Special Feature
Aston Martin Rapide Nearly every new member that joins P1 International wants to drive an Aston Martin. They have invariably grown up with James Bond and of course watched Top Gear avidly and have therefore fallen in love with the car and the brand even before they have sat in it.
This Jekyll and Hyde quality really does offer you two cars under one skin as it is a true sports car and yet is also a refined classic. This is almost the car that Ian Fleming should have given to Bond as it is as two dimensional as he is — ladies’ man and assassin.
The Aston Martin range is, quite possibly, the most beautiful in production anywhere. The Italians will always consider themselves the best designers and makers of supercars but there is something that is quite simply gorgeous about an Aston Martin and that, to us, is unmatched anywhere else.
The Rapide is a popular car on the P1 fleet because it genuinely offers comfortable seating for four people and with four doors! It is incredible how they have managed to hide the doors into the beautiful curves of the car, but manage it they have and this car is truly special. You sit cocooned in comfort and style. The Rapide is the perfect Trans-European Grand Tourer, and if you do find yourself in Cannes or Milan, or even Munich, there is not a continental chap anywhere that would not look enviously at an Aston Martin.
Powered by a hugely impressive 6ltr V12 engine, that growls and burbles like a caged beast, it will reward the driver with bags of grip and superb handling if you work the 6 speed touchtronic gearbox, but can also act in a docile and tame manner for city driving.
78 | www.financial-spread-betting.com | September 2012