I sat in a Rolls-Royce for the first time, and it blew my mind

09/30/2024 03:42 PM

When you're pondering the concept of a car that costs as much as a house, it can be tricky to rationalise such a hefty price tag for something you can’t actually live in.

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At least that’s how I feel about the brand as someone who leads a very middle-class life – they are regarded as an unobtainable level of luxury. It’s not even lottery winning type money to afford one, it’s more like “my mother-dearest and father own a yacht in St Tropez” type money.

As a motoring journalist and longtime car enthusiast, the most expensive road car I'd ever sat in until this point was probably a Lamborghini Huracan, which carries a price tag of less than half of the Cullinan II and was a completely different vibe to a Rolls-Royce. In one, you're paying for sheer speed, while in the other, you're paying for sheer luxury.

Rolls-Royce recently held an event to uncover its new Cullinan Series II in Australia, the new generation of the ultra-luxury SUV. It was a chance to get up close and personal with this vehicle that carries a price tag of $777,000 excluding on-road costs ($895,000 excluding on-road costs for the Black Badge), and press all the satisfying buttons, of which there are plenty.

Starting with the outside of the car, there are so many things you'll miss unless you look closely. Just recently, I wrote a story about the differences in cars made now compared to old vehicles. One of the things I mentioned was that new vehicles aren't painted properly; they have orange peel texture from the paint being too thin.

Obviously, the Rolls Royce Cullinan II has some of the most gorgeous paint I've ever seen laid on a vehicle. Completely flat and meticulously applied are two adjectives I'd use to describe it, which is high praise for a vehicle in 2024.

To me, the most exciting thing about the paintwork is actually the pinstripe. What many fail to realise is that pinstriping is a dying art. Rarely will you find it on a car, and even more rarely will it be actual paint, likely just fake vinyl.

Not the Rolls Royce Cullinan, of course. All pinstripes are applied by hand, which you can see when you look up close. While it does seem dull to be excited over a painted line, it's something different in a world full of cars built by machines.

There is so much on the outside of the car that makes it much more exciting than your average SUV: those giant 23-inch wheels with centre caps that keep the "RR" upright while they spin, the little Rolls-Royce logo in the headlights, the Spirit of Ecstasy bonnet emblem that disappears into the nosecone when you try to snatch it, and even the build plate that looks like it has been carved out of a block of silver.

Where the Cullinan II really shows its price tag is on the inside. The rear-hinged doors on the back seats open up the whole car to reveal about 400 cows worth of Nappa leather adorning every single component in the car.

Rolls-Royce flew out one of its ‘Artisans’ from Goodwood to present the car and answer any questions. Katie Hood, a 24-year-old who has been with the company since finishing high school, works in the interior department as a Bespoke Development Specialist, specifically on the perforations in the leather.

It’s an interesting concept to see someone so young working on such a historic brand. You can see the emphasis that Rolls-Royce puts on its interior by having someone specialise in just leather perforations.

“At first, I was looking to go to university, but Rolls-Royce basically fell at my feet, being 15 minutes away from my house. They had an apprenticeship available when I was 18, so I just went for it. As soon as I got in there, I just loved it. I love working with the different leather and different colours,” says Hood.

“Having such a young team amongst us, we have been able to come up with heaps of different ideas for the brand. I actually forget I’m working on cars sometimes because the stuff we get to do is just amazing.”

You can also see the experimental side of what Hood does on a daily basis in the Rolls-Royce Cullinan II. It seems almost one-off and immensely unique to see what appears to be a world map etched into the seats and bolstered by a number of tiny holes poked in some material.

It seems almost comedic to see the lambswool floormats that had a tight grip around car owners in Australia looking to add some flair to their cars, but this didn't feel like the standard lambswool mat and seat cover combo you'd find at Supercheap. It felt softer than my pillow and like a crime to wear your shoes on.

The front interior of the Cullinan is understated in terms of technology, which is what you want for a car to be timeless, even pushing the buttons on the climate controls is a feeling that seems out of my tax bracket.

You’d expect to see a completely fresh software for the Rolls-Royce, but the dash is instantly recognisable as the BMW iDrive system found on most cars from the BMW group.

Yet another Spirit of Ecstasy is encased in a display case below a gorgeous analogue clock in the dash. Other than that, the front of the car is quite simple, but I suppose when you spend nearly a million dollars on a car, you'll probably have someone driving you around.

The backseat is where the excitement really begins. Both rear doors have the patented Rolls-Royce pop-out umbrellas, which I'm sure is a gimmick that I would never get sick of, but I'd definitely lose the umbrellas in about two seconds.

The rear seats are shaped similarly to those extraordinarily expensive massage chairs you see at a boutique furniture store, except with more adjustments than you knew was possible, along with heating and, of course, a massage setting.

What would a car of this cost be without a complete crystal decanter and glass set built into the centre console? Even more interesting is that Rolls-Royce knew you'd need to put your included glasses somewhere, so they've added little stem holders to the cupholders.

When you look behind you, there's a glass screen to separate the passengers from the boot. Apparently, this is so you don't get a breeze in the car when someone opens the boot. If that's not the richest thing I've ever heard, then I don't know what is.

There is a screen that folds out from each rear seat with every streaming service on it and controls for the massager/heater in your seats. This is probably the only downside to the whole car, as technology like this seems to age poorly as we continuously accelerate full steam ahead without advancements. But I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to update in the future.

Included is a very basic-looking controller, which would most likely be a component that is frequently lost. Still, I feel like it should've been a Rolls-Royce-designed feature.

As I sat back in my reclined and massaging rear seat, I closed my eyes and imagined a life where I had a driver who called me sir and drove me to the airport so I could "duck out" for a "quick holiday" at my Swiss chateau with my wife and kids, probably called something like Archibald and Isadore.

You can see why they're the price that they are, but it just shows that the rich have all the fun and comfort in the world. People who say “money can’t buy happiness” just aren’t spending their money correctly, because they haven’t felt just how fluffy the floormats are in one of these things.

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