Former Top Gear and Fifth Gear presenter Quentin Willson has died at the age of 68.
The motoring star passed away today following a short battle with lung cancer, his family said in a heartbreaking tribute.
They described him as a ‘true national treasure’, who ‘brought the joy of motoring, from combustion to electric, into our living rooms’.
Willson was one of Top Gear’s original stars and was the show’s used car expert for a decade from 1991.
During his time on the programme, he worked alongside Jeremy Clarkson, Vicki Butler-Henderson and James May.
In a tribute on X this afternoon, May wrote: ‘Quentin Wilson gave me proper advice and encouragement during my earliest attempts at TV, back in the late 90s.
‘I’ve never forgotten it. Great bloke.’
After leaving Top Gear in 2001, Willson went on to front Channel 5’s rival motoring show Fifth Gear and also worked as a motoring journalist.
He appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2004, where his total for one dance still stands as the lowest score given by judges on the show.
He and his professional dance partner Hazel Newberry were awarded eight points out of 40, with the judges giving them scores of two ones and two threes.
Despite the harsh comments, reflecting on that time in an interview with Metro last year, Willson revealed he still doesn’t regret signing up to the show.
He told the publication that he believes it’s ‘really important for people in the public eye to make fun of themselves and to be made fun of’.
Announcing his death today, Willson’s family said that he passed away ‘peacefully surrounded by his family’.
The statement read: ‘A true national treasure, Quentin brought the joy of motoring, from combustion to electric, into our living rooms.
‘He helped shape the original Top Gear as one of its first hosts, working alongside Jeremy Clarkson and the team who took the pioneering show global.
‘He went on to front Fifth Gear and still holds the dubious honour of Strictly Come Dancing’s lowest score in history.’
Willson also created and presented the shows Britain’s Worst Drivers and The Car’s The Star.
In his later life, he worked as a campaigner, fronting the FairFuel campaign to lower the cost of fuel duty. He was also an early advocate for electric cars.
‘Through his FairFuel campaign, Quentin saved UK consumers a fortune by helping to freeze fuel duty,’ the statement continued.
‘Over £100 billion in fresh taxation was prevented by the campaign, a real consumer win by a true consumer champion.
‘He also created and presented much-loved programmes such as Britain’s Worst Drivers and The Cars the Star.
‘Long before it was fashionable, he championed the GM EV1 and the promise of electric cars, proving he was always ahead of the curve.
‘More recently he had worked tirelessly to make EVs affordable for all, via his FairCharge campaign.
‘Much-loved husband to Michaela, devoted father to Mercedes, Max and Mini, and cherished grandfather to Saskia, Xander & Roxana.
‘Quentin will be deeply missed by his family, friends, and all who knew him personally and professionally.’
Willson’s family said that funeral arrangements will be announced in due course, as they asked for privacy at this ‘difficult time’.
They added: ‘The void he has left can never be filled. His knowledge was not just learned but lived; a library of experience now beyond our reach.’
Willson previously spoke about how he hoped that another car show would replace Top Gear, after the BBC confirmed the show would not return for the ‘foreseeable future’.
He explained, however, that new safety concerns would mean that bosses would never be able to make the show he was a part of again now.
Willson told Metro: ‘We were very lucky to have lived through this wonderful golden age of cars and car programmes because you couldn’t make them now.’
He added: ‘It wouldn’t get screened, and people aren’t as interested…or television commissioners aren’t as interested in cars as they were then.
‘It was a lovely time to make a TV programme about cars at a time when cars were much more socially acceptable than now.’
Reflecting on some of the close calls he even experienced on the show, Willson said they ‘drove too fast and had crashes’, adding that ‘some of it’s probably not repeatable’.
He explained: ‘But it was a thrill ride in those days before health and safety. It was great to be able to go on camera and say, “I’m doing 155 miles an hour on a runway at an aerodrome”, whereas, you know, that, that wouldn’t happen now.’
Willson added that while working for the BBC there is a ‘professional expectation’ and you’ve got to be ‘proper and accurate’ in what you are saying.
He also revealed that although he did once get to drive a McLaren at 190 miles an hour, he spent the majority of his time telling people how to ‘buy a Rolls-Royce for five grand or a Porsche 928 for four grand’.
