A 2022 Rolls-Royce Cullinan was allegedly stolen on its way to a luxury dealership in Miami by a thief who requested a change to the SUV’s delivery address via text. The so-called “experienced thief” somehow got the phone number of the driver transporting the Rolls-Royce from Michigan to Florida, posed as an employee of the luxury dealer, and told the driver that the Cullinan “should be delivered to a new location,” according to NBC6. The random text message, as the dealer described on Facebook, sent the delivery driver to a parking lot where the alleged thief made off with the Rolls-Royce Cullinan, reportedly worth $420,000, on June 15.
Employees at Limited Spec Automotive, the Miami luxury dealer, suspected something was amiss after the Rolls missed its delivery window, which had been set to no later than 2:00 pm at the dealership in South Florida. By 4:00 pm, there was still no sign of the Cullinan. The dealer then reached out to the delivery driver—also via text message—asking where the Rolls-Royce was, to which the driver replied saying the SUV had already been delivered at the new location requested by the unknown party posing as a worker at the dealership, as NBC6 reports.
The dealership says the driver didn’t confirm the delivery change, and he was paid in cash at the delivery site. It also took to Facebook last Monday, seeking help in finding the missing Cullinan. Limited Spec is now offering a sizable reward, and has doubled the payout from an initial $20,000 to $40,000 for anyone who can recover the stolen SUV.
Recovering the Rolls could prove difficult because the dealership claims the thief removed the car’s GPS trackers, and even sent photo proof of their removal. The dealership was able to establish contact via text with the suspected thief after the incident, going on to call him a “gentleman” and “a professional” given his reported level of expertise. The dealer has reported the theft to the transporter’s insurance company, but it’s still unclear who will be liable to cover the cost of the stolen Cullinan.
An investigation is currently ongoing by Miami-Dade County Police, but the general manager of Limited Spec Automobile, Stephen Waisman, believes it’s time for the FBI to get involved. He tells NBC6 that the “usual safety measures taken to prevent these thefts” were taken and yet, they didn’t seem to make much of a difference. Waisman also says the dealership will start using “bigger delivery companies” in the future even if it costs more money, which raises questions about who the dealership had entrusted with transporting its extremely desirable cars.
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