The new Aston Martin Rapide unveiled in Detroit

Aston Martin is unveiling a 4-door concept car at the 2006 Detroit Motorshow on Monday, January 9th. The Aston Martin Rapide, a four seat high performance coupe, illustrates the flexibility of Aston Martin’s unique VH (Verticle/Horizontal) architecture - a glued and riveted extruded aluminium tub with a backbone of carbon fibre. The full official press release will be available on Monday Jan 9th.

According to TOP GEAR Michael Harvey, the four-door version of the DB9 will be 5 meters long (size of a Quattroporte) - 300mm or 0.984 feet longer than the DB9. Because of the car's extra weight, the engine (DB9's V12) has been upgraded from 450 to 480 bhp and the brakes are now carbon ceramic. The price? Around $250,000.