TRIBUTES have been paid to a "kind, gentle and humble" automotive journalist from Wrexham. 

Huw Thomas sadly passed away on September 3 aged 73 following a battle with illness.

Huw was educated in Wrexham – Bodhyfryd School, before later moving to Grove Park School.

He then went to university in Aberystwyth to study law before being appointed as a law lecturer at John Moores University, Liverpool.

Huw was the son of the late Reverend T Glyn Thomas and his wife Eleanor – his father a chapel minister and his brother Rhodri Glyn a former member of Plaid Cymru in the Welsh Assembly.

Huw had a strong passion for automotives and played a large part in the set up of the journalist group - Welsh Motoring Writers. He would go on to become the group's longest serving chair. 

The current chair of the group, Simon Harris paid a touching tribute to him.

He said: "Huw left a positive, lasting impression on virtually everyone he came into contact with. Had a curiosity about others and what they did. He was passionate about Welsh history and the Welsh language. And he was a true car enthusiast.

"I first encountered Huw at the beginning of my automotive writing career. This was an Alfa Romeo launch in Ackergill in 1999.

"Huw had been part of the vehicle launch circuit for more than a couple of decades by then, and well known by journalists and the PR community alike.

"He was also involved with the then relatively new regional journalist group Welsh Motoring Writers, and would later go on to become its longest-serving chair. I met him several times at events after that, and after discovering I was from Wales, he often sought me out.

"We enjoyed each other's company, and Huw encouraged me to join Welsh Motoring Writers, although living in England, I was not sure whether I qualified. After six years of him trying to persuade me to join, I eventually applied.

"During his five-term stint as chair of Welsh Motoring Writers, Huw did a great deal to raise the profile of the group, enlisting the services of the Lord Lieutenant of Gwynedd to present the trophies at the group’s annual awards dinners.

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"Huw’s work as an automotive journalist was driven by his passion for the industry as well as a gift for telling a story.

"Huw loved driving, especially if the car was engineered for performance and had a manual gearbox. He did not particularly enjoy the market’s evolution towards SUVs, although he did respect the abilities of authentic 4x4s, and was a longstanding motoring correspondent for Y Tir/Welsh Farmer, the newspaper of the Farmers’ Union of Wales.

"All at Welsh Motoring Writers send our condolences to Huw’s partner Peter Blythin and his loved ones."

Steve Rogers, former NWN Associate editor and fellow motoring writer said: "Huw was hugely respected across the British motoring industry leaving a positive, lasting impression on everyone he came into contact with.

"As a true Welshman his love was the Welsh Motoring Writers group which he co-founded and chaired, and was a driving force from its inception. 

"I drove with him many times on car launches in the UK and abroad and he was the most marvellous company. An encyclopedic mind, kind, gentle and humble personified."