Registry Tampa Bay

Rolls-Royce doesn’t do anything so Kardashian as facelifts. 

Instead, it delivers what’s labeled a ‘subtle evolution’. So, six years after the oh-so-British luxury automaker shocked the world with its first ever SUV, the towering Cullinan has just received a subtle evolution. 

It’s badged Cullinan Series II and it comes with exactly what owners and hand-raisers have asked for; a more expressive face, an updated dash with the latest tech, even more sumptuous materials, and more options for bespoke customization. 

Think of it as an extra slathering of Grey Poupon.

The result? Exceedingly impressive, as we find out during a joyous test drive in southern France’s Provençal countryside around the ancient town of Aix-en-Province.

Parked on the crunchy gravel courtyard of the spectacular Château La Coste hotel just north of Aix where we’re spending the night, the Cullinan spins heads more than ever. 

Put that down to the new front-end design featuring L-shaped LED daytime running lights that spear across the headlights and plunge vertically, easily differentiating this latest Cullinan from the original. 

That trademark Pantheon grille is also subtly tweaked, losing its thick chrome frame and gaining elegant downlighting. It now looks more integrated into the nose, less stuffy, more modern. 

The freshening continues with a whole new lower front section, with 

bigger side air intakes featuring angled slats that seem to visually widen and lower this luxury leviathan.

As before, the Cullinan comes in two flavors, standard or Black Badge, and it’s the latter that’s our ride for the day. It still looks as edgy and slightly villainous as ever, courtesy of all that blacked-out chrome which, for this 2025 version, now includes black-finished door handles. 

The other main reason for choosing a Black Badge is still what lurks beneath that mile-long hood. The mighty twin-turbocharged 6.75-liter V12 packs 592 hp compared to the standard version’s 563 hp.  

These massive outputs are unchanged for 2025, as is most of the other greasy stuff, like the self-leveling air suspension, eight-speed automatic, and rear-wheel steering. The old adage of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it applies here. 

A press of the start button brings to life the big V12, though here it feels more like you’re energizing the electric powertrain of the all-new Spectre. All you hear is spooky silence with maybe the gentlest whoosh as those 12 cylinders breathe deep.

Before we head to the hills, take a look at this refreshed cabin. Here there’s a new glass dashboard featuring instrumentation and more intuitive software from the electric Spectre. I love the new clock with a mini-me Spirit of Ecstasy set behind a teeny glass panel. Just in case you forgot what you’re driving. 

As always, there’s a multitude of options for interior materials and colors. One new offering is the funky Duality Twill fabric made from bamboo fibers and using more than 2.2 million stitches and 11 miles of thread to create an abstract interpretation of the interlocking RR logo.

A squeeze of the throttle is all that’s needed to slingshot this 6,000-pound cruiseship forward like a rock exiting a catapult. As before, standstill to 60 mph sprints take less than five seconds and, as before, the towering thrust is akin to a Gulfstream G550 on take-off. 

And despite its excessive proportions, getting used to its size takes just a few seconds, even on French country lanes about as wide as a bike path. The Rolls steers with precision, handles curves like its running on invisible rails, and rides like its floating on fluffy clouds.

You’ll start a conversation about pricing at around $450,000 for a standard 2025 Cullinan II and $500,000 for the Black Badge, though a conversation with a Rolls-Royce Bespoke specialist could easily take any commission well past the $600,000 mark.

But as for driving what is still without doubt the most-exquisite luxury SUV on the planet? Just priceless. 

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