Aston Martin Rapide

The saying: "What came first, the chicken or the egg" best describes 'super-iconic car wars' if you can use this phrase--at least as an improper noun!...The end result of these 'wars' is Aston Martin's latest attempts at building (or rebuilding since this is not Aston's first attempt at this venture) a sedan for the status quo who isn't quite satisfy with a Mercedes S-Class, or BMW 7-Series. For these caviar-type consumers, even the Jaguar XJ or the Maserati Quatro just won't do!

But even the lucky few who can afford $500.00 lunches at Beverly Hills or Park Ave will have to wait for this puppy to show up. The Aston Martin Rapide is not scheduled to debut until late 2010-2011. When the Rapide finally take the runway like the most beautiful/thin/gracious of all models does; the Rapide will go for a mere $260,000. Twice what the Porsche Panamera will sell for, actually even more; you'll be able to purchase the Porsche Sedan for less than $100,000 (probably not the first models since they are probably already spoken for, but anything after that), but not the Aston. Of course, the Porsche is still a working man/woman's car; be it a successful man/woman at that, however: Aston's, Ferrari's, and Lamborghini's have always been for people with old money. That is to say: people who were born with a silver spoon in their mouth--and nothing less.

The name 'Rapide' makes reference to the Lagonda Rapide. The Rapide was a GT 4 door sedan which was built by Aston in order to try and revive the British brand Lagonda. The Lagonda and the Aston became to each other like the Bentley and Rolls Royce, with one exception: when Aston purchased Lagonda after WWII; the Lagonda fused with the Aston Martin and was never built as an independent vehicle/brand--only under the Aston name, example: Aston Martin Lagonda, etc., etc.

The Rapide will have over 450 horsepower, although the Porsche Panamera has a 500 horsepower for half the price, actually; the Panamera has three models, and two of them will be priced under $100,000, so we are talking less than half...But unlike the Porsche: the Rapide will be a very exclusive automobile.

The Rapide will compete with the likes of the Audi A7, Porsche Panamera, and Lamborghini Estoque. Of course Audi and Porsche have always been performance oriented; Lamborghini has always been exotic oriented; but the Aston Martin bring British luxury to the table, and nobody says luxury like the Brits do!...