Aston Martin Rapide interior shots surface

This appears to be the first official image of the interior of the Aston Martin RapideThe Aston Martin Rapide has been on its way for what seems like forever. But finally, it’s almost here. The plan is to have the Rapide at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September and have the car on sale in early 2010.

So it’s no real surprise, with the Aston Martin Rapide actually getting to the point of being production ready, that shots (or renderings, probably) have surfaced. We had ‘official’ shots of the Aston Martin Rapide in April, and now we have an interior shot. Not the biggest – or most enlightening – shot, but they do seem to be real, rather than the work of an enthusiastic amateur Photoshopper.

So what do we see? Well, no surprises really – it’s a bigger DB9! But that’s not a criticism. The Aston Martin DB9 does have one of the best interiors there is. And this AM Rapide interior seems to be a dead-ringer for the DB9 – but with ample room in the back.

It would appear that stretching the beautiful DB9 to create the Rapide really has worked. That 10″ stretch has meant the roofline has been raised by 2-3″ to keep the proportions as elegant. Which means that there won’t just be legroom in the back of the Rapide, but half-decent headroom too.

So it looks like a four-door, four-seater Aston Martin saloon is going to work – very well. The back seat passengers appear to be getting properly bolstered seats, and of course they are sunk nicely in to the seats surrounded by the car and a substantial rear centre console. Doubtless swathed in leather with the centre console incorporating controls for the entertainment systems and rear climate with cupholders etc.

Expect performance in the Aston Martin Rapide to be ‘adequate’. It’s expected to get a 470bhp version of Aston’s V12 which should give sub 5.0 second 0-60 time. And we’re pretty sure it will slot in somewhere between the Aston Martin DB9 and Aston Marin DBS in price – somewhere around the £145k mark.

Expect much more meat to flesh out these bones in the coming weeks as the official reveal finally nears.