Rolls-Royce. The mere mention of the name conjures up thoughts of maybe the Phantom, the new Cullinan SUV, or perhaps something more classic along the lines of the Silver Shadow, but I bet you may not know that they have a series of films that speak to people who strive for perfection in their respective field, just as Rolls-Royce do when hand-building each motor car at their Global Centre of Luxury Manufacturing Excellence, located at Goodwood in West Sussex.
Striving For Perfection – Cory Richards
The new film is focusing on award-winning National Geographic photographer and explorer Cory Richards, and his insights on risk-taking and striving for perfection, something he feels himself and Rolls-Royce have in common. His work has taken him from the unclimbed peaks of Antarctica and the Himalayas, to the forgotten war zones of Angola, Uganda and Pakistan. quite possibly the crowning achievement, was in 2011 when Richards climbed to reach the 8,000-metre peak of Gasherbrum II, located in Pakistan.
This made Richards the only American, and one of only a few to achieve this, in winter. It was on this climb that he survived an avalanche on the descent, capturing the horror just after his recovery.
The Final Challenge
‘The Final Challenge’, which Richards undertook in 2018, took him to remote parts of Scotland, the UAE and USA in a camouflaged Rolls-Royce Cullinan, at times bringing it to the point of destruction on his travels, showed how capable this luxury SUV actually is. Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars says of Cory “Richards is an extraordinary individual. His skill behind the lens is unquestionably inspiring. ‘The Final Challenge’ documenting Cullinan’s final gruelling testing phase, perfectly captures Cullinan’s Effortless, Everywhere nature”.
Cory Richards adds, “Everything I do is driven by risk-taking. If we don’t take risks, we don’t fail, and when we don’t fail we don’t learn. Rolls-Royce, to me, occupies a space that I resonate with in terms of perfection, where there is an absolute attention to detail that is unrivalled”.
This film, as well as others in the series, can be found by heading to their website.