1977 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II front three quarter

2020 Rolls-Royce Cullinan Test: Be Patient, We're Getting There

At the time, both the Porsche and Rolls were about $20,000 cars (Porsches had still yet to hit their stride in the collector-car market). And even though I've always been more of a sports-car guy who loved 356s, the Rolls made far more of a serious impression on me. It was an honest-to-goodness Roller, with the Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament atop the squared-off front grille, the rich smell of Connolly Leather soaked deep into the cabin, and plenty of expensive-looking wood on the dashboard. Climbing aboard, my feet sank a couple of inches into the plush wool carpet, and I felt like I was in the drawing room of a stately, old-money estate. This was more than just a car.

The classic 6.75-liter V-8 fired up instantly, and it settled quickly into a whisper-quiet and almost eerily gentle idle. The thin, almost delicate shift lever was column-mounted, and I slipped the three-speed GM-sourced automatic into Drive. I was off, at 20 years old, down the road in a Rolls-Royce. Everything about it was different to me. The bus-sized yet almost pencil-thin steering wheel was so light, I could turn it with my little finger. The car moved so regally down the road, quiet and plush and heavy feeling. There was no tachometer, because what was the point? The whole trip back to the dealership was a revelation, and while this wasn't my type of car, I felt like I'd just had a new and meaningful life experience. I knew what it was like to drive a Rolls-Royce.

2020 Rolls-Royce Cullinan Test: Here and Now

The job didn't last long. I sold maybe three cars in as many months, and after I felt I was short-changed on a Ferrari 308 commission, I split one day. I left for lunch and just never came back. I was young, short-sighted, and even more broke than when I'd started the job. Six months later I enrolled in school again, with a new goal to drive some of the best cars in the world and write about them. Nearly 20 years later, there's a brand-new 2020 Rolls-Royce Cullinan parked in the driveway of my house and waiting for me to take her for a test drive. Somehow, someway, the plan worked.

By now, after nearly 15 years of writing about cars, I'd venture to guess this is the fourth or fifth Rolls-Royce key fob I've had in my hands. One thing I've learned is that my time with a Rolls is almost always fleeting. From my first 10-minute drive all those years ago to the 48 hours and 200-mile max I have with the Cullinan, these things just don't have a habit of staying in my orbit long.

2020 Rolls Royce Cullinan spirit of ecstasy

Anyway, what to say about a near-$400,000, leather, wood, and metal Barcalounger on wheels that hasn't been said before? How to express why anyone should care about an SUV that only the few titans who hold a lion's share of the world's wealth are able to afford? Especially in times of record unemployment and global turmoil?

When my wife arrived home from work in late afternoon, we ate a quick, early dinner, got in the Cullinan, hit the starter button, and watched the Spirit of Ecstasy rise from its protective vault to the top of the grille. This was her first Rolls-Royce experience, so we wafted down miles and miles of country roads, ensconced in the rich smell of carefully, tediously manicured leather and letting the Cullinan's air suspension steamroll over the bumps and dips I knew were there, but couldn't really feel. The 2020 Rolls-Royce Cullinan is a far, far larger vehicle than that old Silver Shadow II, but the way it goes down a road with such ease, the way it drives smaller than it is, is one of the great wonders of the automotive world.

Occasionally, I'd put my throttle-foot down, letting the Cullinan's 571-horsepower, twin-turbo, 6.75-liter V-12 rocket us in silky smoothness down the lane. There's still that column-mounted shifter, still no tachometer (a power-reserve meter in its place), still that special feeling as my wife sunk her toes into a puddle of inches-deep wool carpet. And Rolls-Royce still knows the meaning of building truly aspirational automobiles that have a hard time fading from memory. This may not be my beautiful car, but I'll never forget a test drive in a Rolls-Royce with my beautiful wife. Once in a lifetime, indeed.

2020 Rolls-Royce Cullinan Specifications
ON SALE	Now
PRICE	$335,350/$394,275 (base/as tested)
ENGINE	6.75L twin-turbo DOHC 48-valve V-12/571 hp @ 5,000 rpm, 627 lb-ft @ 1,600 rpm
TRANSMISSION	8-speed automatic
LAYOUT	4-door, 5-passenger, front-engine, AWD SUV
EPA MILEAGE	12/20 mpg (city/hwy)
L x W x H	210.0 x 79.0 x 72.0 in
WHEELBASE	130.0 in
WEIGHT	6,069 lb
0-60 MPH	5.0 sec
TOP SPEED	155 mph