The motor world has been on the edge of their premium leather seats for the past three years ever since Rolls-Royce told The Financial Times that it would create an all-new, high-bodied SUV (like we’ve seen from Maserati, Bentley, Range Rover, and Lamborghini) that breaks the traditional mold of what we know of the luxury British manufacturer.
This week, the Rolls-Royce SUV was finally given a name: The Cullinan.
“Just like the Cullinan Diamond, the largest flawless diamond ever found, it emerges when it is perfect and exists above all others,” says Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Rolls-Royce CEO. “The name Cullinan has been hiding in plain sight since we revealed it as the project name some years ago … 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.”
And what a comparison, even for one of the most premium car makers on the planet, seeing as the Cullinan Diamond is 3,106.75 carats and estimated to cost over $2 billion.
The diamond was extracted in 1905 from a mine deep in South Africa’s Magaliesberg Mountains and remains the largest raw diamond ever discovered. The single gem was cleaved into nine stones, cut, and polished; the two largest portions were affixed to the British Imperial Crown and Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross.
Meanwhile, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan has been carved and polished from lightweight aluminum spaceframe, an all-new and proprietary material platform used in only one other Rolls-Royce model to-date (the Phantom VIII). The 2019 Cullinan will make up the growing “Architecture of Luxury” category formed at Rolls … although we’re not sure how you top a car named after the largest diamond ever found.
Even initial images of the Cullinan SUV show how body print mimics the gleam of a giant diamond.
As for what’s under the hood, much has still been kept secret about the Cullinan apart from what is obvious in the photo Rolls-Royce isn’t finished perfecting the vehicle, which is slated for release in 2019. The brand also hasn’t specified whether this diamond was built for rough roads like other SUVs, but it has suggested the Cullinan has been tested in various landscapes and conditions.
“Like the diamond, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan has undertaken a fascinating journey. From the searing deserts of Africa and the Middle East to the freezing snows of the Arctic Circle; from the grassy glens of the Scottish Highlands to the towering canyons of North America, the designers, engineers, craftspeople and artisans of the House of Rolls-Royce have shaped, tested and polished this unique motor car to eliminate any flaw,” reads a recent press release.
The car’s tagline is “Effortless, Everywhere,” suggesting this classy whip was made as much for the mud as it was for the pavement. The tires aren’t messing around either. You could hear them screeching during the first public test on the tracks at Nurburgring.
So, if diamonds are a girl’s best friend, does that make the Cullinan a man’s?
