- Black Badge family defines taste patterns of a new generation of
super-luxury consumer
- Cullinan introduced as darkest, most urban expression of a Black
Badge motor car yet
- First time marque’s proprietary Architecture of Luxury has
undergone Black Badge treatment
- 6.75-litre V12 engine now delivers increased power (600PS) and
torque (900NM)
- Drivetrain and chassis re-engineered for enhanced dynamic performance
- Curated collection debuts striking Forge Yellow leather and
Technical Carbon veneer
- Bespoke alloy wheel introduced in Black Badge house style
- Infinity lemniscate symbol continues to codify noir expression of Rolls-Royce
“Black Badge reflects the desires of a distinct group of
Rolls-Royce clients: men and women who take risks, break rules and
build success on their own terms. Indeed, before we launched Black
Badge in 2016 the idea of creating a product that would satisfy this
subversive cohort – that is highly dynamic and wilfully rebellious in
aesthetic – caused a great deal of internal debate. However, once the
marque’s designers, engineers and craftspeople began pursuing this
dramatic alter ego, it became clear that these motor cars could not
only exist comfortably beneath this revered and historic brand but
they would define a new space within the super-luxury market. In this
spirit, the time has come for Rolls-Royce’s boldest and darkest
expression of Black Badge yet. The King of the Night, Black Badge Cullinan.”
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce
Motor Cars
Introduction
At the Geneva Motor Show in March 2016, Rolls-Royce
Motor Cars presented Black Badge; a permanent Bespoke family of motor
cars that defined the taste patterns of an emerging generation of
super-luxury consumer. These unapologetic and highly dynamic products
responded to those who refused to be defined by traditional codes of
luxury and did much to attract new customers to the marque, reassured
by Rolls-Royce’s fluency in their bold aesthetic and uncompromising
lifestyle requirements.
This highly successful alter ego is codified by the mathematical
symbol that represents a potential infinity, which is placed
discreetly within the motor car’s interior. This marking, known also
as the lemniscate, was applied to Sir Malcolm Campbell’s
record-breaking Rolls-Royce-powered Blue Bird K3 hydroplane, denoting
that it belonged to an insurance class reserved for boats with
unlimited and therefore infinite engine power. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
selected this hallmark for Black Badge to reflect its own unrelenting
pursuit of power.
Rolls-Royce debuted Black Badge with Wraith and Ghost in 2016
followed by Dawn in 2017. Today, the family is completed with the
introduction of Black Badge Cullinan: the darkest and most urban
statement of Black Badge yet.
Cullinan Goes Black
Created to satisfy overwhelming demand from younger,
more adventurous clients, Cullinan in its silver badge guise, was
launched to global acclaim in 2018, immediately becoming the world’s
pinnacle super-luxury SUV. Combining luxury in its purest form with
genuine practicality and off-road capability, Cullinan unequivocally
delivered on the promise of an experience that is Effortless, Everywhere.
The Rolls-Royce of SUVs did much to reach a new group of clients
looking for unfettered access to the world’s wildest places and most
enriching experiences. Yet, within this group exists a subset of
individuals who seek to subvert the motor car’s domineering presence
by permanently cloaking it in the night. Cullinan has conquered the
world’s wildest reaches. Now it is time for Black Badge Cullinan to
conquer new urban frontiers.
Black Badge Cullinan Exterior: The King of the Night
While clients can draw on the marque’s 44,000 ‘ready
to wear’ paint options or commission an entirely individual Bespoke
hue, it is anticipated that many will opt for Black Badge’s signature
Black. Multiple layers of paint and lacquer are meticulously applied
and hand-polished 10 times at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood,
West Sussex, representing the most comprehensive surface finish
process ever applied to a solid paint colour. The depth and intensity
of Black Badge Cullinan’s coachwork serves as the perfect canvas upon
which to throw a contrasting hand-painted Coachline into stark relief.
On the prow of the motor car lies the defining expression of
Black Badge. The Spirit of Ecstasy mascot, which has taken many forms
throughout the marque’s history, is presented in high gloss black
chrome. For the first time this finish extends onto its mounting
plate, creating the darkest Black Badge yet.
This transformation pervades the other symbols of Black Badge.
The ‘Double R’ badge on the front, flanks and aft invert to become
silver-on-black, while chrome surfaces such as the front grille
surround, side frame finishers, boot handle, boot trim, lower air
inlet finisher and exhaust pipes are darkened. While they appear
black, the vertical grille bars remain polished, reflecting the
blackened surfaces that surround them to add a frisson of movement
that hints at the motor car’s dynamic intent.
The overall effect artfully simplifies and enlarges the motor
car’s exterior design graphics, emphasising its imposing proportions
and confident stance. This is further dramatised by all-new 22-inch
forged alloy wheels, reserved exclusively for Black Badge Cullinan.
Designed in the Black Badge house style, the gear-like graphic
emphasises the model’s vast reserves of power while also recalling an
infinitely occurring lemniscate.
The gloss black and polished design also creates the perfect
stage for the marque’s first ever coloured brake caliper. The high
gloss Red paint has been specifically developed to withstand the
rigours of elevated temperatures generated by the motor car’s uprated
braking system while still offering a perfectly smooth finish
befitting of Rolls-Royce.
Black Badge Cullinan Interior: Superlative comfort. Audacious design
Ordinarily, great efforts are expelled to distance
occupants from a Rolls-Royce’s mechanical function. However, the
marque’s Colour and Trim experts gently sensationalised the
engineering substance of Black Badge, seamlessly blending superlative
comfort, bold aesthetics, advanced materials and precise, meticulous craftsmanship.
This ethos is perfectly embodied by Black Badge Cullinan’s
Technical Carbon veneer. In the spirit of Sir Henry Royce’s founding
philosophy, “When it does not exist, design it”, a collaboration
between the marque’s designers, engineers and craftspeople saw the
creation of a new luxury material. Inspired by masterpieces of urban
architecture, a naked-weave carbon-fibre finish has been developed to
create highly accurate repeating geometrical shapes that produce a
powerful three-dimensional effect.
Each leaf of Technical Carbon is finished with six coats of
lacquer before being left to cure for 72 hours then hand-polished to
Rolls-Royce’s hallmark mirror finish. This process takes 21 days and
is only deemed complete once every piece is inspected by a
craftsperson to ensure complete reflective uniformity across each of
the 23 pieces within the car.
Starlight Headliner has joined historical Rolls-Royce
iconography such as the Spirit of Ecstasy, Pantheon Grille and ‘Double
R’ monogram. Its presence in Black Badge Cullinan intensifies the
cabin’s ambience by casting a low light over the lavish leather seats.
Presented in fine Black leather, handwoven with 1344 fibre optic
lights, it is a true reflection of the sky at night and incorporates
eight brilliant white shooting stars that dart at random predominantly
over the front occupants, subtly acknowledging the motor car’s
owner-driver appeal.
Reflecting the marque’s Bespoke philosophy, Black Badge Cullinan
benefits from a near-infinitely configurable interior colour palette.
Black Badge clients often use interior space as a stage to create
dramatic high contrast colourways, so for Cullinan Rolls-Royce’s
Colour and Trim designers created a bold new leather colour, Forge
Yellow, to offer as part of the brand’s curated collection. As with
all leather colours, this can be commissioned for the motor car’s
Viewing Suite or incorporated into the design of a highly Bespoke
Recreation Module tailored to the client’s exacting specification.
A final touch completes the interior seating: the Infinity
lemniscate motif is embroidered into the fold-down rear arm-rest as an
elegant reminder of the power contained within. This simple but potent
symbol is also incorporated in the illuminated treadplates and
engraved on the brushed and darkened steel clock case. Red-tipped
clock hands and instrument display needles also serve as a discreet
reminder of the motor car’s dynamic prowess.
Black Badge Cullinan Engineering. The Architecture of Luxury’s
dark side
Black Badge is far more than an aesthetic treatment.
In creating this class of motor car, it was of vital importance for
Rolls-Royce to conceive a meticulously considered dynamic personality
that perfectly harmonised with the motor car’s remarkable visual
identity. Indeed, the exceptionally high expectations of the marque’s
clients defined a rigorous testing protocol lasting more than three
years to ensure that Black Badge Cullinan was relevant to their needs.
Key to the visceral thrill of Black Badge Cullinan is the
Architecture of Luxury, Rolls-Royce’s proprietary all-aluminium
architecture that debuted with Phantom. The sub-structure not only
delivers extraordinary body stiffness but its flexibility and
scalability allowed Cullinan to be fitted with all-wheel drive and
four-wheel steering in its silver badged guise. These dynamic features
have been comprehensively exploited and re-engineered for Black Badge
while retaining the peerless quality of ride that has driven
Rolls-Royce’s success.
The Architecture of Luxury has been engineered to meet size and
weight requirements of different propulsion systems. When the driver
presses the ‘Low’ button situated on the gear selection stalk, they
unlock Black Badge Cullinan’s full suite of technologies. This is
asserted by the proud amplification of the motor car’s 6.75-litre
twin-turbocharged V12 through an entirely new exhaust system,
announcing its arrival with a deep, authoritative
basso profundo.
It was deemed unnecessary to make changes to the engine’s ample
internal capacity, however the flexibility of the twin-turbo V12 has
been exploited to generate an extra 29PS creating a total output of
600PS. The sense of a single, infinite gear has also been
sensationalised with the addition of a further 50NM of torque,
bringing the total to a 900NM.
Black Badge Cullinan benefits from a Bespoke transmission and
throttle treatment that creates a sense of urgency without ever
undermining its Rolls-Royce peerage. The drive-train, ZF 8-speed gear
box and both front and rear steered axles work collaboratively to
adjust the levels of engagement depending on throttle and steering
inputs. Changes to suspension components and settings add to the suite
of dynamic technologies that ensure an appropriate balance between
dynamism and refinement. The result is an extremely well-mannered
tourer at low speeds and a vivid driver’s device when pressed.
To bolster confidence when exploiting Cullinan’s alter ego, the
braking bite point has been raised and pedal travel decreased.
Redesigned brake disc ventilation also allows consistency in these
changes while braking at elevated temperatures.
Black Badge Cullinan is now available to commission.
