Consider yourself blessed when you get a glimpse of an Aston’s Million Pound Car – One 77 in India. At least that was the feeling we had when we attended Aston Martin’s Press conference held in Mumbai yesterday.

Aston Martin India Press Conference

The event marked the entry of the most iconic British brand to India. The 007’s car is finally here to grace the Indian streets. In an exclusive partnership with Performance cars, a division of Infinity Cars India Pvt Limited, Aston Martin announced its entire range of cars (except the Cygnet) in India. The reason why Cygnet is not coming to India is because in order to import a small car in a CBU form, its engine should displace above 3,000 cc which the baby Aston doesn’t.

Aston Martin India Press Conference

Nonetheless, the range of cars that will be available in India include:

• DBS – Coupe and Volante (convertible)
• Rapide
• Virage – Coupe and Volante
• DB9 – Coupe and Volante
• Both V8 and V12 Vantage – Roadster, Coupe and S version

Aston Martin One 77

But the real show stopper was indeed the Aston Martin One-77 which Aston Martin launched at a jaw dropping price of 20 CR – Yes 20 with 7 zeros. This is officially the most expensive car in India outpricing the predecessor- The Veyron GrandSport by 4 crore rupees. What a way to enter a market!

Aston Martin One 77 Interiors

But then again only 77 pieces of the One-77 will be made (hence the name). Owing one is like owing a Kohinoor diamond (no pun intended). And joy of all joy, they have found a buyer for a pop.

This is also the first time a luxury sports car manufacturer has opened a showroom and an after sales center simultaneously in India

Aston Martin V8 Vantage

But if you think that you are a strapped to spend 20CR on a car, then you can have the Vantage which starts at 1.55 Cr OR if you are a family guy and want to enjoy the trill of speed along with your family, you have the Rapide at 2.55 CR. Nothing below a crore though

And I am pretty sure that you haven’t read a word of the above article because you are waiting for the pics. So here are some pics from the event. In case you are hungry for more pics, log on to our Facebook page where we have uploaded tonnes of them

Aston Martin in India – Image Gallery

Want more images?

Head over to Indian Autos Blog Facebook Page to see more images

As we speak, Aston Martin is announcing its entry into India at its first dealership in Mumbai. Aston Martins will be sold in Mumbai by Infinity cars who also operate a popular BMW dealership in the city. The showroom will be put up at Kemps corner and the after sales office will be located in Worli.

The Mumbai dealership is open from today while the Delhi dealership will begin functioning from May. Featured in many Bond movies, Aston Martin is not a mass-market brand as only 55,000 cars are on the road today. According to Aston Martin, its cars stand for Power, Beauty and Soul. Having increased its presence to 43 countries now, Aston sees serious potential in emerging markets.

The Vantage and Rapide models are on display at the dealership now. Except Cygnet, all other Astons will be sold here.

Aston Martin Prices (ex-showroom Mumbai)

One 77 – 20 crore rupees (no typo here, I promise)

Rapide – 2.15 crore rupees

Vantage – 1.55 crore rupees

20 cars have been prebooked already and 20 are on Indian roads, bought through individual importers. Aston has high hopes on the 4-door Rapide model. Though its fuel economy figure stands at 3.6 kmpl, it isn’t going to matter to the buyer. The only thing bothering him and keeping him awake at night is the six month waiting period.

Aston Martin reveal live images

It is rumored that Aston will reveal prices of its entire range of models. The vehicles will be distributed here by Performance Car (Division of Infinity Cars Pvt. Ltd, a popular name in the luxury car business).

Indian Autos Blog is among the privileged few holding an invite to the event. As usual, we’ll bring you live updates and interesting tidbits from the launch floor. Stay tuned to IAB!

Motoroids is reporting that Aston Martin is going to officially land on Indian shores by the end of this year. The cult British car maker is looking to start with a dealership in Delhi and Mumbai, the two sure-shot markets for exotic vehicles.

The company will be introducing the V8 Vantage, DBS and the recently unveiled four-door saloon, the Rapide. The company might not launch the V12 version of the Vantage in the Indian market.

The prices for the cars is expected to begin at around 1.25 crore rupees for the V8 vantage and could go upto 2.95 crores for the top of the range DBS.

With Aston Martin also set to officially make its India entry, the two boxes that aren’t checked are Ferrari and Maserati.

Source – Motoroids

Forget the low resolution, colorless leaked official pictures of the Aston Martin Rapide. Here’s the real deal – Non-camouflaged close-up shots of the 4-door Aston that debuts at the Frankfurt Motor show next month.

The 4-door Aston is deployed to wipe out the Porsche Panamera and the upcoming Estoque (if it does come) from Lamborghini. Powered by a 470HP 6.0-liter V12 engine delivering about 600Nm torque, the Rapide’s rapid acceleration will get rapider with the new V12 engine in the future sourced from Mercedes Benz.

In what looks like a parking lot of a road side restaurant, a couple of fully disrobed Rapides were photographed, accompanied by another partly camouflaged car.

I’m not sure if the drivers of these cars were bribed. How come they allowed someone to open the doors and pick up some snaps?

Either it was that, or the drivers forgot what they were driving and their duties.

Or they were drunk.

Good for us though. Click on the thumbnails for hi-res images.

Source – Diablo Motor

Only this morning we posted information on the Rapide’s official Frankfurt launch. Hours later, one of our readers brought this to our notice – Leaked official images of the Rapide.

One thing we missed reminding our new readers is about its future engine – a V12 engine developed by Mercedes Benz for its future S-Class.

The Aston Martin Rapide concept was unveiled three years back. Back then the word ‘recession’ was confused with ‘depression.’ Who really cared? Aston engineers and customers were fully protected from both, thanks to the development and the expectation and enthusiasm of viewing the fully finished product shortly after.

However, times changed quickly. Depression and recession now go hand in hand. Development times have expanded like the universe – lay offs, pay cuts, budget slashes, (bankruptcy filing) and all that have helped for the wrong reasons.

After all the drama and delay, finally, the Aston Martin Rapide will be made official at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It is supposed to be powered by a 470HP 6.0-liter V12 engine delivering about 600Nm torque.

Recession or no recession, fully expect the price tag to remain unscathed. The Aston Martin Rapide is expected to carry a £110,000 price tag when it goes on sale.

Cheap. (If you were the Sultan of Brunei)

P.S – If you don’t have the interest to attend the show in Frankfurt or want to desperately see the car, then you should take a look at the Aston Martin category page every day from today.

Temperatures are on higher side during this time of the year in Kuwait. Aston Martin engineers believed this was the finest place to try out the forthcoming Aston Martin Rapide, putting it through some heat testing and logging the response.

The Aston Martin Rapide was cruising on the streets of Kuwait when one attentive car buff took out his cam and began filming. The car was partly camouflaged.

This new powerplant is likely to make appearance in the next S-Class, and Aston Martin has also inked a deal with Mercedes for this engine.

Mercedes-Benz’ V12 unit will be used in the Aston Martin DB9 and upcoming Rapide after its 2012 release.

Aston Martin at present uses a 6.0-liter V12 Duratec engine sourced from Ford (If you are reading this for the first time, your Fiesta immediately develops a Bond car connection).

It is widely believed that the Aston Martin Rapide would use the same Ford-sourced V12 unit when it embarks production. In the future, Aston might swap the Merc engine in place of the Duratec. People are even saying Aston could delay production dates to bring in the Merc V12 from day one.

Things are muddled but one thing is clear. Aston Martins from 2012 will use Mercedes engines.

Source – 4 wheels news

Spy photographers are unnecessary if you look at what Simon Gregg, a follower of Car Magazine has just caught on his cam- That’s right, he snapped a production model of the 4-door Aston in a parking lot without ANY camouflage. Take a bow Simon.

The car spied here could be one of the final prototypes before the actual car is shown at the Frankfurt Motor show in mid-September. The naked prototype finished in black, has its interiors soaked in red.

Poised to take on the 4-seat-4-door contenders like the stylish Porsche Panamera and the Mercedes Benz CLS, the Rapide is fitted with a 6.0-liter V12 engine that makes 470bhp and 600Nm of torque. Power will be directed to the rear wheels through a six-speed ZF automatic transmission with Aston’s Touchtronic control.

The Aston Martin Rapide will arrive at showrooms around the globe in 2010. Don’t expect it to cost any less than $200,000.

Aston Martin Rapide Image Gallery

Source – Car Magazine U.K