New Aston Martin Rapide

The Aston Martin Rapide promo video belowWe have video of the new Aston Martin Rapide testing at MIRA and the Nurburgring and driving in the mountains of Italy.We finally got the launch proper of the DB9 derived Aston Martin Rapide at the Frankfurt Motor Show last month. Little changed from the Rapide Concept we saw what seems like a decade ago, it is the most elegant and successful creation so far of a four-door, four-seat supercar.

But now comes the problem of shifting the Rapide in the real world. Aston has a problem or three at the moment, not just with low sales but also with their main investor – the Kuwait Investment Dar – having some severe funding issues. But never mind, the Rapide is a glorious car and deserves to take a slice of the market.

So Aston Martin are starting the offensive with this promo video, chronicling the development of the Rapide (I know, it should be at least three hours long to justify its gestation – but it’s just three minutes). We see the Rapide doing a bit of high speed testing at MIRA and on the Nurburgring before a pair of Rapides drive in to mountains in Italy to play.

The video tells us nothing new, but the Rapide is always worth a look and some of the shots are impressive. Just to remind you, the Rapide has a V12 6.0 litre with 470bhp and a 0-60mph of about 5 seconds. It doesn’t match up to the Panamera Turbo’s performance, but it doesn’t need to – just look at it. Unlike the Panamera it’s a completely convincing super-saloon.