For the best part of a century, Rolls Royce is often agreed to be the premiere automaker in the luxury car field. If you're after the finest luxury and the most opulent driving experience, this historic British brand is practically unbeatable. While Rolls Royce's sedans have enjoyed tons of success over the years, as we know, the market is moving towards SUVs and crossovers, with some surprisingly good offerings.
Rolls Royce recognized the potential in an ultra-luxury SUV, and they responded with the Cullinan in 2018. It's the brand's first-ever SUV, even though it rides on the Phantom's platform, and it's the first RR model to have AWD. Although people have criticized the styling, there's so much to love about the Cullinan.
10 It Can Go Off-Road If You Want It To
Everyone knows that it's basically heresy to take any Rolls Royce off-roading. They were never designed for it, they were simply designed to waft along a stretch of road while its passengers are engulfed in total solitude. The Cullinan is the first vehicle with the Spirit of Ecstasy on the hood that can actually handle the rough stuff.
Yes, even though it's more biased towards luxury, the Cullinan really can go off-road. Rolls Royce knows that the owners, or indeed, their chauffeurs won't want to mess around with locking diffs and pre-determined terrain settings, so there's simply an on/off switch for AWD. Enable it, and you can take the Cullinan places that other Rolls Royce models would be scared of.
9 Lots Of Power
Even though the Cullinan is basically a tank with a leather interior, as it weighs over 6,000 lbs, it would be silly if a car of this caliber didn't have a pretty powerful engine to lug it along. It's a good job that the Cullinan has tons of power.
Under the long hood is the familiar Rolls Royce 6.75 liter twin-turbo V12, also used in the Phantom and now the Ghost. The power output remains identical, at 563 hp and an incredible 701 lb/ft of torque. Despite the rather porky weight, the Cullinan can still manage 0-60 in just 4.5 seconds.
8 Infinite Personalization
Sure, a lot of cars nowadays offer personalization to some extent. Maybe they'll let you have a contrasting roof color, or maybe you can have some brightly colored interior pieces. Following on from the rest of Rolls Royce's lineup, however, the Cullinan takes this to a slightly higher level.
Slightly higher, in this case, means that your Cullinan can be truly unique, a true one-off. Provided you have the money, Rolls Royce can do just about anything you want to your Cullinan. One model, for example, has the Arabian Peninsula hand-painted on the hood. YouTuber Jeffree Star's Cullinan, meanwhile, is pink on just about every surface.
7 You Can Have A Drink In The Rear Seats
Obviously, when you have a vehicle as luxurious as this, you probably have someone to drive you around in it, meaning most of your time will be spent in the rear seats. Rolls Royce has made sure you have a truly classy experience in the back of your Cullinan.
There's a swathe of rear-seat options to choose from, but the highlight is undoubtedly the Individual Rear Seat package. With that, Rolls Royce adds two high-class champagne flutes, and a refrigerated storage compartment to keep your champagne bottles, or perhaps a nice, high-quality spirit alcohol. Celebrating a special occasion? You and a passenger can scoff a drink or two in the back seat of the Cullinan.
6 The Doors Can Close Automatically
The Cullinan is the world's first SUV to have coach doors. Both pairs of doors open to a 90-degree angle, allowing for the easiest and most graceful entry and exit into the vehicle. Unfortunately, the 90-degree opening creates a small problem.
Once you've slipped into the sumptuous leather seats, it's a bit of a reach to close the door yourself. Of course, there's the old-fashioned solution; ask your chauffeur to close it for you. With the Cullinan, you don't even need to do that; just press a button, and the door will automatically close for you. Yes, this can be done on all four of the doors.
5 It Analyzes The Surface Ahead, And Then Adjusts The Suspension
A lot of cars claim that they're geared for comfort, but truthfully, no car can be as geared for comfort as a Rolls Royce. As a result, Rolls Royce decided that the Cullinan can't take any chances when it comes to comfort, and absolutely no compromises can be made.
Air suspension is standard on the Cullinan, of course, but it gets better. The Cullinan has a facility that scans the road in front of you. If it detects that there are some undulations or imperfections, it will adjust the dampers ahead of time to make sure you don't feel a single thing inside.
4 Yes, It Has An Umbrella Too
This is perhaps one of Rolls Royce's most distinctive and well-known features, and it's so cool, that it's worth a mention one more time. Imagine if you arrive at a meeting or some type of gala on a rainy day, and you don't want your suit or gown to get soaked in the rain.
Rolls Royce has a solution. Hidden in a small compartment in the rear doors, there's a branded (and expensive) umbrella. The chauffeur can deploy it with the push of a button, hand it to you, and you can arrive at your appointment without getting rained on. The storage cubby is also heated, so the umbrella can dry faster once you're done with your day.
3 The RR Badge On The Wheels
Like the umbrella, this is also one of Rolls Royce's most distinctive features, and it would be silly if it didn't make an appearance here as well. But, it does; the Rolls Royce badge in the center of the wheels always stays upright.
This has been a feature on Rolls Royce models for decades, but it's still very cool to see. No matter how fast or how slow you're going, the RR badge always stays upright, meaning there can be no confusion about whether or not you're in the most luxurious SUV of all time.
2 Unparalleled Luxury
When dealing with a Rolls Royce, everyone knows that the best place to be is inside. There is not a single lower rent material anywhere in the interior of the Cullinan, and absolutely everything that you can see or touch is covered in the finest materials.
Unfortunately, you can't get the Cullinan with the amazing Gallery art display that's available in the Phantom, but it's still plenty luxurious enough. The leather-covered surfaces, the optional real wool floor carpets, the lashings of wood and polished metals, and of course, the latest tech to make your journey as comfortable and as safe as possible.
1 Even The Name
You might think that Cullinan is a rather unusual name, especially since it doesn't fit with Rolls Royce's ghoul and ghost naming tradition. As it turns out, even the name of this uber-luxury SUV is luxurious.
The Cullinan gets its name from the Cullinan diamond, the world's largest flawless diamond. It measures in at 1.5 pounds, 3,000 carats (yes, really) and it was discovered in South Africa in 1905. Rather fittingly, it's now owned by the Queen of England. You can't possibly get more luxurious than that.