After the British luxury carmaker recently announced that it has started work on a "high-bodied car that can cross any terrain," Rolls-Royce->ke74 has also let it slip that the internal moniker for its new SUV->ke145 is Cullinan. The name is an obvious reference to the largest diamond ever found, from which the largest polished gem now adorns the so-called Sceptre with the Cross, part of the British Crown Jewels.

British sources mention that although the SUV is being referred to internally as the Cullinan, it is not exactly a code name in the style of Bentley Bentayga's->ke5088 "Falcon"->ke4782 internal moniker, but more of a nickname its engineers have given it. The model's official code name is actually "RR31," alluding to the fact that it will be the 31st new Rolls-Royce in the company's history. That said, I think the Cullinan name would actually be quite fitting for the upcoming SUV, as it is likely to rule over its peers in a similar way that the diamond has done since it was discovered in 1905.

The actual name for Rolls-Royce's first SUV will probably not stray much from the carmaker's modern lineup, which largely consists of various occult apparitions on wheels (e.g. Phantom,->ke1283 Ghost->ke3434 or Wraith).->ke1710 The carmaker could also bring back a historic name from the past, in order to better symbolize how the new SUV is actually following in the footsteps of more traditional Rolls-Royce models.

Continue reading to learn more about Rolls Royce's future SUV.

Why it matters

Long-rumored but finally acknowledged in February 2015, the first Rolls-Royce SUV is set to be launched sometime in late 2017, with the luxury carmaker choosing to base the model on a new, aluminum-intensive platform shared for the most part with the 2016 BMW 7 Series and the 2017 BMW X7. Price-wise, the SUV should slot between the Ghost and the Phantom.

Not yet confirmed, but the new SUV is likely to be powered by a reworked version of the twin-turbocharged V-12 used in the Phantom. With a displacement of 6.75-liters – or the "six and three-quarter" made famous by Rolls-Royce and Bentley – the big V-12 with direct injection has been developed by BMW, using the 12-cylinder from the BMW 760i as a starting point. I think it's safe to say that even if the "high-bodied" Roller switches to an all-new V-12, the 6.75-liter displacement is likely to remain the same. An all-wheel-drive system and electronically controlled pneumatic suspension are also a given.

Rolls Royce SUV