Rapide Design: Exterior

DESIGN ETHOS: EXTERIOR

The visual language of Aston Martin is highly distinctive. Across a range of three cars, the company's design team, led by Design Director Marek Reichman, fulfils Aston Martin's core values - power, beauty and soul - with bodywork that is taut, poised and muscular. 'The brand is about the driving experience,' says Reichman, explaining how the concept is intended to provide everything customers have to come to expect from an Aston Martin, and more. 'We wanted to make the most beautiful 4-door car in the world,' he says, as he traces the Rapide's development from a series of exploratory sketches in the Summer of 2005 to the finished, fully-functioning prototype. In the process, Reichman and his team explored the way the Rapide might be used, where and when it would be driven, even who would be driving. The 4-door body was a natural way of providing access to the Rapide's increased interior space, part of Aston Martin's commitment to design usability.  "If there's a space then you should also offer accessibility, otherwise you're not being honest," explains Dr Bez.