Photo: Catawiki Auctions
It’s easy to look back at the 1982 hit tv-show called Knight Rider and call it ridiculous, but a closer look at the more recent creations reveals that we’re not really allowed to poke fun at anybody. A love story with vampires and werewolves? Seriously?
Still, they didn’t have mullets and wavy hair like Michael Knight did, the second important character in David Hasselhoff’s life after the one he’s played in Baywatch. The plot of the show was simple: bad guys get their asses kicked by black leather-wearing Michael Knight and his matching car. Mostly the car.
Don’t tell Hasselhoff this, but the real main character was the heavily modified 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am that went by the name of KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand). It was rather unassuming on the outside with just the iconic strip of red lights at the front suggesting it might be more than just your regular Pontiac, but KITT was much more than that.
Where to begin? It was a self-aware, fully-autonomous virtually indestructible vehicle that sometimes even showed some glimpses of a sense of humor. But if the exterior was as stealthy as it could be, the interior was anything but.
The dashboard looked like a Christmas Tree with lights flashing left and right, thousands of buttons and a yoke-like steering wheel. It looked futuristic as hell back in 1982, but now it just looks like a Chinese knock-off after the Mercedes-Benz S-Class interior or something. But if you want to create a replica, you don’t have to make it better, you just have to make it resemble the original.
This car you see here is headed for auction and should sell for anywhere between £27,000 and £37,000 ($39,000 and $54,000). If you’re interested, you need to get in touch with Catawiki Auctions, as they’re the ones handling the whole process. You should also hurry because the auction closes on February 15.
The car is a 1984 model that has received the fake hi-tech conversion in 2010. I say “fake” but that’s not entirely true. Sure, don’t expect to survive the encounter with an RPG projectile - in fact, you’d be best advised to avoid even scratching it - and there’s also no jumping function, but the car does come with a voice recognition system that can operate more mundane functions like starting the engine or switching on the lights.
That shape of the dashboard will give the passenger on the right a heart attack each time you blip the brakes a little harder, but aside from that, the car is presumably perfectly functional. The owner - the car is registered in Italy - says the engine and transmission are in good condition, but the twin carburetors and exhaust have to be replaced. Some rust has also been reported.
I’m a little conflicted about this car and, more to the point, what the new owner should do with it. On the one hand, it would make sense to try and preserve it in a garage, maybe even solve some of the problems, hoping to get a better deal in a few years' time. On the other hand, people need to see this car on the street. There’s nothing like doing something bad and then looking in the rearview mirror to see KITT’s red light going back and forth. Of course, it only works for people 35 years of age or older.
Don’t tell Hasselhoff this, but the real main character was the heavily modified 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am that went by the name of KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand). It was rather unassuming on the outside with just the iconic strip of red lights at the front suggesting it might be more than just your regular Pontiac, but KITT was much more than that.
Where to begin? It was a self-aware, fully-autonomous virtually indestructible vehicle that sometimes even showed some glimpses of a sense of humor. But if the exterior was as stealthy as it could be, the interior was anything but.
The dashboard looked like a Christmas Tree with lights flashing left and right, thousands of buttons and a yoke-like steering wheel. It looked futuristic as hell back in 1982, but now it just looks like a Chinese knock-off after the Mercedes-Benz S-Class interior or something. But if you want to create a replica, you don’t have to make it better, you just have to make it resemble the original.
This car you see here is headed for auction and should sell for anywhere between £27,000 and £37,000 ($39,000 and $54,000). If you’re interested, you need to get in touch with Catawiki Auctions, as they’re the ones handling the whole process. You should also hurry because the auction closes on February 15.
The car is a 1984 model that has received the fake hi-tech conversion in 2010. I say “fake” but that’s not entirely true. Sure, don’t expect to survive the encounter with an RPG projectile - in fact, you’d be best advised to avoid even scratching it - and there’s also no jumping function, but the car does come with a voice recognition system that can operate more mundane functions like starting the engine or switching on the lights.
That shape of the dashboard will give the passenger on the right a heart attack each time you blip the brakes a little harder, but aside from that, the car is presumably perfectly functional. The owner - the car is registered in Italy - says the engine and transmission are in good condition, but the twin carburetors and exhaust have to be replaced. Some rust has also been reported.
I’m a little conflicted about this car and, more to the point, what the new owner should do with it. On the one hand, it would make sense to try and preserve it in a garage, maybe even solve some of the problems, hoping to get a better deal in a few years' time. On the other hand, people need to see this car on the street. There’s nothing like doing something bad and then looking in the rearview mirror to see KITT’s red light going back and forth. Of course, it only works for people 35 years of age or older.
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