The Office Of The Future

Improving on the DB11? Surely Not! Stephen Corby drives Aston Martin’s firstever monikered AMR to find out the truth.

- Stephen Corby

Some people, poor souls, just can’t bear to be away from the office, which might explain why they seek to buy cars that feel like an expensive, plush, leathery and luxurious executive suite on wheels.

In the impending future, come the autonomous-driving revolution, these people are going to be very happy indeed, because car companies are already working with airline-cabin designers to make vehicles that will feel like private jets inside (which are basically flash offices with wings).

For now, though, they will have to settle for driving something like the new Aston Martin DB11 AMR, while shouting at someone on speakerphone, making it feel more like they’re still at work. 

Aston Martin has always done interiors that feel like they’ve been sourced from the plushest reaches of an antique shop, but this new DB11 – powered by a pulsating V12 engine and wearing the company’s first-ever AMR badge, designating its place as a “pinnacle performance model” – is something else.

The leather-lined loveliness of the dash, seats and doors is what you’d expect, as is the giant, fast-feeling, Alcantara-swathed steering wheel, but it’s the roof lining that really blows your mind. Perfect perforated leather with racing stripes, it is the Sistine Chapel of car cabins, and is indicative of the attention to detail on display in this US$315,370 masterpiece.