Former Top Gear presenter Quentin Willson dies aged 68

Former Top Gear presenter Quentin Willson has died aged 68 after a short illness.

Willson, a fixture on British motoring television throughout the 1990s, joined the BBC programme in 1991 and remained part of the team for a decade. Known for his dry humour and deep knowledge of the car market, he became the show’s used-car expert alongside Jeremy Clarkson, Tiff Needell and Vicki Butler-Henderson.

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.

— James May (@MrJamesMay) November 8, 2025

Born in Leicester, Willson’s television career extended well beyond Top Gear. He went on to co-host Fifth Gear on Channel 5, presented The Car’s the Star for the BBC, and fronted The Classic Car Show. Away from the screen, he was a long-time motoring journalist for Classic Cars magazine and The Mirror, and was named Motoring Writer of the Year at the British Press Awards in 2004.

In later years Willson became a campaigner for motorists, launching the FairFuel UK movement calling for lower fuel duties, and later founding the FairCharge group advocating for affordable electric vehicles. His family said he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and died on Saturday, describing him as a “true national treasure” whose knowledge was “not just learned but lived”.

“Quentin brought the joy of motoring, from combustion to electric, into our living rooms,” the statement said. “The void he has left can never be filled.”

Willson was one of the first UK presenters to champion electric cars, notably General Motors’ EV1 in the 1990s, and was credited with helping normalise discussion around electrification long before it entered the mainstream.

Tributes have poured in from across the motoring world. Former Top Gear and Fifth Gear colleague Vicki Butler-Henderson said he was “very much the champion of the consumer”, while Top Gear presenter James May recalled Willson’s encouragement early in his own television career.

AA president Edmund King described him as “a brilliant TV presenter and amazing campaigner”, saying his work “helped keep money in drivers’ pockets for well over a decade”.

Willson also took an unlikely turn on Strictly Come Dancing in 2004, where his cha-cha remains one of the show’s lowest-ever scoring performances — something he later said he was “very proud” of, joking that he was “the dancing equivalent of a JCB.”

Quentin Willson is survived by his wife Michaela and three children.