Photo: Stefan Baldauf/SB-Medien
It’s no secret the SUV is king of the hill for the time being. The advent of the sport utility vehicle convinced manufacturer that station wagons are passé. Not only that, but brands you would never expect to build SUVs have joined the bandwagon as well.
First, there was Porsche, which debuted the Cayenne as the last solution to the dreary financial situation the German automaker found itself in at the beginning of the 2000s. Then Lamborghini followed in Porsche’s footsteps with a jacked-up concept that will enter production as the Urus in due time. The Bentley Bentayga is another proposition in this class, so where to next?
Hardly believable it may be, but Rolls-Royce also wants a piece of the action. Cue the Cullinan, which is the ultra-luxury automaker’s way of saying, “Yeah, we’re building and SUV as well.” Except R-R doesn’t refer to it as a sport utility vehicle. In Rolls-Royce jargon, it's an “all-terrain, high-sided vehicle.”
From the following spy photos, it’s as clear as day the Cullinan looks like the 2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom with superior ground clearance and a hatch instead of a conventional trunk lid. I’m a sucker for box-shaped cars, which is why the Cullinan is weirdly growing on me. But as the pictured mules reveal, there’s still a lot of work ahead of R-R regarding the Cullinan SUV’s looks.
Take the exterior lighting system as a case in point. Up front, the full-LED headlights appear to be production-ready, albeit the circular taillights are not going to happen. As for the cabin, the spy snappers have yet to catch a glimpse of what R-R has in the pipeline for us. What’s confirmed, though, is that the all-new model will share its platform with the next-gen Phantom.
Christened the “architecture of luxury” by Rolls-Royce head honcho Torsten Muller-Otvos, the all-new backbone will use aluminum in its construction. As for propulsion, it is a given that a twin-turbocharged V12 will be hiding under the hood. An AWD system will wrap things up with off-road capability.
Hardly believable it may be, but Rolls-Royce also wants a piece of the action. Cue the Cullinan, which is the ultra-luxury automaker’s way of saying, “Yeah, we’re building and SUV as well.” Except R-R doesn’t refer to it as a sport utility vehicle. In Rolls-Royce jargon, it's an “all-terrain, high-sided vehicle.”
From the following spy photos, it’s as clear as day the Cullinan looks like the 2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom with superior ground clearance and a hatch instead of a conventional trunk lid. I’m a sucker for box-shaped cars, which is why the Cullinan is weirdly growing on me. But as the pictured mules reveal, there’s still a lot of work ahead of R-R regarding the Cullinan SUV’s looks.
Take the exterior lighting system as a case in point. Up front, the full-LED headlights appear to be production-ready, albeit the circular taillights are not going to happen. As for the cabin, the spy snappers have yet to catch a glimpse of what R-R has in the pipeline for us. What’s confirmed, though, is that the all-new model will share its platform with the next-gen Phantom.
Christened the “architecture of luxury” by Rolls-Royce head honcho Torsten Muller-Otvos, the all-new backbone will use aluminum in its construction. As for propulsion, it is a given that a twin-turbocharged V12 will be hiding under the hood. An AWD system will wrap things up with off-road capability.
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