Rolls Royce has decided they won’t wait for spy photographers to grab shots of a test mule for their new SUV, so they’ve released their own official versions.
This ungainly Phantom is a Rolls Royce SUV mule
Releasing your own spy photos of an upcoming model isn’t a first for the car industry (and nor is official spy video), but it’s still quite rare in the early stages. But in this case – the first ‘spy’ photos of the new Rolls Royce SUV – you can understand why RR have done it.
It all looks a bit Heath Robinson, but it probably gives an indication of the ride height of the future SUV, and probably it’s size; it’s unlikely to be as commodious as a Phantom. And the spoiler is almost certainly there to try and mimic the drag of a big, boxy SUV body without actually creating one.
This ‘transparency’ is all part of Rolls Royce’s commitment to keep stakeholders informed about the progress of ‘Project Cullinan’ (the project name for the new SUV), so we can look forward to more updates as the SUV mule takes to the roads (and the off-road) of the world to shake down its new underpinnings.
That’s going to include everything from Belgian Pave to corrugated concrete by way of cobblestones as Rolls try to ensure their new SUV rides like a Rolls and has the abilities of that other RR – the Range Rover.
With the new RR SUV not due until 2017, it looks like we’re in for an ongoing series of ‘Official’ spy information.
Dave Price says
Maybe the real reason for doing this is so that when we see the real Rolls Royce SUV it looks appealing in comparison?