For The first Aston 'saloon' is beautiful, fast and really can seat four. It's incredibly civilised, but also extremely capable. The car disguises its considerable size well when you're driving it.
Against Getting in and out of the back with dignity requires a knack: the Rapide is more of a four-door coupe than a limo. It's priced against the Bentley Continental GT rather than the cheaper Porsche Panamera, which is a surprise.
The first four-door Aston to make it into production is an instant hit. It's less aggressive than most of the company's two-seaters, but still an Aston Martin at heart.
Aston Martin doesn't do saloons – or at least, it didn't. There was the Atom prototype in the 1930s, but it never saw the light of day. Since then, the only four-door cars the company has produced have been badged as Lagondas.
Aston reckons it still doesn't do saloons: it calls the Rapide 'a four-door coupe'. Understandable, when you look at it. It's instantly recognisable as an Aston Martin, but one with two rear doors and four seats – and, yes, there really is room for four, although getting in and out of the back isn't the most elegant of operations.
There's just one model, powered by a softened version of the company's 6.0-litre V12 driving through an automatic gearbox, and based on a heavily revised version of the aluminium, magnesium and composites architecture from the DB and Vantage ranges.