Quentin Willson

Quentin Willson is one of Britain's best-known motoring authorities and ardent campaigners. He presented BBC's Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson for over a decade, wrote and presented BBC2’s the Car’s The Star, started Channel 5’s Fifth Gear, created the Britain’s Worst Driver format (shown in 14 international territories) and both co-presents / executive produces The Classic Car Show on Channel 5.

As a campaigner, Quentin was largely responsible for bringing the once scandalously high prices of new cars in the UK down to the same level as the rest of Europe. Wiping over £3 billion off the car industry's balance sheets overnight may not have made him very popular with car makers, but he remains a much-loved champion of Britain's beleaguered motorists.

More recently, Quentin has tirelessly fought the government on fuel prices with his million-signature FairFuelUK petition that’s saved UK motorists £20 billion in fuel duty and VAT. A regular face in Westminster, he lobbies ministers and MPs to get a better deal for Britain’s 40 million licence holders.

A motoring aficionado, Quentin Willson has written weekly newspaper columns for the Mirror and Sunday Mirror for over 15 years, Classic Cars Magazine for nine years and writes for many other magazines and newspapers. He presents an array of consumer programmes and documentaries, is the author of ten books and has appeared on scores of radio and TV shows. He was awarded the Press Association Motoring Writer of the year Award for his work to bring new car prices in the UK to the same level as Europe, and is a campaigner for low emission and electric cars, working with the government and Office of Low Emission Vehicles. He’s a patron of the Hydrogen Trust and judge for the £10 million Future UK EV Battery prize.

Quentin’s father – Professor H. B Willson – was a wartime Bletchley Park code breaker who was recruited from Cambridge University to the famous Hut 4 and became the first person to decode the Haglein encryption machine, the Italian equivalent of Enigma. His achievement is acknowledged to have had a ‘significant outcome’ on WW2.

Quentin Willson is also a BAFTA film judge and still holds the lowest ever recorded score on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing (eight out of 40) during the show’s second series in 2004, which he describes as his ‘proudest television achievement’.

Quentin Willson is in frequent demand as a keynote speaker for corporate events around the UK and throughout Europe, and he’s highly sought-after for his entertaining and original speeches on the after dinner circuit, where his amusing anecdotes never fail to amaze and entertain the guests.

Quentin is also a highly versatile and experienced conference facilitator and awards host. He’s worked with the DVLA, Barclays Bank, HSBC, BT, TK Maxx, Calor Gas, Shell, BP, The RAC, Hewlett Packard, Schroders, J. Walter Thompson, Ford, Volkswagen, Citroen, Chrysler, Jaguar, Land Rover, AVL and many other blue-chip names. His simple, natural presenting style and writing talent brings clarity and wit to corporate videos and DVDs to the point where clients often ask him to ‘Quentinize’ their scripts before filming.

From service and consumer issues, to anything motoring and TopGear related, Quentin Willson is a passionate believer that unless a message is amusing, arresting and delivered in everyday speech it will always fall on stony ground. Quentin prides himself on turning corporate sludge-speak into sparkling conversation.

Clients often ask about purchasing books for giveaways and delegate packs. Below you’ll find a selection of products by Quentin Willson. Click the images to view on Amazon's website. For bulk orders, please speak with your Booking Agent.