{{Short description|Australian racing driver}} {{sources needed|date=May 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2014}} {{Use Australian English|date=October 2014}} {{Infobox racing driver | name = Bib Stillwell | image = | imagesize = <!-- defaults to 180px unless a value is entered --> | caption = | nationality = Australian | birth_date = 31 July 1927<ref name=Lynch>[http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac;jsessionid=DF41D043E7135365281ED22CD39DC9D5?page=1&sy=nstore&kw=businessman&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=200&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=news990617_0312_9023 Michael Lynch, OBITUARY - (Bib) Bermar S. Stillwell - Racing driver, businessman, newsstore.fairfax.com.au] Retrieved on 22 October 2013</ref> | birth_place = Melbourne, Australia<ref name=Lynch/> | death_date = 12 June 1999<ref name=Lynch/> | death_place = | retired = 1965 | relatives = | last_series = Australian Drivers' Championship | years_active = 1957 to 1965 | teams = | starts = | wins = | poles = | fastest_laps = <!-- if known --> | best_finish = 1st | year = 1962 Australian Drivers' Championship<br>1963 Australian Drivers' Championship<br>1964 Australian Drivers' Championship<br>1965 Australian Drivers' Championship | prev_series = Tasman Series | prev_series_years = 1964-1965 | titles = Australian Drivers' Championship<br>Australian Drivers' Championship <br>Australian Drivers' Championship <br>Australian Drivers' Championship<br>Australian Tourist Trophy<br>Australian Tourist Trophy<br>Australian One and a Half Litre Championship | title_years = 1962<br>1963<br>1964<br>1965<br>1961<br>1962<br> 1965 | awards = | award_years = }} '''Bermar Sellars "Bib" Stillwell'''<ref name=Lynch/> (31 July 1927 – 12 June 1999) was a racing driver who was active in Australian motor racing from 1947 to 1965. He won the Australian Drivers' Championship in each of the four years from 1962 to 1965.
==Racing career== Stillwell competed in his first race in 1947 at the Ballarat Airstrip circuit, driving an MG TC.<ref name=AMM>Bib Stillwell, Australian Motor Manual, May 1964, page 37</ref> 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.<ref name=AMM/> Stillwell imported a new Jaguar D-Type for 1956<ref name=Blanden>Historic Racing cars in Australia, page 177</ref> and won the Argus Cup, the SA Trophy and the News South Wales Sports Car Championship in that year.<ref name=Blanden/> He also placed fifth in the 1956 Australian Tourist Trophy against international opposition.<ref name=Wheels>Moss in Walkover Win, Behra Second, Wheels (magazine), January 1957, pages 60-61</ref> He subsequently raced Maserati, Aston Martin, Cooper and Repco Brabham cars.<ref name=AMM/> 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.<ref>[http://www.experiencelemans.com/contents/en-us/d131_1961_Le_Mans_24_Hours_Competitors_Results.html 1961 24 Hours of Le Mans Results and Competitors, www.experiencelemans.com] Retrieved on 22 October 2013</ref>
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, Stillwell 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.<ref>Max Stahl, Stillwell’s Swansong, Racing Car News, January 1966, page 24</ref> He later participated in historic races in Australia and the United States.<ref>[http://bibstillwell.com.au/com/en/insights/aboutus/ About us, bibstillwell.com.au] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20131025225501/http://bibstillwell.com.au/com/en/insights/aboutus/ |date=25 October 2013 }} Retrieved on 22 October 2013</ref> {{Clear}}
==Results== [[File:Repco Brabham BT11A of Peter Strauss (2).JPG|thumb|The Repco-Brabham BT11A (pictured in 2012) which Stillwell drove to win the 1965 Australian Drivers' Championship]] {| class="wikitable" <hiddentext>generated with :de:Wikipedia:Helferlein/VBA-Macro for EXCEL tableconversion V1.7<\hiddentext> |- style="font-weight:bold" | height="14" | Year | Title | align="center" | Result | Car |- | height="14" | 1947 | Championship of New South Wales | align="center" | 12th | MG L-type Magna |- | height="14" | 1956 | Moomba TT | align="center" | 2nd | Jaguar D-Type |- | height="14" | 1956 | Australian Tourist Trophy | align="center" | 5th<ref name=Wheels/> | Jaguar D-Type |- | height="14" | 1958 | Australian Drivers' Championship | align="center" | 13th | Maserati 250F |- | height="14" | 1959 | Australian Drivers' Championship | align="center" | 7th | Cooper T51 Coventry Climax |- | height="14" | 1960 | Australian Drivers' Championship | align="center" style="background:#dfdfdf;" | 2nd | Cooper T51 Coventry Climax |- | height="14" | 1961 | Australian Drivers' Championship | align="center" style="background:#ffdf9f;" | 3rd | Cooper T51 Coventry Climax<br>Cooper T53 Coventry Climax |- | height="14" | 1961 | Australian Tourist Trophy | align="center" style="background:#ffffbf;" | 1st | Cooper Monaco Coventry Climax |- | height="14" | 1962 | Australian Drivers' Championship | align="center" style="background:#ffffbf;" | 1st | Cooper T53 Coventry Climax |- | height="14" | 1962 | Australian Tourist Trophy | align="center" style="background:#ffffbf;" | 1st | Cooper Monaco Coventry Climax |- | height="14" | 1963 | Australian Drivers' Championship | align="center" style="background:#ffffbf;" | 1st | Brabham BT4 Coventry Climax |- | height="14" | 1964 | Tasman Series | align="center" | 7th | Brabham BT4 Coventry Climax |- | height="14" | 1964 | Australian Drivers' Championship | align="center" style="background:#ffffbf;" | 1st | Brabham BT4 Coventry Climax |- | height="14" | 1965 | Tasman Series | align="center" | 8th | Brabham BT11A Coventry Climax |- | height="14" | 1965 | Australian Drivers' Championship | align="center" style="background:#ffffbf;" | 1st | Brabham BT11A Coventry Climax |- | height="14" | 1965 | Australian One and a Half Litre Championship | align="center" style="background:#ffffbf;" | 1st | Brabham BT14 Ford |}
===Complete Tasman Series results=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:95%" |- ! Year ! Car ! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 4 ! 5 ! 6 ! 7 ! 8 ! Rank ! Points |- | 1964 ! Brabham BT4 |LEV |PUK<br /> |WIG<br /> |TER<br /> |style="background:#dfdfdf;"|SAN<br />{{small|2}} |style="background:#dfffdf;"|WAR<br />{{small|6}} |LAK<br /> |style="background:#dfffdf;"|LON<br />{{small|4}} | '''7th''' | '''10''' |- | 1965 ! Brabham BT11A |PUK<br /> |LEV<br /> |WIG<br /> |TER<br /> |style="background:#dfffdf;"|WAR<br />{{small|4}} |style="background:#dfffdf;"|SAN<br />{{small|6}} |style="background:#dfffdf;"|LON<br />{{small|6}} | | '''9th''' | '''5''' |}
==Business and private life== Stillwell opened an automotive dealership selling MGs in 1949 and subsequently obtained a Jaguar franchise.<ref name=Lynch/> A Holden dealership followed, and was to become one of the largest in the Australia.<ref name=Lynch/> 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.<ref name=Lynch/> 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.<ref name=Lynch/> He later established luxury car dealerships including a BMW franchise and a Jaguar franchise at Doncaster.<ref name=Lynch/>
Stillwell was married with five children.<ref name=Lynch/> 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.<ref name=CAMS_Mag>Bermar Sellars (Bib) Stillwell OAM, CAMS Magazine, Autumn 2/2001, page 29</ref> The award was bestowed for services to the motor industry, to the aviation industry, to motor sport and to the community.<ref name=CAMS_Mag/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-sports}} {{succession box | before = Bill Patterson | title = Winner of the Australian Drivers' Championship | years = 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1965 | after = Spencer Martin}} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stillwell, Bib}} Category:Businesspeople from Melbourne Category:1927 births Category:1999 deaths Category:Tasman Series drivers Category:Racing drivers from Melbourne Category:Racing drivers from Victoria (state)