Aston Martin Rapide

Ahead of its eagerly anticipated unveiling at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show, Kevin Hackett rides aboard the Rapide in the stifling heat of Kuwait – the final leg of a punishing testing programme for Aston Martin’s new four-door sports saloon, and a stark reminder of the lengths Aston Martin will go to get their cars just right.

The temperature outside is 51 degrees. (That’s Celsius). I can’t see more than 100 yards in any direction because airborne sand is swirling all around us, but I do know there’s little out there but a world of hurt. The desert is vast, flat and featureless – as far removed as it’s possible to be from the romantic landscapes conjured up by visions of Lawrence of Arabia, camels and Bedouin tents. This is an extreme environment. This is Kuwait.

Ignoring the nagging voices in my head, I open the Aston Martin’s rear door and climb out to face the stifling heat, to experience first hand what this car is being subjected to. Every inch of bare skin is suddenly sandblasted by the desert wind and every fibre of my being is telling me to get back inside the car, where a leather-lined, supremely comfy and climate-controlled oasis of an interior awaits. After a few minutes one grain of sand too many finds its way behind my sunglasses and I admit defeat, open the Aston Martin’s rear door again and climb back inside.

‘Aston Martin’s rear door’; yes, you read that right. This is the new four-door Rapide – now fully arrived, after its concept’s debut in 2006 – and it’s being put through its paces in the final stages of development testing. From the freezing wastelands of the Arctic Circle to the incendiary wastelands of the Middle East; from the craziness of the Nürburgring in Germany to the staggering complexity of the Stelvio Pass in Italy; the Rapide has seen and done it all and, frankly, it’s been no holiday.

In my naivety I had previously thought that, if a car’s mechanics had already been proved through this kind of testing, it needn’t be repeated for every derivative. I was wrong. Despite the Rapide’s bonded-aluminium VH-platform architecture, 6.0-litre V12 engine and Touchtronic transmission having already excelled themselves throughout Aston Martin’s formidable current range, and been the subject of many years’ intense research and development, it by no means lets Rapide off the hook.