Cars
Rolls-royce enters the super luxury SUV market with the Cullinan
Rolls-royce marks its foray into the super luxury sports utility vehicle territory with the Cullinan, a family car that embodies the British marque’s commitment to the highest echelon of luxury. Chong Seow Wei reports from Beijing
There it was, so charmingly glossy and stately: the Rolls-royce Cullinan in the flesh. We had been patiently waiting for this launch for three years, ever since RollsRoyce Motor Cars announced in 2015 that it would be introducing an entirely new “high-bodied” model. We were finally invited to a private preview of the car in April within the confines of a private museum in Beijing, but weren’t allowed to share any information until its world premiere on May 10. As such, security was tight—we were chauffeured to the secret location, and upon arrival, our smartphones were sealed in an opaque plastic bag to prevent pictures of the car from being taken and leaked out. In recent years, luxury marques such as Lamborghini and Bentley have released their own SUVS, but the Cullinan is hardly the result of this upward trend—rolls-royce has never been one to follow the convoy, anyway. Utilitarian Rolls-royces have existed in the Goodwood-based marque’s history, then-design director Giles Taylor told us at the preview. (Taylor has since left the company abruptly less than a month later.) Cases in point: Silver Ghosts driven by Maharajahs and Maharanis across India and through jungles in the early 1900s, and the fleet of Rolls-royces transformed into armoured war vehicles years later by British commanders riding across northern Europe and into China, Russia and the Middle East. In other words, Rolls-royce had readily available sources of inspiration to build more utilitarian cars that could easily take on adventurous terrain such as mud, sand and mountain. “We already had the resources and platforms to
build a four-wheel drive Rolls-royce that would be able to go off-road, so the Cullinan is really a natural extension of the brand,” said Taylor.
“We didn’t treat the Cullinan as a brute utility vehicle to build. It’s simply a Rolls-royce that sits higher and is more usable—a high-bodied limousine”
HARD HITTER
Taking its name from the largest rough diamond ever found, the Cullinan sits on the same all-aluminium Architecture of Luxury spaceframe as Rolls-royce’s new-generation Phantom, but its purpose goes beyond providing the marque’s classic magic carpet ride. Tough, versatile and practical—these words are entering the Rolls-royce lexicon for the first time—“the Cullinan brings you to your end destination effortlessly and with a sense of elegance, whether it’s up a mountain or to the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival”, said Taylor. And it will get you there fast, with a 6.75L twin-turbocharged V12 engine producing 563bhp under its hood. In terms of aesthetics, the car’s toughness is shown in the bold lines that define its exterior, from the strong brow that runs across the top of its large pantheon grille to the prominent lines that cut and give shape to its distinctive rear. Part of the Cullinan’s practicality as a car is also its desire to be family-friendly. For that, we would like to bring your attention to one of our favourite features of the car— the rear, where a motorised drawer dubbed the Recreation Module sits unobtrusively in the trunk until it is called upon. It is large and spacious enough to store the equipment needed for a variety of hobbies that a family might have, from parascending to drone photography. Alternatively, you could opt to fix the Module with the Cullinan Viewing Suite, which emerges as two rear-facing leather seats flanking a cocktail table at the touch of a button. Classy. Without the Module, which is an optional feature for the car, the floor of the trunk can be raised so you can load in longer items such as your fishing gear. Besides tailoring to the diverse interests of a family, the car also ensures the utmost comfort of its passengers. This includes the possibility of having a three-person lounge seat for rear passengers instead of the standard two. Moreover, its coach doors make entering the SUV a breeze as the car automatically lowers itself by 40mm as soon as it is unlocked. Even as the Cullinan takes on new terrain for Rolls-royce, and fills a gap in the market for those who seek a functional yet ultra-luxurious workhorse, the car still very much embodies the marque’s identity. As Taylor said: “We didn’t treat the Cullinan as a brute utility vehicle to build. It’s simply a Rolls-royce that sits higher and is more usable—a high-bodied limousine.”