Family
A remarkable inheritance.
Before Quentin
A father at Bletchley Park
Quentin’s father, Professor H. B. Willson, was a wartime code breaker. Recruited from Cambridge University to the famous Hut 4 at Bletchley Park, he became the first person to decode the Hagelin encryption machine, the Italian equivalent of Enigma – an achievement acknowledged to have had a ‘significant outcome’ on the Second World War.
23 July 1957
Quentin Willson is born
Born in Leicester: the start of a life that would be spent around cars – writing about them, presenting them and fighting for the people who drive them.
Before journalism
The car trader
Before he wrote about cars, Quentin sold them. With his twin brother, Ashley, he ran Fastfleet in Leicester, selling former fleet and lease cars – the trade knowledge he later brought to Top Gear as its used-car expert.
The writer
Words came first, and never stopped.
Motoring journalist
Writing for the nation
Quentin wrote for The Times, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, the Daily Express, What Car, BBC Good Homes, Classic & Sportscar, AA Magazine and the Mirror, among many others.
15 years
The Mirror and Sunday Mirror
He wrote weekly columns for the Mirror and Sunday Mirror for 15 years, and for Classic Cars Magazine for nine years.
1993 & 1995
Top Gear The Good Car Guide
Quentin turned his knowledge of the motor industry into print as author of the BBC publications Top Gear The Good Car Guide, followed by books including Ultimate Classic Car and Classic American Cars.
2004
Motoring Writer of the Year
He was awarded the Press Association Motoring Writer of the Year Award for his work to bring UK new car prices down to European levels – saving British motorists £3 billion.
On screen
A familiar face on British television.
Over a decade
Top Gear
Quentin was a Top Gear presenter for over a decade, and also wrote and presented BBC2’s The Car’s The Star.
1996
Driving the future
On Top Gear he was one of the first journalists to drive General Motors’ $1 billion EV1 electric car.
Formats
Britain’s Worst Driver
Quentin created the Britain’s Worst Driver format, now shown in 14 international territories. It spawned Britain’s Worst Teenager, Worst Mother-in-Law, Worst DIYer and Britain’s Worst Pet – and, in Canada, Canada’s Worst Driver and Worst Home Improver. He also devised and presented BBC2’s All the Right Moves, the first TV property buying and selling show.
2002
The Britain’s Worst Driver final
2004
Rose d’Or nomination
Quentin’s Worst format was nominated for the Montreux Rose d’Or for Best TV Reality Show.
Series two
Strictly Come Dancing
He still holds the lowest score in the history of Strictly Come Dancing – eight out of 40, in the second series – which he described as his ‘proudest television achievement’.
Channel 5
Fifth Gear
Quentin started Channel 5’s Fifth Gear.
2015
The Classic Car Show
The Classic Car Show, which Quentin created and co-hosted, first aired on Channel 5 on 5 February 2015.
The campaigner
A voice for Britain’s 40 million drivers.
National spokesman
FairFuelUK
From 2011 to 2021 Quentin was the national spokesman for FairFuelUK, the campaign against rising fuel duty. By 2021 the campaign estimated it had saved UK motorists £100 billion in fuel duty and VAT rises.
2 March 2011
Delivering the petition
Quentin handed in the first wave of the FairFuelUK petition at 10 Downing Street – over 120,000 signatures gathered in little over five weeks against rising fuel costs.
Westminster
Lobbying for drivers
A regular face in Westminster, Quentin lobbied ministers and MPs to get a better deal for Britain’s 40 million licence holders.
September 2021
Leaving FairFuelUK
After ten years with the campaign, Quentin left FairFuelUK, saying its direction was at odds with his views on the future of electric cars.
The EV ambassador
Electric cars before they were fashionable.
70,000 miles
Living electric
He owned Leafs, Zoes, Amperas, i-MiEVs and even a vintage 1970s Enfield Electric, and drove 70,000 miles in battery-only electric cars – driving and charging his own EVs every day while others mocked them.
Government
Campaigning for EVs
Quentin worked with the government and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles, gave evidence to Select Committees and House of Lords round tables, campaigned with Boris Johnson for greater EV adoption, and became patron of the Hydrogen Trust and a judge for the £10 million Future UK EV Battery prize.
2020
Top 100 EV influencers
Quentin was ranked 18th on Green Fleet’s list of the Top 100 EV influencers for 2020.
His final years
FairCharge
Quentin founded FairCharge, launched in January 2022, to make the switch to electric cars fair for everyone. He pressed ministers for the same VAT on public charging as at home, for fair and open prices, and for a charging network that works for every driver, including those who can’t charge at home.
Speaker & host
Clarity and wit on every stage.
Conferences
A sought-after host
Quentin was a regular conference host and after-dinner speaker, working with the DVLA, Barclays, HSBC, BT, TK Maxx, Calor Gas, Shell, BP, the RAC, Hewlett Packard, Schroders, J. Walter Thompson, Ford, Volkswagen, Citroën, Chrysler, Jaguar, Land Rover, AVL and many more. He was also a BAFTA film judge.
Remembered
8 November 2025
Quentin Willson, 1957–2025
Quentin died peacefully, surrounded by his family, on 8 November 2025. He leaves his wife Michaela, their children Mercedes, Max and Mini, and three grandchildren.
He is remembered for his warmth and wit, his love of cars, and a lifetime spent standing up for ordinary drivers.
A true national treasure, Quentin brought the joy of motoring, from combustion to electric, into our living rooms.
Quentin’s family