Cheers Allan.
I have been looking at the 650d specs and it looks like it has wireless flash built in so would I be better going for a canon flash with wireless built in?
Any ETTL II flash can be controlled from your camera, at night it may work well for you.
Remember that this isn't
the flash you're buying, it's the
first. So have a think about the future, manual flash and triggers is a slightly steeper learning curve, but it'll mean a cheap upgrade path.
Going the ETTL route will be the easiest start, not that much more expensive, but when you go for your third flashgun and decide to go to radio slaves the cost will have gone through the roof (brilliant amounts of control from the camera though).
And not forgetting - the most important thing is light shape, long and narrow is a good start for a car (forget umbrellas and small softboxes - they're designed for simple portraiture).
You can DIY a long slim flash-holder, try lightpainting or ...
I read about a car photographer who keeps a bedsheet, halved and stitched together lengthways, mounted on poles to make it look like a long white seaside windbreak. This is great for controlling reflections in daylight car shots. I think if you put 2 or 3 flashes behind it, it'd make a half useful diffuser for night-time too.
