Rolls-Royce Cullinan exposes its Black side

The fourth model after the Dawn, Ghost and Wraith to wear the Black Badge designation, the upgrades applied, externally, consists of a hand-polished black paint coat, a darkened Spirit of Ecstasy logo, black chrome detailing, two-tone dark silver and black 22-inch alloy wheels and blacked-out tips for the dual exhaust outlets.

Inside, the Black touches includes an all-black interior contrasted by Forged Yellow accents on the seats, doors and dashboard, so-called Technical Carbon gloss inlays and the starlight headliner made up of 1 344 diodes that can be adjusted to showcase a shooting star display. As ever though, the Black Badge will have a vast array of options ranging from the exterior to the interior regarding colours and trim pieces to suite buyer preference.

Up front, the Black Badge retains the 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 engine from the Phantom, but upgraded from 420kW/850Nm to 441 kW or 600 PS with torque rising to 900 Nm.

Mated to all four wheels via a satellite-linked ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic gearbox with a special Low function that ups the exhaust note, the Black also comes with upgraded brakes to aid stopping power, although in typical Rolls-Royce fashion, no performance figures were revealed.

Already on sale in the United States, the Black Badge retails from $382 000 (R5 66 4907), but expect it to arrive in South Africa next year with pricing to be announced.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.