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SHELL ISSUE - n° 18 - 2019 - € 10
The Art of Sailing
Custom Line Nav
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QUART ERLY - P.I. 31/03 /2019 Intern ationa l € 10, Spedizione in Abbon Chf 10,50 , UK £ 7,50- Poste Italian amento Postale e S.p.a. - 70% - LO/MI
[ The CAR ]
NEVER SAY
NEVER
Very few people believed it would actually happen. But the Rolls-Royce SUV has finally arrived. The majestic, powerful Cullinan is a three-box all-terrainer that makes no apologies for breaking with convention
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by Diego Tamone
The Rolls-Royce Cullinan, a hulkingly large SUV with clean yet square-ish forms that leave no doubt as to its character
I
t must have taken quite a leap of imagination to create a Rolls-Royce in SUV form. Plus a pinch of unconventionality and healthy insanity. It has always
been so unthinkable that the undisputed queen of the luxury car sector might ever shake off her velvety roadready mantle to venture into the unknown territory of off-roading that not even the wiliest of bookmakers would have given odds on it. And British bookies know their business. Yet a few short months ago, the Cullinan did exactly that. Oddly enough, no one – not a single person - screamed sacrilege. Just as Rolls-Royce had predicted.
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[ The CAR ]
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A while back someone in its hallowed design halls started asking
Majestic in terms of spec, dimensions and proportions (5.34 metres
themselves a question. If after 115 years, customers, generations,
long and weighing 2,660 kg), it is also eye-wateringly powerful
habits, tastes and styles had all changed, could they not change the
thanks to a 6.75-litre 12-cylinder engine that lets rip a massive 571
Rolls-Royce too? We had to wait until the dawn of 2018 for the
bhp and 850 Nm of maximum torque. Just what enthusiasts that
answer as it took that long to ready a design that was not merely
had long fantasised about and pushed for. “From the very beginning
entirely new but revolutionary. The 12 months that followed attested
the design team treated this brand new Rolls-Royce as a unique,
to the marque’s brilliance and farsightedness in making the move.
high-bodied car. With global customer expectations in mind. We
It was an all-time record year in terms of deliveries: 4,107 in 50
know that many of our luxury patrons pursue sports or leisure
countries worldwide. And also in terms of customisation. These days
hobbies that require precisely this type of go-anywhere vehicle,”
in Rolls-Royce, luxury is so tailored and bespoke that a configurator
says Felix Kilbertus, Head of Exterior Design at Rolls-Royce. “The
seems a bit pointless. But the Cullinan, which instantly won the
label SUV is now applied to anything with a two-box silhouette and
Prestigious Luxury SUV of the Year title, is the perfect example of
the least suggestion of going off tarmac. We envisioned an authentic
car that will genuinely satisfy its owner’s every whim and desire.
three-box high-bodied all-terrain car with a convention-challenging
This monstrously powerful all-terrainer packs a 6.75-litre 12-cylinder engine that unleashes and 850 Nm of maximum torque. It is also 5,34 metres long and weighs in at 2,600 kg
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[ The CAR ]
Voted Prestigious Luxury
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SUV of the Year 2018,
design and absolute capability that would satisfy the adventurous urges of our clients.”
the Cullinan goes well
The result is a Gentleman’s SUV. It may be a bit of a bombshell compared to the other
beyond conventional
cars we’re used to seeing coming out of the West Sussex factory but scratch the surface
configurator spec: this is
and you’ll find it has not strayed too far from the DNA of a marque that made a splash
a genuinely bespoke car
in far-off 1907 with an adventure-filled Bombay to Kolhapur tour of India that tackled
lovingly tailored to meet
jungle and mountain passes alike. Off-road, naturally.
its owner’s every desire
www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com