| Passenger Preview | Graz, Austria | 2010 Aston Martin Rapide |

Aston Martin's new Middle East owners loved the 2006 Rapide concept so much that they agreed to invest the necessary funds in its significant development. It's virtually ready now, with production starting early in 2010. The decision was made to create a bespoke production facility in partnership with Magna Steyr in Austria and allow buyers visit the plant for a tour and to spec up their car. The first drive of the Rapide isn't until early next year, but we went over to Graz to check out the factory and be teased with a passenger ride in a near-production version.

In the Metal

We've already seen the finished Rapide on Aston's stand at the Frankfurt Motor Show and given that the design language is already familiar to the rest of the range it's no surprise that it's a looker, but seeing the new four-door for the first time in daylight was, well, illuminating. This is a truly gorgeous car that doesn't look in one bit compromised by its four-seat remit. Some will dismiss it as nothing more than a stretched DB9, but they'll change their minds when they first see it.

Although the Rapide is almost as large as the Porsche Panamera, Aston Martin was willing to sacrifice outright practicality in the pursuit of style and the result - other than the spectacular lines - is a more snug rear. There's actually quite useful leg- and headroom once you're in, but the door aperture is distinctly small and takes some getting used to. Additionally, width is restricted by the huge transmission tunnel.

That houses more than just the solid torque tube joining the engine to the transaxle, as Aston has fitted a second air conditioning unit for the rear passengers. So the space is definitely 'cosy', if not as constricted as you might expect given the small door opening. The cabin is a thing of beauty though, with bespoke Bridge of Weir leather trim everywhere and loads of exquisite metal detailing. DB9 owners will feel right at home in the front seats, as the whole instrument pack is shared with the coupé and the shape of the footwells is identical.

What you get for your Money

Prices have yet to be finalised, though it's estimated that the Rapide could top £150,000, which is over fifty grand more than the Panamera Turbo. In purely logical terms these cars are not rivals, though we're not convinced that buyers at this price point have value for money at the top of their list of priorities. Saying that, while the Porsche's options list is both extensive and expensive, the Rapide will come virtually fully equipped as standard, a state-of-the-art entertainment system being the only major option, while buyers will pore for hours over how to trim their car such are the in depth choices to make. An example is the stitching on the seats: the colour, pitch and style of the stitching can be altered to the buyer's taste.

Driving it

We've not driven the Rapide as yet, but we did get driven in it on a variety of road surfaces. In fact, Aston Martin took us out on the road loop the new factory in Graz uses to quality test random cars off the production line once a day. And the driver was not hanging about...

Even before we set off it's clear that Aston wants to make a statement of intent with this car, as at idle the exhaust is loud. Admittedly this car wasn't quite the finished product, but apparently it's not far off. The merest touch of the throttle results in a lovely melodic bark from the rear pipes, though the tuning of the system allows for a relatively quiet cruise.

The first part of the route is along urban roads and this immediately indicates that there is no 'comfort' setting for the adaptive dampers. In their default mode they're quite stiff, giving credence to Aston's claim that this is a four-door sports car, not a luxury car. That point is hammered home as soon as we leave the town and the throttle is pinned. For the next few miles the road climbs upwards and weaves through a forest by a series of tight sweeping bends and even from where I'm sitting it's clear that the Rapide is a lot of fun to drive. It corners flat and fast and front-end bite is keen, while the rear tyres can be coaxed out a little in what seemed to be a safe and controlled manner.

We used a few miles of motorway for the end of the drive and the Rapide felt comfortable enough, with wind and road noise kept in check, though the overriding impression was that this is a car that you'll want to drive, not be driven in.

Worth Noting

A detailed tour around Aston's factory illustrated just how far the company has come from the days of hand beating aluminium bodies. There is still a lot of craftsmanship involved in the production of the Rapide - notably in the cabin - but arguably the real craft is the innovation and attention to detail gone into the development of the car by Aston's engineers.

One such detail is the opening and closing of the side windows. Marek Reichman, Aston's design boss, incorporated a glass-to-glass interface between the front and rear doors on the original Rapide concept and it was decided that the feature should make production, despite having never been done before. The result is that when you move to open the front door, not only does the front window drop by a few mm, but so does the rear; and the tiny triangle of glass at the front also moves independently on a cam. The reason for all this was to ensure maximum insulation when the windows are raised, an attribute that is enhanced when, at 40mph, the windows rise further up into the seal automatically.

Summary

Needless to say we'll give our final judgement on how the Rapide drives early next year, but first impressions are that it'll seduce buyers even before they get behind the wheel. Aston can only build 2,000 examples a year as well, so it's likely to remain a relatively exclusive model and retain its value. Deliveries begin in the second half of 2010, but we'd urge all potential buyers to get themselves along to the factory for the tour ahead of that.