We've all got one!! Whether it's the one with the stripes down the middle and the number 53 on the side, the blacked out windows and huge wheels with a million gadgets inside and always coming to the rescue, or a classic three wheeler made famous by del boy and the boy wonder, or for that matter the Batmobile itself. What are we talking about? Iconic screen cars.

Can you remember when Kitt and Knight Rider hit the telly and suddenly blacked out windows took off in popularity? Why do on screen cars suddenly influence our own taste in automobiles? Are we more pimp my ride than the fluffy dice brigade? Is it acceptable to drive a Batmobile, or Herbie and can blacked out windows really make us feel more like David Hasselhoff? The latest screen car star from the BirdsEye TV adverts is a bright green machine in the shape of a pea! Not necessarily ideal for cruising down the high street but certainly unique!

We were joined by car enthusiast Quentin Willson for a streamed webchat to find out how iconic cars have influenced our modern day car tastes. Quentin Wilson joined us live online on Tuesday 25th October.

Host: Janice Vee (JV)
Guest: Quentin Willson (QW)

JV: Hi everyone, and thanks for joining us today for our live webchat. I'm Janice, and this afternoon we're talking about iconic cars. Now we all love our cars: they're practical, they're functional, they get us from A to B, but apparently, 20% of us would want to customise our cars to look like something else, preferably something that we've seen on TV or the big screen. Now the latest star car to adorn on our TV screens is the Birdseye Pea Car. It's lovely, it's adorable and we all want one, and we're gonna show a clip of it in case you haven't seen it, where have you been? But before we do that, we have in the studio with us car enthusiast Quentin Wilson

JV: I think they should make actually die cast models of that ad. In the studio I have with me car enthusiast Quentin Wilson who is here to talk about the pea car ad that we've just seen and other iconic cars that we've loved over the years. Now first of all Quentin before we take questions about iconic cars, what do you think about the pea car ad that we've just seen?

QW: Well it's great. It's cute, it's cuddly. It's got a little face, it's got a little personality. And I think, if we had a car park of ten thousand of those things we'd sell every single one but next Tuesday. I mean it's caught the imagination all over the Internet and it's this week's hot car, believe it or not.

JV: Yes, it's the star car of the moment [absolutely]. Now apparently Birdseye did some research, Birdseye who did the Pea car ad, have done some research into our wacky iconic cars that we love, interestingly, what do you think was the number one car that people loved?

QW: Probably, and it's a bit predictable, but probably Herbie.

JV: Right, yes you're right actually now that's a surprise, I thought it would have been Del Boy's 3 wheeler.

QW: But there you see, you see Del Boy's 3 wheeler is sort of anti comedy it's heroic failure isn't it? Yes, you watch it and you smile indulgently but there's no way in the world you ever want to go out and buy one.

JV: But that's why we love it, and that's why we love the little Pea Car as well

QW: But you could see yourself actually driving that because it would be really cool and people would say hi, whereas with the 3 wheeler people would point and laugh. There's a line of demarcation between what's cute on screen and what's desirable and you would actually want to own.

JV: Yeah now because you're in the studio of course we've got loads of generic questions about cars and so we're gonna ask those later on in the webchat but first of all we're going to ask about cars. Now Malcolm has sent in a question, he wants to know what is your favourite iconic car?

QW: Ok Malcolm, now that's an easy one, if we're talking about iconic cars that have been sort of catapulted to fame through movie work it would be the Ford Mustang from that wonderful opening sequence of Bullet where you get 9 minutes of pure, unadulterated, automated pornography with no dialogue whatsoever just screeching of tyres and wailing of engines, it's great and a highland green mustang 67 perfect, absolutely. Lots of street cred. It's a cool car.

JV: Oh that's so predictable

QW: No. It's true. Name me another one? Not Herbie, I tell you.

JV: Well the De Lorean in 'Back to the Future'

QW: Well the De Lorean is a crock of junk

JV: No! Don't say that, I'm not listening!

QW: Take it from me. It is just a pile of poo.

JV: No. I just don't know. It's got hydrogen in it. It's very eco friendly.

QW: No, it's not. This is a movie car. The De Lorean in it's original form was an underpowered, underdeveloped, asthmatic car.

JV: Oh well, we will agree to disagree. George wants to know do you think that iconic cars actually influence the cars we decide to buy for ourselves? And if so, which ones?

QW: Yeah, I mean if you look at all those Mini Coopers out there, that has been driven purely by the Italian job and the fact that we have them with Union Jacks on the roof and spotlights on the front and white wheels and things like that means that you know, that that film has made the Mini have much more sex appeal, much more desirability and much more attitude than its designers could have possibly imagined. So yeah, they do big time.

JV: Now Brendon has sent in a question, he's always dreamed of having a car like Kit from Knight Rider. You didn't want hair like David Hasselhoff as well, did you Brendon? Now is there something out there that looks similar?

QW: You do need to get out more. There is nothing really that is gonna push all those buttons for you. Look I'm sorry to disappoint you, sorry to disabuse you of this but it was only a pretend car. It couldn't drive itself and it couldn't really talk to you. So buy an old Chevrolet Camaro of the period, spray it black, tint the windows and you've got it.

JV: But didn't the Kit car kind of spawn a lot of us having blacked out windows because we wanted a car like Kit?

QW: Well Kit hasn't really done that, it's been America and all the 'bling bling' and all the rap and that's had a huge, huge effect. If you look at things like 'Pimp My Ride' on MTV, Max Power, the vogue for big American trucks, this has come from the Atlantic, from places like New York and Los Angeles where these big rap stars drive around in these SUVs with these dark windows, big chrome wheels and all this flamboyant design and it really has caught our imagination. Even the big car manufacturers are looking to America, are looking to the world of rap, for their styling cues.

JV: You see that's why I love the Pea car 'cause it is quintessentially English.

QW: It is. Who but the English would make a car in the shape of a pea? But, Outspan did a car in the shape of a little Mini to advertise Outspan oranges in the 70s.

JV: Now Sean has sent in a question. What is your favourite piece of kit or feature on an iconic car, a specific piece?

QW: The favourite piece of an iconic car on TV or in film would have to be the V8 engine just because of the noise, the power, and that lovely bass grumble a noise like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

JV: And you don't think the gull wings on the De Lorean? They didn't do it for you did it?

QW: No, because look, those doors actually locked you in. They were too heavy, the struts wouldn't work. I know an awful lot about this.

JV: But it makes so much sense to have doors that go up rather than out.

QW: The guy who made the De Lorean went bankrupt and cost taxpayers £80 million. And when he sat inside it on the launch in America, the doors locked and it was very, very embarrassing and he was in there for 25 minutes. You sooo don't want a De Lorean. Trust me.

JV: Damn it. Damn you. Now Charlie has sent you a question saying can we blame ' The Fast and The Furious for spoiling the good Supra name or did it just go downhill anyway as soon as the hideous MK5 was released?

QW: I think really Charlie, the Supra was on a high road to nothing anyway we should call them the white whale, do you remember the white ones with the colour coded bumpers? It became a pretty sad car and it wasn't bought by young people it was bought by pot bellied American business men who bought the Supra and for a brief moment in time, yeah it was serious car with serious cred but then it just got fatter and bigger and heavier with all those spoilers and it just looked faintly cartoonish and don't forget, it is a Toyota. What do you drive? A Toyota? Hmm.. how interesting

JV: What do you drive?

QW: What do I drive? Ok, I've got more than one but then I'm supposed to aren't I, because I know about cars. Everyday car is a Mercedes S55 AMG, which is a big S class Mercedes with an engine the size of California under the bonnet. It used to belong to Robbie Williams so it's got dark windows and big black wheels. A Range Rover and then an old Rolls Royce convertible from the 70s and then an old E type Jag. No, don't envy me. I have to tax them. I have to insure them. I have to fill them up with petrol!

JV: It's terrible. What a hard life. Now, we'd like some girls to send in some questions. Come on, yes, more females please. Now Stephen wants to know, what was it about Herbie that made it so popular?

QW: Herbie I think, is one of those cars that's non-threatening. I think all the most successful cars in the whole world have faces, if you look at the Volkswagen beetle, you know the little eyes and the smile and it's a car that doesn't cause offence. It's just a rerun of the film that reminds us of the way we were, it's very retrospective and the fact that in no way would you ever feel threatened or intimidated or just in your face with the Volkswagen beetle, they are just sweet and cuddly and homely.

JV: They're like the golden labradors of the car world. Now I've been doing a bit of research, and I have been doing a bit of work because I knew you were coming in and apparently there was an American customiser called George Barris who actually customised the Herbie and the Munsters' car and the Monkee- mobile and the Grease Lightning. He's a big icon. So, I just wanted to know was there anyone who was in this country who was like him? Is there anyone who is customising cars like he is?

QW: Not to such an extent and I mean you know, there are things you can do in California which you can't do here but Barris is a great bloke, I suppose the nearest you would have here are 2 blokes. One's Gordon Murray who is the designer of the McLaren F1, which does 241 miles an hour, just the best car in the world full stop. Then there's Peter Stevens who is an extremely clever car designer who thinks outside the box but Barris is a one off. He was doing it in the 40s and 50s with all these Hollywood stars who'd come with bucketloads of cash and just say give me a unique car [I want the grease lightening car] absolutely and Barris, I mean he bought the wreck of James Dean's car, the Porsche 550 spider, for $1,500 and that car now would be worth about 5 million bucks.

JV: And he did the Batmobile as well. Didn't that sell at Christie's for something ridiculous?

QW: Yes in fact, Barris' private collection of cars is probably worth something like £100 million

JV: And which one of his cars would you want to have?

QW: Well I think he's just sold it, it was a Ferrari, a 1967 Ferrari, which was driven by Clint Eastwood in one of the films but he's got lots, a fantastic collection.

JV: Yes he does, I saw the website actually, really interesting. Rob wants to know how about the MK1 Golf GTI? How iconic do you think it is?

QW: Rob I don't know what you're expecting me to say, but here it is. It is a fantastic little car. I had about half a dozen MK1 and MK2 GTIs and I remember them with enormous fondness. The 1800s with the sunroof and the five-speed gearbox and the 1600 with the little wheels, great car. The original undisputed king of hot hatches! Only now are we getting a GTI, a Volkswagen GTI that's worthy of that original title so you're on the money mate, it's a top, top car. Loads of street cred and just easy to own, reliable all those things but cool as well.

JV: And apparently Rob owns 3 of them. Now Brian says, as a child I almost cried when the E-types were bull dozed in 'The Italian Job', do you feel that that was a crime far greater than that in the plot of the film?

QW: Ok Brian, great film – and you're talking to a man who does own a 1961 E-type. Don't worry because both of those cars survived. The red one and it really worries me that I possess this information, 848 CRY, which is Robin Sturgess' old E-type which was raced with the registration on BBC2. That is alive and well, I've driven it. It's completely restored and I think it's about Chassis number 7. It didn't go off the cliff, and the other one, which was a dark blue E-type, that survived as well, had a new roof put on it and I think it's in America. Even the Aston Martin, the silver Aston Martin - that didn't go over the cliff. That survived. They threw an old Lancier off, but the best bit was where the Italian man, the mafia man with the JCB looks at the Aston Martin and says 'pretty car' CRASH! So they all survived so, you know, don't lose any sleep.