KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand), a character on the Knight Rider television series, has made its way to Kassabian Motors in Dublin. Salesman John Verhoek points out the 1083 stock number on the door.
Posted on 04/02/2007 12:20:56 PM PDT by SmithL
It's as famous as David Hasselhoff, perhaps more beloved and for now it lives in Dublin.
Knight Industries Two Thousand, the high-tech black 1982 Pontiac Trans Am that made its name in the 1980s TV show "Knight Rider" is for sale at a local dealership.
Restored to its Season One glory, the talking car known as KITT is one of four documented "camera cars" used for close-up shots and scenes where Hasselhoff, who played Michael Knight in the series, was behind the wheel.
Johnny "Vette" Verhoek of Kassabian Motors, where the car has been on display for about a month, deals with classic cars on a daily basis but was stoked about this one.
"When I found out the car was coming, I was pretty excited," the salesman said.
The asking price for a piece of television history? A cool $149,995.
Look up ads for other used 1982 Trans Ams, and you will probably find something in good condition in the $6,500 price range. But KITT is not your regular Trans Am.
Hasselhoff sat in this car. This car lights up when turned on. It has two working video screens on the dashboard. The front scanner lights glow and make a sound. Inside the dashboard, the center console and the area above the console, there are all sort of buttons that light up in green, yellow and red: Ski Mode, Rocket Boost, Micro Jam, Silent Mode, Oil Slick and Eject.
Most of the buttons don't do anything, Verhoek said.
The car is on consignment. It belongs to Tim Russo of Livermore, a Kassabian customer who wanted to put the car on the market to see whether there was any interest. With the 25th anniversary of the show's debut coming up and talks of a "Knight Rider" feature film in the works, he said now was as good as time as any.
Russo purchased the car 10 years ago at an auction in San Diego and has spent the years following looking for parts to restore the car and returning it to its full glory.
He enjoyed the restoration, but "it's even been more fun learning the history of the car," Russo said.
During the restoration, Russo learned everything he could about KITT and the show. He watched the series on DVDs he purchased. He talked to people at Universal Studios and learned what happened to the three other cars.
"During that time I did become a 'Knight Rider' fan," said Russo, 48.
The show first aired in 1982 on NBC and lasted four seasons. The series chronicled the adventures of Michael Knight, a former undercover police officer who fought crime and injustice with the help of his indestructible self-driving, talking car with a sense of humor.
"It's just one of those cars from TV that people remember, like the General Lee or the Batmobile," Verhoek said.
The KITT for sale at Kassabian does not talk nor drive itself. In fact, it is not even street legal because of missing smog equipment and other modifications. Whoever buys the vehicle probably will keep it in a private collection, or it may be purchased by a museum, Verhoek said.
Besides Russo's, one other car is owned privately and two are in museums. One is in Keswick, England, and the other at the Kruse Automotive & Carriage Museum in Auburn, Ind.
The museum's KITT does talk with the help a DVD, but it is not as popular as some of the other vehicles on display there, said Teresa Melcher, the Kruse museum's spokeswoman. The museum also house originals of the Batmobile used in the films "Batman" and "Batman Returns," the "A-Team" van and the General Lee from the show "The Dukes of Hazzard."
For many of the museum's 35,000 annual visitors, KITT "is sort of a let down" when they see that it is not as state-of-the-art as they recall, she said.
"The memories are better than the actual car," Melcher said.
In Dublin, however, the car has become quite a celebrity. Verhoek said that after a local news program aired a segment about the vehicle, people have come into the Dublin Boulevard dealership to take a look at a piece of television history and are having their photos taken with it.
"It's a big draw and it's because there is somewhat of a fan base from the TV show," Verhoek said.
Now when does Pamela Anderson go on sale?
Team Knight Rider was just starting to get interesting when they canned it.
The could get more for it at auction at Barret-Jackson. A lot more...
there are all sort of buttons that light up in green, yellow and red: Ski Mode, Rocket Boost, Micro Jam, Silent Mode, Oil Slick and Eject.Most? Then which ones do work? Inquiring minds want to know.Most of the buttons don't do anything, Verhoek said.
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