Aston Martin Rapide AMR: Four Doors Fast

The Aston Martin Rapide AMR may well be the answer to a question nobody asked, but it’s here, it’s a V12 and it looks amazing.

The Aston Martin Rapide is, let’s face it, getting old. It’s still gorgeous. It’s still one-of-a-kind and it’s the car I’d have if I needed one like it. Even though I’ve never driven it. Because it’s pretty and it’s fast and it’s an Aston Martin.

Aston Martin Rapide

The Rapide is an interesting thing. I actually wrote “old school” first, but it’s nothing of the sort. A four-door sedan with a coupe roofline, Aston pedigree and a V12 engine was unheard of until it arrived way back in 2010.

You could probably call it a four-door GT car and that’s as close as you can get without just saying, “It’s a Rapide.”

As it has been around for a while, the Rapide has been tweaked over the years, with the Rapide S now leaving the factory with its 5.9-litre V12 (Aston calls it a 6.0-litre) producing 412kW (550PS) for all your…uh…rapid needs.

Rapide AMR

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Like the other DB11 AMR cars, the Rapide ups the power, the torque and the grrr. A mere 210 of these bad boys will hit the streets and tracks and are price accordingly.

Power is up on the V12 to 440kW (603PS) in the US and Europe, while other markets (read Southern Hemisphere) “only” score 433kW (589PS). Car makers should stop doing that.

The extra poke comes from a freer breathing engine courtesy of larger inlet manifolds and tuned dual inlet runners.

The shouty new exhaust probably has something to do with a few extra horses, too. And shouty it will be with peak power arriving at 7000rpm.

It’s no quicker to the benchmark 100km/h (62mph) – 4.4 seconds – but will run on to 330km/h.

The AMR rides on huge 21-inch forged alloys wrapped in Michelin Super Sports. The huge carbon ceramic brakes – 400mm front and 360mm rears – help wipe speed off the two tonne machine. Cornering is further improved with a 10mm lower ride height.

Styling

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As you can see, it’s not the elegant, lithe four-door coupe that is the S. No, the AMR isn’t shy. You can choose from three different colour schemes. The Signature you see in the Aston-supplied photos and there is also Standard and Silhouette.

The front splitter and grille is lifted from the Zagato concept used as the Rapide AMR’s styling taster, along with circular LED driving lights. Some of the styling changes are all function, with a ton of aero parts made from carbon fibre. The rear diffuser is particularly striking, flanked by quad exhausts either side.

Inside is…well, it’s pretty much the same in front of you. It’s not bad it’s just looking a bit old. You can get the whacko steering wheel from the Vulcan, though, if you want. The front seats are deep buckets trimmed in Alcantara with an AMR lime stripe.

If you don’t like any of it, you have a choice. 1. Don’t buy the AMR (oh, duh) or 2. You can engage Aston’s Q design division.

Pricing has finally been announced and makes this slightly late article look bang up to date. Unfortunately for Chinese and Russian buyers, Aston won’t be making the AMR available. Officially, at least.

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Peter Anderson

Peter Anderson is the Editor and founder of the theredline.com.au. He’s been writing about cars for years and finds it difficult to talk about anything else.