The Rapide was conceived as a successor to the five-door saloon Lagonda, a name which Aston inherited when it took over the vehicle-maker of the same name shortly after the Second World War. It was a resurrection of a name first used for a large, luxury grand tourer, produced in small numbers in the early-1960s. The revival came about almost half a century after its first use, with the new Rapide being unveiled in 2010 as a five-door hatchback - Aston's first model of this type since 1990 - and intended as a competitor for the Porsche Panamera. It is effectively a stretched DB9 to allow room for the four doors, and sits on the same standard platform as was used for all new Aston Martins up to the DB11 in 2016.
The Magna Steyr factory in Graz, Austria was initially used to build the Rapide, but when sales failed to match the initial target of 2,000 a year, production was moved to the plant at Gaydon, England. The first-generation Rapide was powered by a 5.9-litre V12 engine whose 470bhp was fed through the back wheels via a six-speed automatic gearbox, helping the car live up to its name by catapulting it to 62mph from a stand in 5.2 seconds, and ultimately on to a 188mph top speed. Two further revamps, in 2013 and 2014, saw the model renamed the Rapide S, and the V12 engine uprated to 552bhp, while other tweaks also cut CO2 emissions by 7%, and took its top speed above 200mph. A high-performance, limited-run Rapide variant, the AMR, came along in 2018, with the V12 engine tweaked to 595bhp and capable of a claimed 205mph top speed.
The Rapide remains scarce compared to its Vanquish and Vantage sister models, but if you go down the road less travelled in your choice of luxury transport, in the Rapide you have a "beautifully styled and brilliantly accomplished" car. Heavily strengthened to cater for its length and the big back seats, the Rapide benefits from electronic adaptive dampers while Autocar's reviewers noted that general build quality "is, if anything, better than ever", summing up their view with a rhetorical question: "The most elegant four-door sports car in the world? You bet it is, and then some." This is another Aston Martin where its rarity is part of its appeal. But you've no need to worry about that when sourcing parts if you talk to us at Scuderia Car Parts.
We track down the best Aston Martin parts available, and offer them at highly competitive prices to buy directly from our website, then back that up with customer service rated 96% 'Excellent' or 'Good' by our own buyers on Trustpilot. So you don't need to leave any aspect of your ownership of one of these rare, highly prestigious models to chance - just keep our details to hand, then get in touch to get our proven help in finding any parts for your Aston Martin Rapide that you need.
Please wait...