Michael Crider
Aston Martin, famed manufacturer of cars of both the race- and spy- variety, is getting outside of its comfort zone. The British company is offering up a luxury racing simulator, complete with a cockpit modeled after the Valkyrie supercar, a painstakingly accurate steering force-feedback steering wheel and pedals, and a massive curved monitor where the dashboard would be.
The AMR-C01 Racing Simulator was developed in cooperation with Curv Racing, a UK-based vendor that doesn’t seem to have any other products to show. Aston Martin designed and provided the all carbon-fiber shell, with a front grille reminiscent of its signature luxury cars. Why a simulator needs to be made of ultra-expensive lightweight materials when it doesn’t actually move is only a relevant question for plebeians who have to think about mundane things like living expenses.
The simulator’s wheel includes integrated paddle shifters and clutch, nine dials and twelve buttons, and a secondary display for even more car info. More technical information—like whether there’s a gaming PC in there to play Assetto Corsa or you merely plug one into the thing—wasn’t included in the PDF info packet. (The monitor looks like a Samsung CHG90, for what it’s worth, which is about $900.) Aston Martin does say that it developed the simulator for both eSports players and pro racers who need a dedicated sim rig.
It hardly matters whether or not the simulator includes a PC. If you can afford the £57,500 starting price (just under $75,000 in American dollars, not including taxes or delivery!), you can afford a gaming PC on top of it, and whatever ridiculous luxuries are offered as custom trim. Aston Martin says it plans to start the first deliveries of the AMR-C01 by the end of the year.
