Rolls-Royce Reveals a Design for Its First-Ever SUV

Back in February 2015, Rolls-Royce hosted a series of global meetings to announce what would be its biggest (or at least heaviest) product news of the year: It would build its first-ever sport utility vehicle. Called the Cullinan, after the world’s largest clear-cut diamond (and a component in the Crown Jewels), Rolls’ “High Bodied Vehicle” is intended to provide superior appointments for its buyers, should they desire to drive into the mire. Or muck or sand or snow.
The British brand’s first teaser images are showing what this new high roller is going to look like, and it is clear, even behind the extra body cladding and camouflaging psychedelic paint (which hides the car details), that the vehicle has what is known in the industry as presence—probably more than three tons of it, even with the new “lightweight” aluminum-intensive, go-anywhere all-wheel-drive construction.
This may be the first official Rolls-Royce SUV, but it’s not the first time the company has created a vehicle to compete with the best in a varied terrain. “In my design work on Project Cullinan, we have looked back over the history of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and been inspired by some of the classic models that have shaped the marque,” says director of design Giles Taylor. “This included those that achieved top honors in rigorous overland adventures such as the Scottish Reliability Trials, the London-to-Edinburgh event, and the Alpine Trials.” Taylor adds, “We remember the image of the Rolls-Royces that conveyed pioneers and adventurers like Lawrence of Arabia across the vastness of unexplored deserts and over mountain ranges. This is the driving force as we complete the design of a vehicle that will propel us into the next phase of the marque.”



This next phase has become almost requisite in a market like America, in which SUVs and high-riding crossovers have overtaken sedans as the most popular new vehicles. And it’s a market in which Mercedes-Benz and Land Rover have quarter-million-dollar SUV offerings and exclusive brands like Aston Martin, Lamborghini, and Bentley have similar or even more expensive practical vehicles in their immediate pipeline.
Rolls is somewhat tight-lipped about timing and cost, but our insider insights suggest that we will first see the production-ready Cullinan around 2018 and that it will be on sale in 2019. We expect it to slot into the brand’s lineup just below the flagship Phantom—the latest, all-new version of which should debut one year ahead—with a price tag in the $350,000 to $450,000 range, as well as opportunities for customization (“bespoking,” in Rolls’ parlance) that will stun and flabbergast. We can hardly wait.

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