Quentin Willson
| Quentin Willson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
23 July 1957 Leicester, England |
| Occupation | Television presenter, Author, Journalist, Broadcaster |
| Height | 6' 1" (1.85 m) |
| Website | Official website |
Quentin Willson (born 23 July 1957) is an English TV presenter, motoring journalist, author, TV producer and former car dealer, perhaps most widely known as a presenter of the motoring programmes Britain's Worst Driver, Fifth Gear, and the original incarnation of Top Gear. He lives in Warwickshire with his wife and three children.
Willson, a twin, is the son of Professor Bernard Willson, latterly the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at University of Leicester, who was the first code breaker at Bletchley Park to decode the Italian Navy Hagelin C-36 code machine.
Willson was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys, a former state grammar school in Leicester, followed by the University of Leicester, where he studied English Literature.
After graduation, he founded a car dealership selling Ferraris and Maseratis. In the early 1990s, he was the deputy editor of the only magazine solely devoted to second hand motors, Buying Cars.
Willson joined the BBC in 1991 to co-host the original version of Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson. Until the original format's cancellation in 2001, he appeared every week on the programme, typically as an expert on used cars.
Willson later presented his own produced classic car series The Car's the Star, along with the first property show to talk about money, All The Right Moves, both for the BBC.
After Top Gear's cancellation, he left the BBC to present Channel 5's rival motoring programme, Fifth Gear. When Top Gear was relaunched, Willson said of Clarkson that "It's a compliment that the BBC are so afraid of losing ratings to us, they've lured my old co-host out of semi-retirement."
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Wikipedia