The Aston Martin V12 Rapide isn’t exactly the type of car that you’d bring out on a date with Mother Nature. Sure, it can get dirty once in a while, but for the most part, it belongs in the metropolis with paved concrete streets as its jungle.
So imagine our surprise when we found out that the British luxury sports saloon is being prepared for an expedition unlike anything it has ever done in the past, James Bond movies included.
Aston Martin is preparing the V12 Rapide for a three-day excursion into the heart of the harsh Alaskan wilderness as a way of slamming home the point that the Rapide is more than just stunning good looks and powerhouse powertrain; it can also survive the test of endurance and durability amidst some pretty serious conditions surrounding it.
The entire trip will take the V12 Rapide across 1,230 miles in Alaska, beginning in Anchorage all the way to the town of Fairbanks through the Prudhoe Bay all the way up to the town of Deadhorse just a stone’s throw away from the Arctic Ocean.
Continued after the jump.
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Investors are getting more and more strict when it comes to allowing people to borrow their money and it seems as if Aston Martin is getting the short end of that stick. The British sports car maker has secured a £304 million bond - about $440 million at the current rates - from global investors at a rather high 9.25% interest over the next seven years. That’s a 3-4% increase over the typical interest rate. Desperate or not, Aston Martin now has the money to design an all new platform for their full line of sports cars, including the DB9, Vantage and Rapide. Expect the new line to debut in 2015 or 2016 with the first details of the new design and production engineering showing up in a concept car sometime in 2012.
Before the British automaker moves to the new platform, however, their current VH platform will have to be modified to obey the new Federal FMVSS pedestrian impact rules. This re-engineered platform will be used for facelift versions of all three models. The new models will also benefit from new skin panels, revised interiors, and tweaked chassis and engines.
It looks like the V12 Zagato Racer won’t be the only Aston Martin model participating in the Nürburgring 24-hour race in Europe and the Spring Mountain 24 hours in Nevada. The Rapide will also be making its presence known at the race, first to demonstrate the durability of Aston Martin’s four door sports coupe, then to help raise money for charity. Surely this has something to do with the fact that the company has been experiencing slow demand for the luxury sports sedan and has since chopped production for the Rapide from 2,000 units all the way down to 1,250 per year. Since they took care of cutting costs - Step One - we’ll do our part in helping them out with Step Two: Marketing.
Julian Jenkins from Aston Martin the Americas, said: "Since its launch, the Rapide has been popular with customers looking for an exclusive sports car with a combination of exhilarating performance, handcrafted style, and added four-door practicality. As well as raising money for Heart for Japan, this 24-hour initiative will give us an opportunity to showcase the endurance capabilities of the Rapide which in turn demonstrates its everyday usability and durability."
"We’re truly excited to participate in this challenge. Since the Rapide made its racing debut at last year’s 24-hour race at the Nurburgring, we wondered how a street version would compare if driven continuously for a day over a closed circuit. Seeing how close we can get to the race distance covered last year will be an excellent measure of the car’s real-world performance."
The Rapide is going to need all of the publicity it can get in order to jumpstart the vehicle’s reputation once again. It shouldn’t be too difficult, though. We are talking about an Aston Martin after all.
The spy photographers are out again and they’ve caught a special Aston Martin Rapide testing at the Nurburgring. Initial rumors on this vehicle suggested it was a facelift version of the luxury sedan, but it seems the news is even better. The company is preparing an even more powerful version of the Rapide that will drop the current 470 HP 6.0 Liter V12 in favor of the engine used in the DBS. This means we will get 40 HP more with the new S version. With the new 510 HP, the Rapide S will sprint faster than the current model which does the 0 to 60 mph sprint in 5.1 seconds.
Next to the engine improvement, the Rapide S will feature an even more aggressive front and rear fascia, a lower front bumper with an additional air intake and deep scoops, a more prominent boot lip spoiler and a reprofiled bumper.
The new Aston Martin Rapide S will go on sale in late 2012 and will be priced at about £200,000 or about $325,000 at the current exchange rates.
The Geneva Motor Show is now in the rear-view mirror, which means that the spotlight has now turned to the New York Auto Show this coming April, and if there’s one thing that we can all look forward to in New York, it’s that it will be the site of the 2011 World Car of the Year awards.
All in all, 39 vehicles were included in the initial entry list comprising of new cars from all over the world. From these 39 cars, the list was whittled down to ten finalists with the top three contenders from these 10 cars receiving the final nominations for the 2011 World Car of the Year title.
The cars that are subject for nomination are selected and voted on by an international jury panel consisting of 66 automotive journalists from 24 countries around the world. Each member of the panel has been appointed by the World Car Steering Committee on the merits of their experience, credibility, and influence within the auto industry in their respective countries and, to an extent, in the region.
Eligibility for the World Car award is important in determining which cars can be nominated for the awards. This year, all candidates for the awards must become available for sale on at least two continents from January 1, 2010 to May 30, 2011.
Apart from the World Car of the Year title, other awards that will be announced at the New York Auto Show include the World Performance Car of the Year, the World Green Car of the Year, and the World Car Design of the Year.
Check out all the nominated cars for each of the categories after the jump.
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