This $465,000 Rolls-Royce Cullinan Is An Unexpected Lesson In Simplicity.

-By Karl, Bastian.

Of all the things I expected from the 2021 Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge — an SUV with a near half-million-dollar price tag — a reminder of the value of simplicity was not among them. Launched in 2018, the Cullinan is as luxurious, as excessive, and as attention-grabbing as you’d think, particularly in Black Badge form. Look beyond the glitter, though, and there’s something more important there too.

Simple doesn’t have to mean basic, and clearly simple doesn’t necessarily mean cheap. The 2021 Cullinan starts at $388,000 (plus $2,750 destination and $2,600 “gas guzzler” tax) but, with extras like the striking Galileo Blue paintwork, this particular Cullinan Black Badge is a heady $465,300 all-in.

It leaves a Mercedes-Mayback GLS 600 — at $160,500 — looking positively mainstream; even the $245,000 Bentley Bentayga Speed seems unexpectedly accessible in comparison. Aesthetics are subjective, but few would argue that the Cullinan lacks road presence. From the imperious grille, to the slab-sided angles and those rear-hinged back doors, this is neither a small SUV nor a subtle one.

In a Cullinan, the doors close themselves when you press a button. It seems lavish at first, and then you ask yourself why pulling a heavy, safety-regulation-reinforced door closed manually ever seemed acceptable. The 10.25-inch touchscreen isn’t some vast, attention-stealing display, and you can hide it behind a motorized screen and do just fine. Rolls-Royce’s crisp 12.3-inch digital instrumentation doesn’t try to serve up every possible map, and engine graphic, and animation; it just tries to give you the cleanest possible dials.

2021 Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge Verdict

It’s difficult to assess the Cullinan by standard measures. It’s an SUV that costs more than many homes; a hand-crafted rarity that’s as much automotive art as it is transportation. The electric-loving environmentalist in me shudders at its profligacy, and yet it’s difficult not to be charmed by something which takes luxury so seriously.

That’s a very different flavor of luxury to one we’re generally used to. Rolls-Royce seems to approach every gadget, every feature, with the question of “how will this make life easier?” With most high-end cars there’s a sense that you really need to read the user manual to make the most of what you’ve paid for. With the Cullinan, it feels like the SUV read the instructions itself, and that means it can serve up a far more humanized version of its undeniable talents.

Clearly, not every vehicle can be a half-million dollar, hand-made super-SUV. All the same, I think there’s a lesson the rest of us — and the car world — can learn from what the Cullinan offers, beyond just its supple leather and imposing presence. There is something to be said about simplicity, of being able to focus on what’s important. While high-tech toys can certainly be fun, the real luxury might be in being liberated from them.