What's this then?
It's a Rolls-Royce, but not as we know it.
Looks big and tall.
Indeed. This is Rolls' first ever SUV (although the Chichester-based car maker prefers to refer to it as a 'High-Sided Vehicle') and its name has just been confirmed; it's Cullinan.
Cullinan?
Yep. Named after the world's largest ever diamond, found in a South African mine and subsequently cut into pieces that can now be found in massive hunks of jewellery belonging to one Elizabeth Windsor. You know - crowns and stuff.
The name rings a bell?
It's been rumoured ever since Rolls declared its intention to build an SUV, sorry HSV. "The name Cullinan has been hiding in plain sight since we revealed it as the project name some years ago," comments Torsten Muller-Otvos, Chief Executive Officer of Rolls-Royce. "It is the most fitting name for our extraordinary new product. Cullinan is a motor car of such clarity of purpose, such flawless quality and preciousness, and such presence that it recalibrates the scale and possibility of true luxury. Just like the Cullinan Diamond, the largest flawless diamond ever found, it emerges when it is perfect and exists above all others."
Rolls is even suggesting that the journey of the diamond from South African mine to the Tower of London is rather analogous to the torturous hot and cold weather testing that the Cullinan SUV has undergone.
"We were inspired by the epic processes, over many millennia, which went into the creation of the Cullinan Diamond. The name embodies the many facets of our new motor car's promise. It speaks of endurance and absolute solidity in the face of the greatest pressures; it tells of rarity and preciousness and it alludes to the pioneering, adventurous spirit of The Hon. Charles Rolls and the engineering innovation of Sir Henry Royce; and, of course, it speaks of absolute luxury, wherever you venture in the world" continued Müller-Ötvös. "Quite simply, the name Cullinan is perfect and brilliant."
The Cullinan will use the same aluminium spaceframe chassis (called The Architecture of Luxury) and 6.75-litre turbo V12 engine as the new Phantom saloon.
Neil Briscoe - 13 Feb 2018
