The King of SUV's: Rolls Royce Cullinan

In early 2015 when the Rolls Royce company announced its first SUV, but spotting a test mule within weeks gave a surety that the SUV is well underway , two years on and now it appears that the development is at an advanced stage.

Currently codenamed the Cullinan, the first Rolls SUV was spied testing along side the eight generation Phantom, in the icy Swedish countryside . Well, over the last year several cut 'n' shut test mules combining Rolls Royce saloon bodies were under testing , but now we get an exact idea of what the Cullinan HSV might look like.
Well! if you are wondering what HSV stands for,  Rolls Royce calls it the High Sided Vehicle, just another British slang for an SUV.

Artist's rendering of the SUV

Structurally the car possesses true Rolls Royce DNA with upright front grille, oblong surfacing and high rooflines for minimum head ducking. Although the 'coach doors' will be the least expected from an SUV, Rolls Royce follows its age old traditions and has applied the 'coach doors' on its SUV too. Though the SUV is much shorter compared to the Phantom, it has a decent ground clearance of 18 inches. Rolls Royce promises that the SUV will be fully off road capable but without ditching its 'magic carpet' ride quality that the brand is renowned for. This will be possible due to the newly developed suspension which will feature on all future Rolls Royce.

As far as the Power house is concerned, the Cullinan is supposed to carry on the same N74 V12 engine running through an eight speed automatic gearbox. A hybrid variant hasn't completely been ruled out but is unlikely to feature in the launch.

The Phantom Tested in Sweden

The SUV will hit the markets by 2018 which will be a pivotal year for Rolls Royce as its best selling saloon, the Phantom is due. It is expected that the Phantom will be launched first as the production of the Phantom has ceased.