Rolls-Royce Cullinan gains Black Badge variant

The Rolls Royce Rolls-Royce Cullinan has gained a Black Badge variant, giving the super-luxury SUV a gloss black coat of paint.

The British brand's Spirit of Ecstacy receives a black accent, for the first time encompassing the mascot’s mounting plate. In addition, the usually chrome front grille surround, side frame finishers, boot handle, boot trim, lower air inlet finisher and exhaust pipes also gain a darker hue. The Black Badge rolls on new 22in forged alloy wheels, while the brake callipers are gloss red.

Inside, the Black Badge features a headliner woven with fibreoptic lights to resemble the night sky – a feature premiered in 2016 on the Rolls Royce Rolls-Royce Wraith. The seats are black leather, while yellow detailing features throughout.

The powertrain is boosted from the standard Cullinan; the 6.75-litre V12 engine now delivers 592bhp and 664lb ft, transmitted through an eight-speed automatic gearbox, rather than 563bhp and 627lb ft. Rolls-Royce hasn’t released performance or economy figures for the model, however.

The Cullinan Black Badge joins existing variants of the Wraith, New 2020 Rolls Royce Rolls-Royce Ghost and Rolls Royce Rolls-Royce Dawn. The new black-trimmed Cullinan is the darkest model yet in the Black Badge family.

While the company hasn't yet specified an exact price for the car, it anticipates it being roughly 20% more expensive than the £252,000 standard model. Customers generally spend more than the base price, however.

First deliveries of the car will begin between the end of 2019 and the start of 2020.