Rolls Royce Introduces The Black Badge Cullinan
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars launched Black Badge in Geneva Motor Show in March 2016. These Black Badge premium bespoke designs are highly dynamic and have responded a niche market’s need to stay away from traditional codes of luxury.
Rolls Royce’s alter ego is codified by the mathematical symbol 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.
Today, Rolls Royce adds to the family with the introduction of Black Badge Cullinan.
“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.” - Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
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, representing the most comprehensive surface finish process ever applied to a solid paint colour.
On the prow of the motor car lies the defining expression of Black Badge: The Spirit of Ecstasy mascot. For the first time this finish extends onto its mounting plate, creating the darkest Black Badge yet. This is further dramatised by all-new 22-inch forged alloy wheels, reserved exclusively for Black Badge Cullinan.
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.
Black Badge Cullinan Interior: Superlative comfort. Audacious design
The brand’s ethos of outstanding quality and craftsmanship is perfectly embodied by Black Badge Cullinan’s Technical Carbon veneer. 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 every piece is inspected by a craftsperson to ensure uniformity across each of the 23 pieces within the car.
Reflecting the marque’s Bespoke philosophy, you can customise colours to your liking. However, the Cullinan Rolls-Royce’s Colour and Trim designers created a bold new leather colour: Forge Yellow.
Black Badge Cullinan Engineering. The Architecture of Luxury’s dark side
The car’s sub-structure not only delivers 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. When the driver presses the ‘Low’ button situated on the gear selection stalk, they unlock Black Badge Cullinan’s full suite of technologies.
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 meticulously consider their client’s dynamic needs and wants. There is an intense testing protocol lasting more than three years to ensure that Black Badge Cullinan was relevant to their needs.
Read More: A Look Into The New and Coveted Rolls-Royce Cullinan