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Rolls-Royce Unveils Cullinan Series II
British luxury marque Rolls-Royce Motors has unveiled the latest expression of its flagship Super-luxury SUV, the Cullinan Series II, which arrived in its current form in 2018, as a 2019 model.
When Cullinan was first launched, less than 70% were self-driven: today, almost every Cullinan is driven by its owner, with less than 10% of clients retaining the services of a chauffeur.
Together with the rejuvenation of the brand and the ever-increasing Bespoke offering, Cullinan contributed to a fall in the average age of Rolls-Royce clients from 56 in 2010 to just 43 today.
“In 2018, Cullinan reframed super-luxury motoring, enabling Rolls-Royce clients to experience the brand’s hallmark magic carpet ride regardless of the terrain and in every corner of the world. In the six years since, Cullinan has attracted entirely new groups of clients to Rolls-Royce and profoundly altered perceptions of what a Rolls-Royce motor car is, and what it can mean to its owner. Cullinan Series II has been created to build on that success.
“By integrating new technologies, new materials, meticulously considered design updates and innovative opportunities for self-expression through Bespoke, we retain everything our clients love about this motor car, ensuring its continued allure.” Chris Brownridge, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
Cullinan Series II: Exterior
An increasingly urban focus, a youthful cadre of clients and a decisive shift towards self-driving informs the surface treatment and detail of Cullinan Series II’s exterior. A key theme is verticality, which echoes illuminated skyscrapers in the megacities where Cullinan is increasingly at home. This is most apparent in the new lamp treatment, where tall daytime running light graphics ensure Cullinan Series II is easily identified, day and night.
The front of Cullinan Series II is composed of simple feature lines and crisp edges, with an emphasis on clean, monolithic surfaces that amplify the motor car’s generous proportions and presence. The bumper lines form a shallow ‘V’ from the lowest point of the daytime running lights to the motor car’s centre point, recalling the sharp bow lines of modern sports yachts. Underneath, new air intakes angle outwards assertively, visually lowering the motor car when viewed head on.
The centrepiece is the illuminated pantheon grille. This is the first time that Cullinan has been provisioned with an illuminated grille, which has been further refreshed with a lower leading edge. It also incorporates a new polished horizontal ‘horizon line’ between the daytime running lights, providing a clear visual link to the marque’s pinnacle product, Phantom Series II.
In profile, Cullinan Series II reveals further changes to the surfacing. While the front wings retain their sheer, vertical lines, the marque’s designers added a restrained yet precise feature line leading from the taillight forwards to the centre of the floating ‘RR’ centre caps on the rear wheel.
This creates a subtle taper and impression of movement, further amplified by the updated lower valance surfaces, which lift at the rear. They are presented in a rich high-gloss black, which reflects the road below, creating a sense of motion on these fixed forms.
Viewed from behind, the exhaust treatment of Cullinan Series II is a bold statement of power – each surround is presented in mirror-finish stainless steel, cleanly integrated and visually flush to the body. Changes at the rear conclude with a brushed stainless-steel protective plate running between the exhausts, which flows underneath the motor car.
Resolving this younger and more expressive evolution of Cullinan’s styling are upsized 23-inch wheels – the first time that 23-inch wheels have been made available by the marque for Cullinan. Each wheel is milled from a billet of aluminium, and the three-dimensional and faceted seven-spoke design is available in a part or fully polished finish.
In addition to the evolved exterior form, Rolls-Royce colour specialists developed a new paint finish in which to present Cullinan Series II. Inspired by a richly-veined brown marble, Emperador Truffle is a contemporary, minimalist solid grey-brown; when combined with the Bespoke ‘Crystal Over’ finish, a lacquer infused with glass particles, it gains a subtle shimmer reminiscent of fresh snow under morning light.
Cullinan Series II: Interior
Reflecting many clients’ desires for bolder forms of self-expression, innovative decoration and detail have been added throughout the interior of Cullinan Series II. The most substantive change to the motor car’s geometry is the pillar-to-pillar glass-panel fascia in the upper portion of the dashboard – an elegant and versatile design element that stages both digital and physical craftsmanship.
The gauge cluster panel in front of the driver and new, permanently visible Central Information Display in the centre of the fascia are redesigned to form a stage for the advanced SPIRIT operating system. This digital interface was first introduced on the all-electric Spectre; Cullinan Series II marks the first application of SPIRIT in a V12-powered Rolls-Royce.
It also presents opportunities for Bespoke personalisation to extend from the physical to the digital world – clients can tailor the colour of the instrument dials to complement the motor car’s interior palette or exterior finish.
Spirit also sees Whispers, the Rolls-Royce private members application, integrated into Cullinan. Clients are able to send destinations directly to their motor car, view Cullinan’s location remotely and manage vehicle locking through the app.
Connectivity has been refined throughout the motor car, especially for those in the rear of Cullinan Series II. Clients are able to connect up to two streaming devices to the rear screens, which now incorporate a Bespoke interface for streaming car management and seating functions such as massage, heating and cooling.
The installation of internet connectivity allows clients to enjoy a Wi-Fi hot spot connection and independent streaming for each screen. For the first time in Cullinan, Bluetooth headphones of any type can be paired with the rear seat infotainment system, or clients can enjoy the marque’s exceptional 18-speaker Bespoke Audio system, which benefits from the latest generation 18-channel 1400-watt amplifier.
Cullinan Series II retains the brand’s celebrated speaker architecture wherein cavities within the motor car’s aluminium sill sections are used as resonance chambers for low frequency speakers, effectively transforming the entire motor car into a subwoofer.
Directly in front of the passenger is an Illuminated Fascia panel – a remarkable expression of modern craft that debuted with Ghost before appearing in Spectre and now, for the first time, is available within the Cullinan family. In this guise, it features an illuminated Cullinan wordmark and a unique Cityscape graphic inspired by the skyscrapers of the world’s megacities at night.
This is created using a specially-developed technique whereby 7,000 dots are laser-etched onto the rear of the darkened and toughened security glass, each at minutely differing angles and dimensions to create the perception of depth. In addition to this prêt-à-porter design, clients are also able to create their own Illuminated Fascia motif in collaboration with the marque’s Bespoke designers.
Alongside the Central Information Display on the passenger side of the fascia is the new Spirit of Ecstasy Clock Cabinet. This unique inset vitrine displays both an analogue timepiece and an up-lit Spirit of Ecstasy figurine. The figurine is constructed from solid stainless steel and placed on her own stage with a matte black back panel and high gloss side panels to create a reflection effect.
Incorporating the Spirit of Ecstasy into the interior of the motor car was the product of four years of development, and a unique partnership between analogue and digital craftspeople to create a dramatic and meticulously orchestrated flow of light.
This sequence begins with the illumination of the driver’s display upon entering the motor car, followed by the Central Information Display, then the Illuminated Fascia, where light sweeps inwards towards the vitrine, lighting the timepiece. The Spirit of Ecstasy is illuminated from below initially, reminiscent of a spotlight on a debut performance, before her stage lighting settles to a soft glow.
Cullinan Series II: An Evolved Material Palette
To acknowledge Cullinan’s ability – and the desire of many clients – to escape into nature at will, the interior is comprised of a palette inspired by botanicals. Cullinan Series II introduces Grey Stained Ash, a richly grained natural open-pore wood with a delicate shimmer.
All of the logs of this species are individually selected, veneer ‘leaves’ are subsequently stained by hand and elevated with the addition of microscopic metallic particles, which creates the unique effect – a process that took more than four years of development.
Cullinan Series II also continues Rolls-Royce’s exploration of textiles with a new rayon fabric made from bamboo, named Duality Twill. The use of this material was inspired by the extensive bamboo grove in Le Jardin des Méditerranées on the Côte d’Azur, which neighbours Sir Henry Royce’s former winter home, Villa Mimosa.
Members of the design team visited the gardens during a research excursion where they were inspired to develop a material made with the plant, which has grown in the grounds of the jardin for more than a century and would have been observed by Sir Henry Royce himself.
The twill textile is embroidered with an artistic ‘Duality’ graphic. Based on an abstract interpretation of the two interlinked letter R initials of the marque’s founders, the design reflects a clear nautical influence, reminiscent of the interweaving rope lines found on sailing yachts – another subtle allusion to the French Riviera.
This intricate embroidered textile was developed for more than a year in collaboration with a master weaver who has now joined Rolls-Royce full-time to oversee this complex process, which takes place at the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood. A full Duality Twill interior can incorporate up to 2.2 million stitches, 11 miles of thread and is the product of 20 hours of construction.
To ensure uniformity in the pattern, each piece is individually crafted before being cut using a specially developed laser that seals the material’s edge and mitigates individual threads becoming loose. The base twill textile is available in three colours – Lilac, Chocolate and Black – and clients can select from 51 different colours of thread.
Cullinan Series II integrates another new contemporary craft technique developed by the marque’s artisans; Placed Perforation is the practice of creating artworks through tiny perforations in the leather. Available for the first time on a series model, for Cullinan Series II, designers have created a pattern inspired by the constantly changing shapes and shadows of the clouds over the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood. It comprises up to 107,000 0.8- and 1.2-millimetre perforations. A single craftsperson checks each individual perforation to ensure absolute uniformity.
