK makers unveil official pictures and details about the new and highly anticipated coupe model. The Rapide, derived entirely from the DB9, seems very sleek and aggressive, with four seats divided by a single console running the entire length of the vehicle. The answer to the Porsche Panamera and the Maserati Quattroporte has arrived.

Carmagazine.co.uk

Continue reading: Aston Martin Rapide: pictures of the uncovered model

With the coming of spring, plenty of car manufacturers are getting their new models out on the Nurburgring for testing. You can see the Aston Martin Rapide testing in these spy shots, as the model comes closer to its debut.

This example of the sedan-coupé Rapide seems production ready, and we can see nearly all of the car in these pics. It shows its elengat look, which will be combined with the power of 480 hp and a comfortable interior for four people.

After nearly three years of spy shots, the debut is now only a question of months. This niche, introduced by the Mercedes CLS, seems more fashionable than ever, and with the introduction of the Porsche Panamera, it’s taking a step towards high-end luxury models, which will soon have the inclusion of this Aston Martin Rapide.

Source | AutoWereld

Continue reading: New testing of the Aston Martin Rapide