You Kahn Design A Sexier Aston Martin Rapide For 007

The Rapide is Aston Martin’s four-door sports saloon for the man who wants to play secret agent from time to time, but still needs space for when his mates decide to come cruising. For these two activities, there really is no alternative.

As if the Rapide wasn’t already ball-achingly beautiful, A. Kahn Design felt the need to bring a little extra elegance to the table. The key to a successfully modified motor is to work with what’s already there and importantly with the Rapide, Kahn and the gang didn’t come in chopping and changing everything in sight. Subtlety is the key here, with an exterior styling package that consists of a front bumper grille mesh and side vent grilles in matte black, bonnet vents in billet, black brake calipers, sports exhaust and privacy glass.

The suspension has been lowered to give the Aston an improved stance while maintaining the supple ride that befits such a vehicle. Kahn are eager to promote the elegance of the package, but don’t let that fool you into thinking this is for old boys who just want to nonchalantly roll about town flaunting their wealth. Beyond 5,000rpm the sports exhaust helps transform the Rapide into its psychotic twin; the engine becoming more responsive as that magnificent V12 howls.

Inside, Kahn’s ‘bespoke touch’ is rather subdued, leaving much of Aston's craftmanship well alone. The Rapide has an alcantara sport steering wheel and instrument binnacle combining with Aston’s familiar mix of soft leather and bare metal switches. Unfortunately the alcantara just looks a little too aftermarket, particularly on the binnacle, but Kahn's bespoke service means you can request pretty much any modifications. Removing it would surely be a cinch.

The Kahn Design Aston Martin Rapide, with all its bespoke this and modified that, comes in at a pinch under £125,000. Kinda pisses all over that Fiesta you saw on Auto Trader really, doesn’t it...