Since its announcement three years ago, the “most anticipated” Rolls-Royce Cullinan marks a shift away from the luxury saloon cars the luxury brand is best known for.

An all-terrain high-bodied car, the Cullinan will realise the urban dream of luxury off-road travel.

Named after the world’s biggest natural diamond, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan launches with luxury, performance and usability levels never before seen in the SUV market.

Rolls-Royce Cullinan certainly signifies the changing consumer demand, as more luxury car makers such as Bentley and Lamborghini have also launched SUVs, with Ferrari following the trend next year. With keen intentions of overtaking the Range Rover and Bentley Bentayga to become the new king of the ultra-luxury SUV segment, Rolls Royce has invested heavily in both the production and marketing of its Cullinan.

The 6.75 litre twin-turbo V12 Rolls-Royce engine delivers 563bhp/420kW and 850Nm/627lb ft of torque to all-wheel drive and steer system needed to overcome any challenge.

Branded as a full-capability off-roader “able to do whatever a Range Rover can do”, Rolls-Royce stresses Cullinan’s breadth of capability with a series of artfully filmed clips showing prototypes tackling rough roads and huge dunes, with the slogan “effortless, everywhere”.

A century-long pedigree of adventurous quests and campaigns successfully carried out across all terrains thanks to the luxury offered by a stout vehicle that was swift, stealthy and dependable. “A Rolls in the desert is above rubies” – T.E. Lawrence.

The contemporary and functional design ensures Cullinan gains iconic status in the face of increasingly bland SUV designs. Retaining the refinement and luxury of a limo, the Cullinan is perhaps most practical of Rolls-Royces – versatile, family oriented, fun-to-drive.

The first “three-box” car in the SUV-sector. Cullinan’s partition wall creates a distinct environment for passengers, separated from the luggage compartment.

Built with a modular aluminium space frame and a twin-turbo V12, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan promises utmost smoothness and quietness. The 563bhp is developed at a relaxed 5000rpm, while the peak torque of 627lb ft occurs at only 1600rpm, made for optimal performance both off-road and on-road.

The SUV also has a rolodex of other novel features, like a cargo compartment separated from the cabin, suicide rear doors, and an automatic lowering system that drops the SUV 1.5 inches when the driver approaches.

The interior of the car is fashioned with the brand’s usual paragon of quality and style, lined with box-grain leather and comes with an impressive array of equipment. In the face of adventure, it plays even more roles, with wildlife and pedestrian warning, alertness assistant, and four-cameras with all-around visibility and a “helicopter view” to offer its riders a panoramic view of their surroundings.

The cabin of the Cullinan combines authentic Rolls-Royce luxury with simple, symmetrical functionality that expresses the car’s inherent strength.

The Bespoke division even offers a Viewing Suite and Recreation Module – a superbly made container filled with tools tailored to the buyer’s lifestyle demands, from croquet to drone racing.

To explain the shift in focus to luxury SUVs, Chief Executive Officer Torsten Müller-Ötvös observes how the changing target group of “ultra-high net worth individuals” has gotten “younger and younger”, with many rejecting the “old cliche that Rolls-Royce is chauffeur-only”. The new clientele wants to “drive themselves”, in a car that boosts versatility – “fits to go to the opera, which brings you up to the chalet in the Swiss Alps and so on”.

Also available in classic Tungsten Grey and a more striking shade of Magma Red, deliveries of the Rolls-Royce Cullinan will begin in 2019.

Get this diamond of a car here.