Bond had no need for thought. He’d seen it as a concept in Detroit and Geneva in 2006. Now that it existed, he wanted it. He spoke once more, ‘Get it.’ Then added, very quietly, ‘Please.’
Bond was right to insist. When I first saw designer Marek Reichman’s concept Rapide in Geneva, I thought it possibly the most beautiful four-door car on the planet. We weren’t allowed to touch it, let alone drive it, and if Ford still owned Aston Martin we’d probably still be waiting for it. But the marque’s new owners gave it the green light and the result is — well, possibly the most beautiful four-door car on the planet, as well as one of the fastest (188mph, 0–60 in 5.1). At £139,950 it’s not one of the cheapest but, like Mr Bond, it’s very well mannered.
The roads around Valencia were neither long enough nor empty enough to do it justice; however, as the Russian proverb has it, a mouthful of seawater gives you the taste of the ocean. The six-speed auto (with paddle shift) and six-litre V12 engine move it effortlessly from gentle cruising to eyeball-crushing acceleration. There’s no jitter in the handling, no sudden uncertainties on corners, no unprovoked aggression. But wind it up to about 4,000rpm and the exhaust valves blast shock and awe to anyone in your wake. The figures are one thing, the feel quite another; this car does all it says on the tin, and then some.
Reichman’s flowing lines make it appear to move when standing still. It’s over 16-feet-long and seven wide, including mirrors, but the swage line that runs from the front wing to the rear door deceives the eye into shortening the wheelbase. (No, I’d never heard of it either but it’s a coachbuilding term for a fold or crease; the OED broadly confirms, giving it a more ancient origin.) The rear — so often the most difficult bit to get right — is powerful and proportionate. It’s actually narrower than the rear of the DBS but looks wider because they’ve lowered the number plate.
If I had to describe the interior in one word it would be ‘thoughtful’. Of course it’s comfortable and classy, with good leather and smooth metal switchgear, and it’s not let down by the Ford column stalks. But you expect it to be good. What you don’t expect are touches such as the shaped tops to the front seats which give passengers far better forward vision than you get in many full saloons, or the leather and metal grab handles with magnetic fixings, or the rear access panels similarly fixed, or the fact that it’s a sports car in which you can take your golf clubs with the seats up and skis with them down, or the way they’ve made a virtue of the rear transmission tunnel by turning it into an armrest. The rear seats are fine for grown-ups and access through the upward slanting doors is possible — provided you do as they say and move foot–bum–foot rather than, as I tried, feet and head simultaneously. Anyone in a short skirt would be a real crowd-puller. But it is a true four-seater sports car.
Who will buy it? Well, only about 2,000 people a year will get the chance and most will probably be new to the marque — ‘It’s not just for me, darling, look — it can take the children.’ But it will also take buyers from the DB9 and DBS because it’s even more beautiful and goes just as well. For me it would be a choice between this and the V8 or V12 Vantage — but of those two street-fighters more another time.
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