Cars

2010 Aston Martin Rapide

Aston Martin’s Rapide is everything to everybody. A four-door coupe: check. A V12-powered sports car: check. The best-looking sedan, ever produced: check-check. But then again how long has it been since Aston Martin hasn’t produced an absolutely stunning product out of sheet metal? Quite some time, for sure.

Built to compete with the likes of Porsche’s Panamera, Mercedes’s CLS the upcoming Audi A7 and Lamborghini’s Estoque concept the Aston Martin Rapide had much leeway to create a “beautiful 4-place sports car” after the Panamera’s grilling by the press for its styling and the CLS’s redesign. Under the hood of the Rapide lays the naturally-aspirated 6L V12 found in the DB9 (essentially a carry-over) but pushing out 470HP through a standard 6-speed slushbox with electronic paddles making mere suggestions to the Touchtronic. Performance figures aren’t impressive (see the HP figure) and they’ll continue to disappoint those who shop-by-numbers; 0-60MPH takes just over five seconds (the same as a 2011 V6 Ford Mustang) and on to a top speed of 184MPH (less than all competitors lest electronic nannies).

But none of that’s important right now because the Aston Martin Rapide is a DB9 with two more doors and that’s just flat-out impressive. Today’s eBay find is the first Rapide available on eBay and is finished in Tungsten Silver (a carry-over corporate color for the Ford-era) with black leather and over 600 miles on the clock already. Located in Miami and listed for a smidge under 200K at $199,000 this fine piece of British engineering, er… an elongated DB9 built in Austia… can be in your driveway to proudly claim your position as the first one on the block.

2010 Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SuperVeloce

Have you had your eye on one of those brand-new and shiny (does matte-gray paint shine?) Lamborghini Reventón? Can’t bring yourself to trade a kidney, sell your kids, or spend $1.25-2.5 million for one of the 20 coupes produced? Well good news! You can get same puckered-up bung-hole seat-of-the-pants rocketship feelings, that same “look at me” announcement at every traffic light, same Joie de vivre feelings and even more thrust for less than half the cost (no organ transplants required).

Whereas the 2009 Reventón was based on the 2006 Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 with a measly 640 HP, today’s eBay find has the same chassis with even more oomph, pushing out 670 HP. The 2010 LP670-4 SuperVeloce is what they call it 0-60 in 3.2 seconds is what it does. All. Day. Long. This Murciélago can reach 213 MPH, it has a lighter exhaust system, improved brakes, modified intake and valve timings and several interior parts have been modified for either lightness or to resemble the Reventón. This Murciélago is the swan-song for the Murciélago line (tears from the peanut gallery) the LP670-4′s production run is limited to only 350 cars rather than the Reventón’s 20.

Today’s eBay find is an LP67-4 SuperVeloce in Bianco Isis with a claimed 299 miles on the clock and its list of features include the cabon fiber interior package, carbon ceremic brakes, and an optional large rear wing for stability. Bidding hasn’t met a reserve but the Buy-It-Now price of $484,045 sounds like a bargain compared to what Reventón’s are fetching these days. Take a look here and happy bidding!

[wordbay]Lamborghini (LP670, , LP650, LP640)[/wordbay]