Jeremy Clarkson leads tributes to former Top Gear presenter Quentin Willson

Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has paid tribute to broadcaster Quentin Willson who has died aged 68 after a short battle with lung cancer.

Presenters James May and Tiff Needell, who have also appeared on the BBC motoring show alongside Willson, also paid tribute.

The television presenter and motoring journalist died “peacefully surrounded by his family” on Saturday November 8, a statement from his family said.

Clarkson paid tribute with a post on X which read: “I’m far away so I’ve only just heard that Quentin Willson has died. We had some laughs over the years. Properly funny man.”

Former race car driver and presenter on Top Gear and Fifth Gear Needell said: “Oh Quentin how can you leave us so soon. So many memories of the @BBC_TopGear we built in the nineties that I wanted to remember with you again.

“Please upload the film of me with him and Jeremy in the Ford Puma that so wonderfully displays the times we had together… RIP Q”.

Meanwhile May added that Willson gave him “proper advice and encouragement” while he was trying to break into the TV industry in the 90s, adding that he was a “great bloke”.

Willson was one of the first hosts on the hit BBC motoring show, alongside Clarkson, fronting the series from 1991 until 2001 before going on to present Channel 5’s Fifth Gear.

He also created and presented a number of motoring shows including Britain’s Worst Drivers and BBC Two’s The Car’s The Star.

A family statement read: “A true national treasure, Quentin brought the joy of motoring, from combustion to electric, into our living rooms.

“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.

“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.”

The broadcaster was an avid “consumer champion”, advocating for a number of campaigns including helping to freeze fuel duty with his FairFuel campaign and worked “tirelessly” to make electric vehicles affordable through his FairCharge campaign.

The statement continued: “Long before it was fashionable, he championed the GM EV1 and the promise of electric cars, proving he was always ahead of the curve.”

Willson wrote weekly columns for The Mirror and Sunday Mirror for 15 years and contributed to Classic Cars Magazine for nine years.

He was named motoring writer of the year at the British Press Awards in 2004, when working for the Sunday Mirror.

That same year the presenter made headlines after receiving the lowest score on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing with an eight for his cha cha cha with professional Hazel Newberry.

It remains the lowest score in the show’s history.

Ginny Buckley, chief executive of EV advice site Electrifying.com, also paid tribute, and described Willson as a “true national treasure”.

“I was lucky to get to know him in recent years through his excellent work with FairCharge, where his passion for making electric vehicles accessible to all really shone through,” she said.

“He was warm, generous with his knowledge and unfailingly kind. He brought the joy of motoring – from petrol to plug – into our homes and hearts, and will be greatly missed.”

Willson was a patron of the Hydrogen Trust and was also a Bafta film judge.

The family asked for privacy and said funeral arrangements will be announced in due course.