VIEWING SUITE
A REAR PLATFORM SWINGS
OUT OF THE BOOT TO
OFFER LEATHER SEATS WITH
A SMALL TABLE IN-BETWEENBELLS AND WHISTLES
THE SIGNATURE IN-DOOR
ROLLS-ROYCE UMBRELLA
IS A STANDARD FEATUREDETAIL DESIGN
EVERY FACET OF THE CAR IS
CRAFTED WITH CUSTOMARY
ATTENTION TO DETAIL,
WITH POLISHED METAL USED
THROUGHOUT THE CABIN‘Viewing Suite’, an integral rear platform that
swings out of the boot at the push of a button
with leather-covered event seating for two,
is a better indication of where this car will go.
It’s certainly an imposing machine. ‘It
retains a sense of authority, with the long
bonnet and high nose,’ Taylor says, adding –
only slightly tongue-in-cheek – that the
recessed headlights and sculptural, faceted
front end give a certain ‘battle-hardened’
look, like an ancient Saxon mask. ‘We were
keen to have a raked screen that gives the
car elegance,’ he says. At the rear, there’s an
equally prominent ‘bustle’, a raised boot-lid
that juts out from beneath the slope of the
rear screen, with the rear headlights set into
equally impressive lanks. Inspired by 1920s
bolt-on lugage trunks, it’s paired with an
internal glass screen to shield occupants from
inclement weather when the boot is opened.
Rolls-Royce has a historical ace up its
sleeve in the form of TE Lawrence, who
famously ran a leet of nine Silver Ghost
armoured cars in the Arabian desert to battle
with the Ottoman Turks. ‘For a design team
that needed an anchor, it was an incredibly
resonant story,’ Taylor says. It also directed
him to another inluence. ‘For proportion
and character, we looked at staf cars,’ he says,
adding that these stately oicer transport
vehicles were the perfect mix of grandeur and
ability to tackle ‘challenging environments’.
Legend also has Lawrence commandeering
a privately owned Rolls-Royce in Cairo for
his personal use and naming it ‘Blue Mist’.
The company’s history is rich with tales
of eccentricity and wealth, mechanical
superiority and engineering acumen. High,
mighty and bold, the Cullinan should
inspire some contemporary equivalents. ∂
rolls-roycemotorcars.comTHE LONG BONNET AND
RAKED SCREEN ARE
BALANCED BY A JUTTING
BOOT THAT NODS TO
BOLT-ON LUGGAGE TRUNKS090 ∑
Motoring