Mr McDonald, 34 (pictured), walked away from the quiz show in July with a then equal-record haul - a reversal of fortune for a man who had been out of work, did not own a car and who was renting a unit.

"The last few months for Brett were absolutely sensational," his sister, Jo Minetti, said yesterday. "He lived like there was no tomorrow."

At 2.45am on Saturday, Mr McDonald was killed instantly when his black Honda Prelude spun out of control and crashed head on with an oncoming Subaru Liberty sedan in the Perth suburb of Bedford.

He had been on his way home from a nightclub when his car apparently failed to take a bend in the road, Ms Minetti said.

The car was his first big purchase after his quiz win.

A couple in the other car survived the crash, but were taken to hospital with extensive injuries.

Mr McDonald was an unemployed labourer when Channel 9 chose him as a contestant.

A keen cricketer, he had hoped to win just enough money to buy his cricket club, the Stirling Hawks, a $3,500 bowling machine.

He studied for the show by reading Trivial Pursuit cards, Time magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people and an encyclopaedia.

He was staggered when he won $250,000.

"I'm just going to sit tight for a couple of weeks and talk to a few wise monkeys and try to make the money work for me," he said at the time. He had also hoped to travel around the United States in a 1952 Ford Thunderbird.

After collecting his prizemoney, he bought the Prelude.

"He loved his car," Ms Minetti said. "I think he always liked fast things."

Several weeks ago he moved out of his rented unit and into his own house. He ordered new furniture which was due to have arrived tomorrow.

He also spent $7,500 to buy the Hawks a state-of-the-art bowling machine.

"It is a tragic story all around," the club secretary, Mr Lloyd Jones, said. "What started as a humble aspiration to do something for his cricket club developed into something bigger, and in the end seems to have ended in his downfall. It was a good luck story on one hand, but it ended in tragedy."

Ms Minetti said her brother had been a battler. "He finally got the self-confidence to get up and back himself and put himself on the show, and he won in fairly grand fashion," she said.

"I think he was a bit of an inspiration for other battlers."

The eldest of eight children, Mr McDonald's family have flown to Perth from Melbourne and Sydney for the funeral, which will be held on Friday.

The West Australian