Tilly Whitfield is one of the wildest characters to have ever graced Australian television.
The 23 year-old is probably best known for being a contestant on the Channel 7 reboot of Big Brother in 2021. Since leaving the show, Tilly’s studied fashion, dabbled with the media, and can be seen intermittently on Tik Tok and Instagram.
Personally, I’d place her as one of Australia’s most underrated talent.
She’s warm, extremely funny, and completely unpredictable.
If you follow Tilly on Instagram, you might see a red-hot bikini picture one day, a wobbly tattoo she’s drawn on herself the next, or a live stream where she pierces her own ears, blood pouring down her arms, while a horrified friend looks on.
It’s a Russian roulette with no particular audience in mind. And it’s one of the things which makes her so compelling.
But as a human incarnation of elemental chaos, is it any surprise that Tilly’s car history is a bit patchy? Here’s what Tilly Whitfield drives – and – occasionally crashes.
At the moment, Tilly’s in a Suzuki Swift. Does she like it? No complaints about the model, she does however think her particular car is cursed.
“I hate it, I crashed it three times,” Tilly said.
To be fair to the Swift, it seems to be the innocent party.
The first accident involved Tilly leaving the car in neutral, not park, on the steep hill her family home is on.
“The car rolled down the road and hit the neighbour’s car. The neighbour then comes up to my mum when I’m in the shower and is like, ‘I think Tilly did a really weird park’.”
A weird park indeed. And, it turns out, an expensive one. The damage came to $700 for each vehicle.
But Tilly’s string of bad luck continued. Straight out of the smash repairers, Tilly scratched a car while rushing to work.
Then, the icing on the cake.
The next morning, Tilly was tailing her boyfriend’s car as they both left for work.
“He just was driving down the street, he’s going on to the main road, and then a car comes out of nowhere. I went straight into the back of him [Tilly’s boyfriend]. My front bonnet goes under his ute and then my engine goes into his tow bar.”
The ute looked fine. The Swift less so. Another trip to the repairers and Tilly was back on the road.
Despite the suspected hex, Tilly says her Swift does have its advantage.
“I love that I can park legit anywhere. It’s so small.”
Tilly also isn’t holding any grudges against Suzuki, either. She would like get next car to be a Jimny.
But, Tilly will have to wait a while if she wants the three-door automatic. The demand for the boxy and affordable 4WD was so high that Suzuki put all orders on indefinite hold until they can clear their backorders. That list is unlikely to clear until late 2024.
So with the long waiting lists and the Jimny’s ANCAP safety rating of just three stars, the Car Pit thinks Mazda CX-60 is probably a better fit for Tilly’s driving style (although it’s admittedly around double the price of the Jimny at around $60k for a base model and lacking the square aesthetic).
But Tilly’s ultimate ride? Mercedes G wagon, with a starting price of $134,000.
What attracts Tilly to the G Wagon? Its performance? Five-star safety rating? Off road capabilities? Not exactly.
“It’s so hot. A white one is like a MILF car.”
A fair point.
And, considering the wear and tear Tilly puts her cars through, not a bad option.
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