Rolls Royce Cullinan – first spy photos

Rolls Royce Cullinan

Not content to wait for spy photographers to snap the Cullinan prototype out in the wild, Rolls Royce decided to snap a few pictures itself and share it with the world.

One of the most mysterious cars currently in the pipeline, the Cullinan will be the second of the breed of ultra-luxurious SUVs, after the Bentley Bentayga. But while the Bentayga is based on the same platform as the new Audi Q7 and the upcoming Porsche Cayenne and VW Touareg, which gave us an inkling of what the shape would be like, the Cullinan has been a total mystery… until now.

Rolls Royce Cullinan

So, what can we expect? To no one’s surprise, the prototype looks like a mix between the classic Range Rover shape and Rolls Royce styling cues, with an upright grille and flat flanks. The one innovative aspect of the car, at least for an SUV, will be the same “coach doors” that the Phantom, Ghost, Wraith and Dawn have. Whether they will provide better access inside than the “falcon doors” of the Tesla X remains to be seen.

Funny enough, the prototype reminds of the little-known Bentley Dominator, a car custom-made by Bentley for the Sultan of Brunei in the mid-1990s:

Bentley Dominator

 

  1. Just don’t call it an SUV! Andrey Boyle, global product communications manager has been quoted to say: “We call it a high-sided vehicle. SUV is not necessarily the right thing to call it because it’s not necessarily sports, it’s not necessarily utility.” But this pretty much looks like an SUV as we know it.
    But then again, they also called the Bentayga the second-best SUV on the market (after the Cullinan).
    @Losange, I know…. But they’d be out of their mind not to build this at a time when Bentley, to a lesser degree Maserati but soon also Lamborghini (I know, that’s even more of a sacrilege than Rolls) will be lining their pockets with cash, selling as many of these cars they can build at astronomical prices.

    1. Unfortunately yes, but I will always detest the industry’s leveling behaviour. I still blame Porsche for this!

      The Cullinan probably focuses on rich oil Sheikhs and they’re known for their great taste…

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.