Who said luxury vehicles are only for the rich?

Rendering by Nigel Young/Foster + Partners, via Fast Company.

When taking the bus means riding in an Aston Martin vehicle, with leather seats, wooden floors and a sunroof, who wouldn’t want to take the bus?

Believe it or not, the bus in the rendering above may be zooming around London’s streets as soon as 2011. The proposed design, the result of a collaboration between architecture firm Foster + Partners and luxury sports car manufacturer Aston Martin, beat out 700 other entries to win a Transport for London contest to redesign the city’s famous double-decker Routemaster bus.

With improved maneuverability, easy access for the handicapped and an interior that feels “like a lounge or living room on wheels,” the new model is a huge improvement over the old. The new bus is also much more environmentally friendly. Both the leather seats and the wood floors will be made from reconstituted and/or recycled materials, and its engine can be easily replaced with a newer model as technologies improve. Photovoltaic panels in the roof will also contribute to powering the vehicle.

The design will serve as the basis for new models manufactured for Transport for London, and the prototypes could be on the road by 2011.

Via Fast Company.