Phil Mills
The calm, precise voice that navigated Petter Solberg to a World Rally Championship title, defining the art of the co-driver.
Born 1963 (age 63)·British rally co-driver·Birthday: August 30·Baby Boomers
Biography
Phil Mills, a Welshman from Llanfyllin, secured the 2003 World Rally Championship title for Subaru as co-driver to Petter Solberg. He transformed the co-driver role from a map-reader into a high-speed conductor. His career began in the forests of Britain, built on unflappable nerve and technical exactitude. The partnership with Norwegian driver Solberg formed in 1999. Mills delivered clipped, clear pace notes through the intercom, the soundtrack to their audacious drives. Their relentless consistency and daring paid off in 2003. Mills proved that a championship-winning car requires two minds operating as one. He mastered a singular craft.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Phil was born in 1963, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Phil Was Born
The biggest hits of 1963
#1 Movie
Cleopatra
Best Picture
Tom Jones
#1 TV Show
Beverly Hillbillies
Phil's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1963Born
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1968Started school
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1976Became a teenager
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1979Could drive
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1981Could vote
MTV launches; first Space Shuttle flight; AIDS identified
Gas: $1.31/galHome: $52,300Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Bette Davis Eyes" — Kim CarnesBest Picture: Chariots of Fire
1984Turned 21
Apple Macintosh introduced
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $59,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"When Doves Cry" — PrinceBest Picture: Amadeus
1993Turned 30
European Union officially established
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $86,600Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"I Will Always Love You" — Whitney HoustonBest Picture: Schindler's List
2003Turned 40
US invades Iraq; Human Genome Project completed
Gas: $1.59/galHome: $146,000Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"In Da Club" — 50 CentBest Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2013Turned 50
Edward Snowden reveals NSA surveillance programs
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $152,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Thrift Shop" — Macklemore & Ryan LewisBest Picture: 12 Years a Slave
2023Turned 60
ChatGPT goes mainstream; Israel-Hamas war begins
Gas: $3.52/galHome: $361,600Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Flowers" — Miley CyrusBest Picture: Oppenheimer
2026Age 63 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Won the 2003 World Rally Championship as co-driver to Petter Solberg.
- Secured 13 individual WRC rally victories across his career with Solberg.
- Helped secure the 2003 Manufacturers' Championship for the Subaru World Rally Team.
- Competed at the top level of the WRC for over a decade with multiple podium finishes.
Did You Know?
He is fluent in Welsh and delivered pace notes in the language during some early rallies.
Before full-time rallying, he worked as a civil engineering technician.
His father, Phil Mills Sr., was also a successful rally co-driver.
He and Petter Solberg were known for their distinctive victory celebration, the 'Hollywood' jump.
“My job is to give Petter the confidence to drive flat out, to make him believe the corner is exactly where I say it is.”
