Aston Martin Rapide Priced at £139,950 in the U.K.
Filed under: Wheels
Aston Martin Rapide – Click above for high-res image gallery
Aston Martin has finally hung a price tag on its first ever four door, the Rapide, in its home market of the U.K., and it doesn't come cheap. Starting at £139,950 (about $233,000, though that's not necessarily an indication of actual U.S. pricing), the Rapide costs nearly twice what Porsche asks for its base Panamera and over £40K more than even the impossibly quick Panamera Turbo. Though the cars weren't exactly designed as competitors, there's little doubt that the two four-passenger sloping-roof models will be compared by interested parties.
For that whopper of a price tag, buyers will be getting a largely handmade and finely-crafted automobile powered by a 470-horsepower V12 engine – for what it's worth, that's 30 horses less than the Panamera Turbo – and wrapped in typically attractive sheetmetal. We're not going to say it isn't worth its hefty sticker price, but you can bet we'd strap ourselves behind both four-door behemoths before signing any checks. Expect initial Rapide deliveries to begin in the spring of 2010.
[Source: Autocar]
