After studying at Cambridge, de Forte trained as a lawyer but had a passion for cars and motorcycles. He competed in hillclimbs and was increasingly drawn to journalism. By the outbreak of the Second World War he had established himself as a freelance motoring writer, working for national newspapers and specialist automotive periodicals.

During the war, de Forte served with distinction throughout Europe in the Army Transport Corps and he remained in uniform until mid 1946, achieving the rank of Major.

Subsequently de Forte travelled the world as a motorsport journalist and road and track tested cars for British motoring magazines. Upon the death of his father in 1960, de Forte took over managing the family farm but he continued to write profusely and travel extensively for another 30 years.

In the 1990s, after testing thousands of cars and reporting on countless events around the world, de Forte found himself drifting into retirement, but he was persuaded to contribute to cult magazine Jalopy by its editor Rod Ker, an admirer and kindred spirit. The magazine closed in 1996 but de Forte's career had been kickstarted all over again and his renewed outpourings continued unabated, as Ker's contacts led to regular commissions from a number of car and motorcycle publications. A lifelong motorcyclist, de Forte still rides and tests two-wheelers whenever given the opportunity.

Despite approaching 90 years of age, there is no sign W de Forte is even beginning to take life more easily. He remains close to the peak of his powers and like his much missed near contemporary W F Deedes, he intends to work until he drops. His famous byline appears as regularly as ever and he has taken an active interest in Summer Wine Classic Car Hire Ltd through his friendship with founders Richard Skelton and Loretta Catlow.

The great man has known Ash House since childhood, when it was owned by family friends and still fulfilled its original function as a mill owner's residence. Now, by happy coincidence, W de Forte is once more a regular visitor to the house he stayed in as a boy and he has the use of the company's fleet of classic cars. Invariably accompanied by his small mongrel dog, Hector, W de Forte is often to be seen driving multifarious classic vehicles around the summer wine region when he is not at home in Bales, where he lives on the family farm, now run by his son, William, also a motoring journalist.