There have been a lot of famous cars over the years that have played central roles in television action series. In the 1960s, there was the Batmobile that assisted Batman and Robin in their crime-fighting escapades. Then there was the “Striped Tomato” that Starsky and Hutch drove in the cop show of the same name. And the 1980s brought us KITT, the AI automobile driven by Michael Knight in Knight Rider. Here we have a 1985 Pontiac Trans Am that was retrofitted to look like KITT, which was born from an ’82 T/A. Located in Washington. Pennsylvania, this cosmetic replica is available here on eBay, where the current bid is $6,600, the reserve is unmet, and the “pass-go” price is $15,500 to jump to the head of the line.
Between 1982 and 1986 (and later in reruns), Generation Xers probably watched Knight Rider on NBC. It starred David Hasselhoff as a Six Million Dollar Man sort of guy who was rebuilt by the head of Knight Industries after a nasty accident. He was given a supercar of sorts to pilot called KITT, which was an acronym for Knight Industries Two Thousand. Kind of like Mister Ed, the tricked-out Pontiac could talk to Michael while fighting off the baddies (voiced by William Daniels of St. Elsewhere fame, another 1980s TV show).
According to the seller (who only recently bought this Pontiac), its prior owner caught the KITT bug around 2018 and modified this 1985 Trans Am as you see it now. It was once a dark blue and silver Trans Am with a fuel-injected 305 cubic inch V8. That’s when it was painted black with the requisite fiberglass KITT pieces added. The body is fine, but the paint is now only “fair” as the seller rates it a 7.5.
There were problems with the original motor, so a carbureted 350 crate engine was substituted, which has received some performance upgrades. The seller believes the car has only been driven 500 miles since this work took place. It appears to run and drive okay, but the seller has had some unexpected life issues come up that necessitate another owner to take the helm. Some TLC will be needed before it can be reliably driven regularly. If you want to go out and fight some mythical bad guys, would you want to do it in this KITT wannabe?
Missing (at least) the giant black shroud behind the seat of the “missing” driver.
Needs the KITT steering wheel
I watched that show all the time. He always got the girl.
It was Hasselhoff, man. :) I don’t know, the thought of a talking car in the 80s was bit too much for me, except that delightful “My mother the car” of the 60s and of course, “Herbie”,,.
I still remember the first episode where Michael Knight looked at the dash board and said it looked like Darth Vaders bathroom. Boy the stuff you remember from when you were a kid. That is….. If I’m remembering it right.
Read an article about a guy here in SW Virginia
who made painstakingly real replicas of KITT.I’m
not sure that he still does,but it amazed me the
amount of money some people will pay.
I was about 20, home from college for the summer, driving my mothers Mustang Convertible 5.0 when it broke down. I was on the side of the road with the hood up when a car pulled over to help. It was David Hasselhoff. He gave me a ride to the gas station. He was driving a rental Ford Taurus. He was in my hometown of Scituate Massachusetts filming the horror film ‘Witchery” also staring Linda Blair. This was in the gap years between Knight Rider and Bay Watch.
That is an awesome experience! Thanks for sharing! Cool he pulled over to help!
I was in the Brighton KFC years ago and Robert Urich wouldn’t even give me an autograph when he was filming Spencer for Hire. 😞
During the Spenser for Hire series, I saw Robert Urich walking up to and getting into his car that was parked in front of my friends house after Sunday church.
At the time, he lived in an old mansion close to Phillips Academy in Andover, MA. Not much going on in that town at the time, so pretty cool to see a celebrity.
Saw one of these, full KITT treatment complete with fully tricked out dash,
In Florence. ITALY.
Go figure
The “Pass go” price seems a little steep for a so so replica.
I remember taking a tour of Paramount, and seeing a whole
parking “back” lot full of these Knight Rider trans – ams.
I’m having a difficult time imagining who would want to be seen driving this car.
Awesome looking car! Although I was way too young at the time to drive a car, I remember the TV series “Knight Rider”, starring David Hasselhoff. Like many viewers of the show, my favourite character was “K.I.T.T.”, a modified Pontiac Firebird.
SOLD for 14K.