Cars

2019 Rolls-Royce Cullinan in its Rebelle Rally win

The super-luxury SUV looks surprisingly good covered in dirt.

Emme Hall

I love two-seater, RWD convertibles and own a 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata for pavement fun and a lifted 2001 Miata for pre-running. I race air-cooled Volkswagens in desert races like the Mint 400 and the Baja 1000. I have won the Rebelle Rally, seven-day navigational challenge, twice and I am the only driver to compete in an EV, the Rivian R1T.

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Emme Hall

Dec. 10, 2019 2:00 a.m. PT

1 of 34 Tim Calver

The Rebelle Rally is a seven-day navigational rally through California and Nevada. GPS and cell-phones are not allowed, and the competition is for women only.

2 of 34 Richard Giordano

This year I won the Crossover category with the 2019 Rolls-Royce Cullinan.

3 of 34 Paolo Baraldi

The Cullinan traversed all kinds of terrain, grated dirt roads, rocky washes and soft dunes.

4 of 34 Paolo Baraldi

For seven days she hardly faltered, thanks to her 6.75-liter V12 engine pushes out 563 horsepower and 672 pound-feet of torque.

5 of 34 Richard Giordano

Days start at 5 am with competitors plotting latitude and longitude points on a topographical map by hand.

6 of 34 Tim Calver

Typically there are 20 to 15 checkpoints to be found each day.

7 of 34 Paolo Baraldi

The competition also includes time/speed/distance challenges where competitors must follow tulip notes at a designated speed and follow the directions, arriving "on time" at various timing controls.

8 of 34 Tim Calver

Navigator Rebecca Donaghe's office: Terra Trip odometer accurate to 1/100 of a kilometer, pencils, timers, calculator, magnifying loups and lip balm.

9 of 34 Nicole Dreon

We added a spare tire carrier to the back of the Cullinan so we could carry two full-size spares. Throughout the Rally we got three flat tires but only one was able to be repaired.