The new Rolls-Royce Cullinan

9 November, 2018

Hitherto the only item known as the Cullinan was a massive diamond that makes up part of the British Crown Jewels. But now there’ll be another Cullinan, as in, “Jeeves, bring the Cullinan around, I want to go shooting.” Although more than likely it’ll just be be, “Jeeves, bring the Cullinan around, I want to go for a coffee.”

This new tourer from Rolls-Royce is as grand as the diamond it’s named after is hard. The truth is that the Cullinan will probably spend most of its time pottering around the trendier shopping streets of our main centres, but this doesn’t detract from the fact that Rolls-Royce have hit the nail on the head.

The new SUV is driven by 6.75l of twin-turbo V12, over 550bhp, and masses of twisting power. From the inside, the only thing you need to do with the outside world is watch it go by, and there’s really no better place to do that from. Rolls-Royce’s new platform has been developed especially for the new generation of their vehicles. Four-wheel steering, air suspension, and a host of new innovations maintain the famous Roller ride quality. The interior is sumptuous, and well, what else would you expect from a vehicle that has the option of 44,000 exterior colours.

Take a look at some images from the launch event below.

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To finish first, first, you must build a winner

5 February, 2025

Can-Am royalty
Only three M20s were built, including the car that was destroyed at Road Atlanta. This car was later rebuilt. All three cars were sold at the end of the 1972 season. One of the cars would score another Can-Am victory in 1974, driven by a privateer, but the M20’s day was done. Can-Am racing faded away at the end of that season and was replaced by Formula 5000.
These days the cars are valued in the millions. It was unlikely that I would ever have seen one in the flesh if it hadn’t been that one day my editor asked me if I would mind popping over to Taranaki and having a look at a pretty McLaren M20 that somebody had built in their shed.
That is how I came to be standing by the car owned and built by truck driver Leon Macdonald.

Lunch with … Roly Levis

31 January, 2025

Lunching was not allowed during Covid 19 Lockdowns so our correspondent recalled a lunch he had with legendary New Zealand racing driver Rollo Athol Levis shortly before he died on 1 October 2013 at the age of 88. Michael Clark caught up with Roly and members of his family over vegetable soup

The new Rolls-Royce Cullinan

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