As the four-door Aston Martin Rapide sedan soldiers toward a decade of production, the company has decided to give it a stimulant in the form of lime green decorations and a 580 horsepower AMR performance trim with 465 lb-ft of torque.
Aston Martin has announced that the Rapide AMR is powered by a familiar naturally aspirated 6.0-liter V12 engine that’s about 28 HP healthier than the now-puny Rapide S, and also features a raft of aerodynamic and suspension tweaks to make it just a little sweeter than the $205,000 standard car.
Giant carbon ceramic brakes tucked behind beautiful 21-inch wheels will help slow the four-passenger vehicle, which is good, because apparently it’s capable of 205 mph and sprinting from a stop to 62 mph in 4.2 seconds.
If you want to dive into technical specifics, Aston Martin has a data sheet on its website.
For the privilege of such power, Aston Martin rings the Rapide AMR up at $240,000 but you already knew that if you had to ask, you can’t afford it.
The Rapide is a really nice looking car, and disguises the fact that it has four doors remarkably well. But an unfortunately side effect of such styling is that the rear seats are barely more usable than the little buckets you might get behind the front seats of a standard sports car.
I climbed into the back of a Rapide at a dealer opening in Massachusetts years and years ago, which I barely remember, which should give you a hint as to how ancient this platform is. But I do distinctly recall having a lot of trouble getting my knees all the way into the car after putting my butt in the seat. I’m a pretty lean guy, so since that experience I’ve always wondered, what is the point of the Rapide?
Of course there’s no point getting existential about any cars in this price bracket. There is no “why,” there is only “why not.” So since the Rapide exists, why not make a faster and cooler looking AMR version?
Speaking of cooler looking, let’s soak up a few more angles of that exceptionally sweet lime-on-green colorway.