The board game that had a monopoly on my motoring childhood

NEWS that the iron has been steamed off the Monopoly board in favour of a cat does at least mean one good thing - the piece modelled on the classic car is there to stay.

In a brilliant bit of marketing Hasbro, the company which makes the board game, asked Facebook's ten million Monopoly fans to vote on what should be the newest piece - and what it should replace. They voted for a cat to join the latest version of the game, and although the car was among the pieces under threat it was the iron that eventually got the chop.

Jonathan Berkowitz, vice president for Hasbro gaming marketing, said: “I’m sad to see the iron go. Personally, I’m a big fan of the racecar so I’m very relieved it was saved but it is sad to see the iron go.

"Tokens are always a key part of the Monopoly game, and our fans are very passionate about their tokens, about which token they use while they play."

The car - which, I'm led to believe was modelled on the game creator's 1932 Ford Roadster - was also the piece I plumped for when I played the game with my fellow Simisters as a child, if only because it helped my petrolhead credentials at such a tender age.

As a result, I spent much of my childhood pushing an old car around while being mentally prepared to lose a lot of money. Something that has had absolutely no effect on my adult motoring life whatsoever...