One-of-47 RHD Aston Martin Rapide AMR for sale
Aston doesn't plan on making another four-door saloon. Good thing the last one was a riot
Aston Martin seems to have finally got its mojo back. That’s not to say Gaydon hasn’t been churning out some brilliant cars in recent years, from the monstrous DBS 770 Ultimate to the downright outrageous DBX707, but hit-or-miss styling, questionable interiors and outdated tech have held many of them back from greatness. Yet if the superb DB12, as one our favourite cars of 2023, and a return to form Vantage are anything to go by, the upcoming Vanquish and mid-engined Valhalla could give Aston Martin its greatest lineup in years.
A diverse lineup at that, too. The British marque now has the front- and mid-engined super boxes ticked, along with its bread-and-butter GTs and SUV money-maker. What it doesn’t have, however, is a four-door saloon. For good reason, unfortunately. The three-boxer is about as popular now as mandatory mask-wearing was a few years back, with SUVs the lifestyle-minded’s preferred way to get about - as it has been for yonks now. That’s ultimately what put paid to the Rapide, arguably one of the best-looking saloons ever conceived, which was axed in 2020 with no successor in sight. Knowing this would be it for the four-door, Aston made sure to send the Rapide off in style with the car you see here.
Now, most companies would usually get rid of their old stock by chucking on some black trim, loading it with options and calling it a day. Not so Aston Martin, which instead decided to create a track-inspired version of a car often spotted shuttling oil barons between Harrods and Liberty. If you think that sounds ridiculous, you’d be right. The AMR transformation began by transplanting the 5.9-litre naturally aspirated V12 from the Vantage GT12 - all 603hp and 465lb ft of it. No manual gearbox sadly, but the ZF eight-speed automatic used instead was said to be better than the Speedshift automated manual in the GT12, anyway.
Sillier still were recalibrated dampers, which had been honed on the Nurburgring, while the brakes were carbon ceramics as standard with six-pot callipers up front with humungous 400mm discs. Serious hardware for a car that’d likely never turn a wheel in anger on a race track, but the fact that it’s capable of doing so is all part of the Rapide AMR’s charm. As were the bucket seats front and rear, carbon fibre centre console and Alcantara trim, which seemed out of place in a four-door car at the time but has since been replicated in superb style by the BMW M5 CS and Audi RS6 GT.
Aston didn’t muck about with the styling, either. The original Rapide was an elegant thing that resembled a stretched DB9 (because it was), while the S brought a bit more presence (and maybe a little gawkiness) with a considerably larger grille. The AMR was quite a transformation, however, sporting carbon fibre splitter, skirts and diffuser, with four grenade launcher exhaust outlets at the back. The press cars were decked in Aston Martins racing colours, with dayglow green appearing on the centre stripe and around the skirts, though the more muted spec of the car you see here is perhaps a better fit for a Rapide.
Naturally, the Rapide AMR launched to critical acclaim and Aston had no trouble selling all 188 examples, 47 of which were built for the home market. The fact there’s one for sale on PH is noteworthy in itself, but of the seven Rapide’s currently for sale, two are AMRs. You’ll need £129,850 in spare change to bag this 16,000-mile car, while an extra £5,000 gets you this equally-muted blue car with only 3,000 miles on the clock. Or, for the left-field choice, how about Aston’s original four-door - the Lagonda - at a £30k discount? Granted it won’t be as quick on track, but it’ll turn just as many heads, if not more so.
Not sure about that - Aston found it pretty hard to sell anything around that time ( and still do to some extent ). Rapide in particular was always a hard sell...
Prefer a Lagonda myself, at least its a properly bizarre 3 door Aston, not a 4 door one that looks like a less attractive version of the 2 door.
They built a few Lagonda Rapides in the early 60s.
https://www.bing.com/search?pglt=43&q=lagonda+...
My Observers Book of Cars had one in it.
It was a beautiful car to own and drive, but I felt I needed to put it in the garage during the winter months as it was very loose!
Went on a golf trip with 3 sets of clubs and 3 tall men in it, but we more or less had to pull the rear seat passenger out!
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