The Rolls-Royce Cullinan Series II Brings 23-Inch Wheels And A Light-Up Grille

Few cars have split opinions like the Rolls-Royce Cullinan since it launched in 2018. There are those who find the V12-powered SUV a blingy affront to everything the Rolls brand stands for, and those who simply don’t give a damn. The latter group are the ones actually buying the Cullinan, in larger numbers than any of Rolls’ other current models, so it’s to them – an increasingly young, international customer base that heavily favours driving it themselves over calling on a chauffeur – that the facelifted Cullinan Series II has been crafted to appeal.

At the front, the Series II gets slimmer headlights framed by thin LED strips and an altogether more aggressive design of air intakes on the bumper. It still features the brand’s imposing ‘pantheon’ grille – it’s hard to see Rolls ever abandoning that – but now, it’s illuminated. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear the faint tinkling of glass as Rolls traditionalists around the world drop their monocles in shock.

The rear now features exhaust surrounds in stainless steel, and a gentle crease on the rear flanks runs from the taillights and points towards the centre of the back wheels. Oh, and speaking of wheels, there’s now the option of monstrous 23-inch rims, milled from a single aluminium billet.

The interior is where Rolls has really gone to town. Literally, in fact: on the dash sits an illuminated panel with a graphic that represents skyscrapers at night, reflecting the fact that the vast majority of Cullinans apparently spend the bulk of their time in urban environments.

That’s just one part of a dashboard fascia made from a single glass panel stretching between the A-pillars, which also incorporates Rolls’ new Spirit infotainment system. To the left of the central screen sits a new analogue clock above a stainless steel figurine of the Spirit of Ecstasy emblem, sitting within its own tiny stage-lit display.

The interior can now be upholstered in a new material called ‘Duality Twill’ (yes, really), a bamboo-based fabric. Spec as much of the Cullinan’s interior as possible with this stuff, and you’ll be sitting among 2.2 million individual stitches and 11 miles of thread. A new grey-stained ash joins the range of woods available for interior trim, too.

As is de rigueur for Rolls-Royce, there’ll be pretty much endless personalisation options, to the extent that that cityscape artwork in the dash can be swapped out for basically anything a client desires.

What hasn’t changed is the 6.8-litre – sorry, six-and-three-quarter-litre – twin-turbocharged V12 powering the Cullinan. Rolls hasn’t released power figures, but the outgoing car’s 563bhp – or 591bhp in Black Badge guise – is what the company would likely call ‘sufficient’.

Exact pricing is still on a need-to-know basis, but the outgoing car started at just under £300k, so expect the Series II to creep north of that, especially once buyers have started seeing just how far they can take their personalisation efforts.