Rolls-Royce has built a reputation for creating highly personalized cars that serve as rolling showcases for artists, designers and distinctive themes. Its latest one-off creation takes that approach in a dramatically different direction, bringing street art and space-inspired imagery to the Black Badge Cullinan through a collaboration with artist Cyril Kongo.
Inside Cyril Kongo’s “Kongo-Verse”
Rolls-Royce typically works closely with the artists and artisans responsible for its special commissions, and Kongo’s Black Badge Cullinan is no exception. A new video explores Kongo’s background, including his early years as a street artist and student.
Kongo describes how his art influenced his personality, effectively creating two sides of his identity: “Cyril,” the student, and “Kongo,” the artist who spent his time creating graffiti on walls and streets.
His latest projects revolve around what he calls the “Kongo-verse,” a concept reflected throughout the Cullinan’s customized design. The universe incorporates numbers, formulas, a fictional planet, a pyramid and atoms, with similar shapes appearing across the vehicle’s graffiti-inspired interior elements.
“You are in my universe, within the Rolls-Royce universe,” Kongo says in the video.
A Collaboration Built Around Craftsmanship
Kongo also discusses the experience of working with Rolls-Royce and its team of artisans. The artist describes collaboration as an opportunity to meet passionate people, while the finished Cullinan demonstrates the extreme attention to detail associated with the brand’s bespoke creations.
Seeing the completed vehicle for the first time, Kongo takes a moment to appreciate the finished work and its craftsmanship.
“When you are talking with people who are looking for excellence, they never say no, they always give you an answer,” the artist says.
The Black Badge Cullinan Is a True One-Off
The Cyril Kongo Black Badge Cullinan represents a significant stylistic departure from several of Rolls-Royce’s recent special commissions.
Last year, the brand introduced the Phantom Scintilla. Earlier projects included vehicles celebrating the Year of the Dragon, featuring a Starlight Headliner with an additional 667 fiber-optic stars arranged in the shape of a dragon.
Rolls-Royce also created La Rose Noire, an emotional red-and-black Droptail featuring a distinctive petal motif on the dashboard and a champagne chest paired with two hand-blown crystal champagne flutes.
Another Bespoke Rolls-Royce Has Already Sold
The Black Badge Cullinan by Cyril Kongo is limited to a single example. The one-of-one vehicle has already been sold, making it an especially exclusive demonstration of what can be achieved through the Rolls-Royce Bespoke program.
Kongo has previously explored similarly exclusive collaborations in the world of horology. His work includes the Richard Mille RM 68-01 Cyril Kongo Tourbillon, which was produced in a 30-piece run and commands more than $2 million on the secondhand market.
The Cullinan therefore represents another intersection between Kongo’s art and high-end craftsmanship, this time transforming a Rolls-Royce Black Badge into a rolling expression of his distinctive graffiti-inspired universe.
