SPY PICS: Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV

This odd-looking Rolls-Royce mule will soon evolve into an SUV, dubbed Project Cullinan.

These photos, which appear to have more in common with Kanye West's garage than the British prestige car maker's usual fare, reveal very little about the upcoming SUV, except that it will have more ground clearance than regular Rollers.

The images of the embryonic SUV are directly from the source, Rolls-Royce, which has explained in a press release that the early engineering mule is based on a shortened Phantom Series II body.

Featuring a four-wheel-drive transmission hooked up to an all-new suspension system, the Project Cullinan mule is being used to test "on-road behaviour, from suspension throw to high-bodied stability" reads the Rolls-Royce press statement.

Expected to eclipse the upcoming Bentley Bentayga SUV – due in Australia in early 2016 – as the world's most expensive and luxurious exemplar, Roller's SUV could end up being priced close to $1million.

The vehicle will begin testing on public roads this week.

Once extensive testing is finalised, which will include trials on "all types of international road surfaces", both on road and off, production is expected to begin later in 2016 for a 2017 public launch.

"Test surfaces will include; Belgian Pavé, cobblestones, corrugated concrete, noise development and measurement surfaces, resonance road, and acceleration bumps," says the BMW Group-owned company.

The esteemed British car maker is touting the new model as more than a just a jacked-up luxo-barge, as "Project Cullinan engineering mules will spend equal amounts of time testing on-road and off-road to ensure that the customer will experience the same unrivalled ride quality on loose surfaces and challenging terrain as they do on the road today."

Expect propulsion to come from a modified version of the company's 6.8-litre V12 engine, currently under the bonnet of the Rolls-Royce flagship vehicle, the Phantom.

It's not clear whether the production version of the SUV will be badged Cullinan, named after the largest diamond in the world, which currently adorns the Queen of England's Crown Jewels.

But one thing is certain – Rolls-Royce is not developing a super SUV. No, this vehicle is an "all-terrain motor car". But ATMC doesn't really roll off the tongue...