Aston Martin DB11 on the streets of Manhattan

NEW YORK (FOX5NY) - This week on the Lap of Luxury we’re parked outside the Baccarat Hotel in Manhattan, where we’re taking the Aston Martin DB11  for a spin.

Laura Schwab, President of Aston Martin of the Americas, says everyone’s eyes light up when you say Aston Martin.  Their camera flashes start going off too.

The luxury British sports car brand turns a lot of heads, thanks in part to its rich history as the vehicle of James Bond and the Royal Family.

David Arnold, Managing Director of the Robb Report says it’s a requirement growing up in England that you fall in love with Aston Martin, from the DB 3 all the way through to the DB 11.

David says everything they’ve done as a company over the last 104 years has come together in the new DB 11.  It’s won the Robb Report Best of the Best, and he says, is just a remarkable car from its electronics to its design to its technology.

As President of Aston Martin of the Americas, part of Laura’s job is to share Aston Martin’s handcrafted heritage with the United States.  She says she loves talking about how the cars were made.

Everything is handcrafted. You can even tell if the person who sewed your car was left handed or right handed based on how they stitched it.

When you lift the hood of an Aston Martin and look at the engine, there’s a plaque that says the car was handmade in England, and includes the name of the last person to inspect the vehicle.

They often say that a car can have a personality and a soul, and at Aston Martin, they think it can.

While Aston Martin has more than a century of luxury car making history, Laura says they’re just getting started.

They’ve embarked on a Second Century Plan, and consider this, their next hundred years.  And they’re off to a good start.

Aston Martin is on track to post its first annual pre-tax profit since 2010.  They’ve partnered with an American icon, Super Bowl Champ Tom Brady.

And they’re in the midst of rolling out seven new vehicles in seven years, including an SUV and an electric car in 2019.

I took their new DB 11 Coupe for a spin through midtown Manhattan.  It has a 5.2 liter twin turbo engine and took 300 hours to build.  Sticker price? $250,900.

From the stitching to the leather, the accelerator and the power, Laura says it’s a car that impresses, especially when you put it in Sports Plus mode.  And she’s right.