When I first saw the Rolls Royce Cullinan in a 2018 pre-release online news from a famous car website, I thought “no one in their right mind would ever buy this in the Philippines.”
At Php 53,000,000.00, even the ultra-rich would shy away from getting this because hungry tax collectors might suddenly coming knocking at their doorstep looking for a receipt. And there’s no way Chinese businessmen were getting this, it’s too frivolous an expense for them to justify.
Obviously the Php 53M was out of the reach of the middle-class.
And those who were newly minted millionaires just might shy away from this because it’s still too much money for this much car.
I forgot that there was the segment of car buyers who had enormous amounts of money to throw away and the lack of restraint brought about by dealing with the prying eyes of the BIR.
So imagine my surprise when after 5 years of not hearing about this luxury SUV, I finally chanced upon an interview where the subject just casually mentioned owning a Rolls Royce Cullinan 2019.
And her reason for buying it?
She liked the umbrella that came along with it.
Sheesh.
And yeah… I am sour-graping.
But let’s shift our focus onto the Rolls Royce Cullinan 2019 before I say more nasty things than I care to utter on paper.
Why are We Only Hearing About the Rolls Royce Cullinan 2019 Now?
Unlike other car manufacturers, Rolls Royce as a company doesn’t need to advertise their cars on billboards or in magazines.
This is a brand that those with the right amount of money covet. David Beckham, Shaquille O’Neal, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Kim Kardasian, Jay-Z and Beyonce own different types of Rolls Royce vehicles namely the Ghost or the Phantom.
Heck even the Beatles had one each but their were stories that Rolls Royce didn’t want to sell it to them because back then they were an elitist company. Or maybe they just had a very stringent background check to ensure prospective buyers could actually pay for it.
Whatever the case may be, Rolls Royce doesn’t need to sell their cars to consumers. The cars themselves are highly coveted and sell themselves without even trying.
But car enthusiasts are always on the lookout for what new thing Rolls Royce has up its sleeve.
TopGear was one of those websites where I first read about the Rolls Royce Cullinan 2019 back in 2018. And although it’s out of my price range, I am one of the millions of car enthusiasts who would love to have it in my garage.
If only I had me some DPWH money…
Why is it so Appealing?
Just look at it.
Tell me that’s not something you’d want if you had the means to buy it and I can conclude that I am face-to-face with a liar.
This massive vehicle is not only expensive, it feels every bit worth the price tag it’s sporting.
Now Rolls Royce isn’t known for its SUV line. In fact, this is officially the first SUV from the company because they didn’t want to be left behind by their competitors, Bentley and Lamborghini.
That means that this SUV is just at home at a polo match or a muddy river bank (as if you’d take it there in the first place).
When you buy one from the company, they can customize it down to the last detail so that the one you have is specifically personalized for you.
Under the hood, there’s a 6.75L twin-turbocharged V12 engine that can launch this nearly three-ton SUV to 60 mph in under 5 seconds.
Other Special Features Include:
- Cocktail Suite: fold-out seats from the trunk. Use it for sunset views. Or for dramatic product shots. People love this.
- Starlight headliner: thousands of fiber-optic “stars” in the roof. Silent luxury. You want to be romantic with your date inside of your SUV? Flick tis on and bam! You’re getting lucky tonight.
- Glass partition: provides privacy between the cargo and the cabin. Oh yeah, if you own one of these, there’s no way you’re driving it. You’re too rich to be the one behind the wheel. So, it’s assumed that you’ll have a driver. And your driver isn’t supposed to see everything that happens in your backseat. This is not a standard feature but it can be ordered as part of your bespoke package.
- Self-deploying umbrella: hidden in the door. Little luxuries add up — and sometimes cause headlines.
- Flagbearer system: this is the stereo the camera system integrated into the fron windscreen that scans the road ahead to proactively adjust your SUV’s self-levelling air suspension and electronically controlled dampers. This essentially smooths bumps before you hit them. This over engineering on Rolls Royce’s part makes riding the Cullinan feel like you’re floating over the Earth.
- Pantheon Grille: this is the iconic grille that distinguishes your SUV from all the others on the road.
Rolls-Royce Cullinan 2019 — Tech Spec
- Model year: 2019
- Engine: 6.75 L twin-turbo V12 that produces 563 hp and 850 Nm of torque.
- Transmission: ZF 8-speed automatic (8HP).
- Drive: Permanent AWD. Permanent all-wheel drive — the Cullinan always has power to all four wheels.
- Power delivery: V12 torque arrives low in the rev range — easy pull from idle.
- 0–60 mph (0–96 km/h): ~4.8 s (manufacturer/test figures).Astonishing for a car this size.
- Top speed: Electronically limited to 250 km/h (155 mph).
- Suspension: Double wishbone front; 5-link rear; air suspension with self-leveling; adaptive dampers; active anti-roll bars. Flagbearer camera system included.
- Wading depth: ~540 mm (deep for a luxury SUV). Shallow rivers won’t be a problem. Again, not like you’d ever do that to this seriously expensive SUV.
- Wheelbase / Length / Width / Height: wheelbase ~3,295 mm; length ~5,341 mm; width ~2,000 mm (mirrors out ~2,164 mm); height ~1,835 mm. Curb weight ~2,660 kg. These are big numbers.
Is the Rolls Royce Cullinan 2019 Too Much of an SUV for You and Me?
Yes.
But not for the ultra-rich.
The Php 53M price alone is one of the restrictive factors that will not allow you or me to buy it.
It’s also very big and heavy for regular daily use. It’s simply going to prove impractical for most driving situations.
This might be fine if the use of this SUV is just relegated to traversing big open roads. But in cramped urban centers, you’ll be doing a lot of three-point turns or holding your breath in hoping you don’t scrape against any other car on the road simply because you take up too much space.
Now Let’s Talk About That Umbrella…
For such a small object, this umbrella sure produced big headlines!
Rolls Royce’ self-deploying umbrella is adorable. By itself, it’s a harmless, practical object that is not only designed to work as prescribed but also seems to double as a status symbol that sets apart the person carrying it.
The umbrella is also found on the Phantom and Ghost models and the only way I found out about it was through reading about the umbrella in magazines.
What really makes this umbrella the secondary headline for this article is that this seemingly harmless object might just bring down a powerful couple’s social status. You see, they, or more particularly the wife decided to purchase the Cullinan simply because she loved the umbrella.
If she loved it so much why didn’t she just order a similar umbrella from Amazon. Thy have a knock-off that doesn’t stray too far from the original.
Had she chosen to just make an online purchase for that Rolls Royce umbrella, they probably wouldn’t land in hot water and opena can of worms that exposes the massive corruption in the DPWH and the Philippine government.
Anyway… those are just my thoughts. I don’t really want to dwell on that.
Final Thoughts
If you like luxury that works, have Php 53M to burn and you want a car that can go anywhere (to a gala, a gravel track, and still hold a picnic with a cocktail suite) — this is for you.
I wouldn’t recommend it if you have lots of secrets because everyone’s going to come knocking to check how you managed to afford one.
Ooooh the taxes on this one…
Sources:
https://www.topgear.com.ph/news/car-news/rolls-royce-cullinan-reveal-a42-20180511?ref=bg_feed_1
https://www.topgear.com.ph/buyers-guide/cars/rolls-royce/cullinan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Cullinan
https://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/en_GB/showroom/cullinan-in-detail.html
