Bib Stillwell

Stillwell competed in his first race in 1947 at the Ballarat Airstrip circuit, driving an MG TC.[2] He won the Victorian Trials Championship with the MG in the following year and competed in his first Australian Grand Prix in 1953 at the wheel of an Austin-Healey 100.[2] Stillwell imported a new Jaguar D-Type for 1956[3] and won the Argus Cup, the SA Trophy and the News South Wales Sports Car Championship in that year.[3] He also placed fifth in the 1956 Australian Tourist Trophy against international opposition.[4] He subsequently raced Maserati, Aston Martin, Cooper and Repco Brabham cars.[2] Stillwell drove an Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato in the 1961 Le Mans 24 Hour Race with fellow Australian Lex Davison but the car did not finish.[5]

Stillwell won the 1962 Australian Drivers' Championship with a Cooper and the 1963, 1964 and 1965 Australian Drivers' Championships driving Repco Brabhams. He was also victorious in the Australian Tourist Trophy in 1961 and 1962 in a Cooper Monaco and the 1965 Australian One and a Half Litre Championship with a Repco Brabham.

Although he never won an Australian Grand Prix, he placed second in 1961 and 1964 driving a Cooper and a Repco-Brabham respectively, and third in 1960 and 1962 in Coopers.

Stillwell retired from motor racing at the end of the 1965 season.[6] He later participated in historic races in Australia and the United States.[7]

Stillwell opened an automotive dealership selling MGs in 1949 and subsequently obtained a Jaguar franchise.[1] A Holden dealership followed, and was to become one of the largest in the Australia.[1] A switch from Holden to Ford in 1966 was followed by the establishment of Stillwell Aviation in 1967 with distribution rights for Beechcraft and later Learjet aircraft.[1] Stillwell moved to the United States in 1979 to take on the role of vice-president of the Gates Learjet Corporation and went on to become president of the company.[1] He later established luxury car dealerships including a BMW franchise and a Jaguar franchise at Doncaster.[1]

Stillwell was married with five children.[1] His son Michael followed Bib into motorsport, becoming a class front runner in the Australian Touring Car Championship in the 1970s.

Stillwell was awarded an Order of Australia Medal posthumously, in January 2001.[8] The award was bestowed for services to the motor industry, to the aviation industry, to motor sport and to the community.[8]