Gumball 2008 - With David Hasselhoff and KITT

[neps]

There is this weird race, that I still haven't grasped my head around called the Gumball 3000 it starts this Saturday in San Francisco

from wikipedia:

The 2008 10th Anniversary Gumball 3000 Rally will take place in August. Cars with neutralized carbon emissions are preferred and proof will be required. The entry fee is £60,000 ($120,000US). The start line will be San Francisco, proceed through checkpoints in San Diego, Las Vegas, flight to Nanjing (Drivers stopping over in Pyongyang), Shanghai, and finally finishing in Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games.

it turns out that David Hasselhoff & KITT will be involved:

from Gumball3000 on June 20th:

80's superstar and king of the internet David Hasselhoff has confirmed that he will be taking part in the 10th year Gumball 3000 anniversary. He has also decided to bring along his old friend KITT, the original car from the classic television series, Knight Rider. That's right! The Hoff will be giving his old motor a varnish and taking it back to the road. However, he will not be on the pursuit of crime this time around, he will be kick starting an adventure full of grease, guts and glamour.

The KITT that he will be driving is a KITT that has been sitting in his Viennan friends Garage for 17 years. I can't tell if it's a screen used car, though we have been told it took $30k to repair.

from bild.de

The last 17 years rusty KITT in the garage of Hasselhoffs Viennese friend Herbert Fechter (61).

So who's going to take photos for us?

Proper credit goes to Matthais for emailing us the bild.de link and Knight Rider Archive for putting together a good summary of the event.

[kitt1]

Is any of this going to be broadcast, like on the SPEED CHANEL or any other network?

Mark Puette
SOUTHERN KNIGHTS

[Stylez]

The Gumball 3000 is usually released on dvd, I'm not sure if they all have been but I bet this one will.

[JJSoCrazy]

I bet the car they use for this thing they would love to have on the KR series for NBC!

[kittrules]

Ughhh.... this would be the perfect spot to show people the Knight Rider GPS. Unfortunately none of us can make it up that day. I would have loved a chance to speak with the Hoff about the Knight Rider GPS device... sigh...

[neps]

kittrules: their PR says that cars are starting to line up on Friday night at 7pm, though she doesn't mention a specific location. Perhaps you can track them down the night before?

[kittrules]

Huh.... that could prove interesting. I'll have to research this some more... their website says something about the 8th, but I don't know if that's the 8th of August.

[Sue]

There is this weird race, that I still haven't grasped my head around called the Gumball 3000 it starts this Saturday in San Francisco

So who's going to take photos for us?

Well it looks like it says they will be in LA from 6pm till 10pm Saturday the 9th of August. And they park the cars on Hollywood Boulevard between Highland and Orange, so is this a race I wonder? - I best go charge up my cameras.

[Stylez]

There is this weird race, that I still haven't grasped my head around called the Gumball 3000 it starts this Saturday in San Francisco

So who's going to take photos for us?

Well it looks like it says they will be in LA from 6pm till 10pm Saturday the 9th of August. And they park the cars on Hollywood Boulevard between Highland and Orange, so is this a race I wonder? - I best go charge up my cameras.

They don't like it to be referenced as a "race" anymore. For all intent and purpose it is a race but there have been some accidents during the Gumball 3000, one I believe involved the death of a driver. Here is one that got a lot of exposure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K-A7tp4_wg

[neps]

from SFGate

One of the more popular sets of wheels will be KITT, the Pontiac Trans Am Firebird from the "Knight Rider" TV series. Alas, the show's star, David Hasselhoff, will probably only be driving it in Los Angeles, said Bardfield.

[Stylez]

Seems like an awful lot of money to restore his old buddy just for a cruise, maybe something bigger is cookin'...you smellin' what I'm steppin' in? lol

[Sue]

It also says,

Behind the wheels will be movie stars, rock stars and other glitterati in this decadent rally, which begins in San Francisco and will take drivers to Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas. From there, the cars will be loaded onto three cargo planes for a trip to North Korea and then on to the Olympics in Beijing.

David did say in that radio interview he was thinking of doing something for the Olympics but his daughter came first. That could have been cool!

[neps]

the latest from Gumball 2008:

Yes, KITT will be in SF Friday and arrive to Hollywood Blvd 8/9pm Saturday night

kittrules - if you do go on friday, you better bring us back some pictures!

[JJSoCrazy]

So does anyone here think that this car could be used if they bring KITT back for the show?

Joe

[dag268]

Id like too see some before and after KITT pics.

[Stylez]

So does anyone here think that this car could be used if they bring KITT back for the show?

Joe

I do, that's what I was getting at in my post above. It seems a little too much effort for someone who is so busy just for one 'sunday' cruise. If this is an original KITT then it will truly be the phoenix rising because I'd almost put money on it that this KITT is going to get some air time, and I don't mean the turbo boost kind!

[Victor Kros]

Well you know KITT has to look all purty and shiny to sit in a garage for no other reason then to say "We know there is a Knight Industries Two Thousand SEE!! SEE!! we even put in three of them! Now watch our show!"

*snicker*

But seriously, I wouldn't read too much into it. Have you considered that maybe David may have restored the car for the show in Vegas next spring? Who knows at this point.

=VK=

[Stylez]

You could be right VK, but it's fun to speculate nonetheless. It's basically the last chance for the Hoff and KITT to be on screen again in original character, it would be nice even if it is just one last time.

[JJSoCrazy]

I'm hoping this car will be on the series as a comeback, I mean why not it makes sense?

Joe

[Sue]

I just found a video of Hasselhoff driving KITT!!
http://www.davidhasselhoff.com/
Neil perhaps you can embed it for us on the news page.
Here’s what David writes.

So I am off tomorrow to take part in the Gumball Rally.... It is gonna be awesome and you can follow our adventures as we drive up to San Francisco early in the morning, party with all the other Gumballers and then race down, here on HoffSpace. Now, as some of you know, I will be meeting up with an old friend in San Francisco and driving down with him... So make sure you stay tuned....

[Sue]

I’ve been watching DavidHasselhoff.com and took a few screen grabs of KITT, I wonder what he’s thinking about these decals they put on him.

Gumball2.jpg (140.68 KiB) Viewed 52452 times

gumball1.jpg (107.61 KiB) Viewed 52367 times

[neps]

here are a couple pretty good 'after' shots of the dusty KITT. ones from pumagumball.com the other is from flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/g3houdini/2744446071/)

[neps]

Found a little more information about the family behind the car storage and the restoration:

http://knightrideronline.com/news/2008/ ... 0_kitt.php



Also from the PumaGumball.com site:

As the official sponsor, all of the 120 Gumball 3000 cars will be branded with the official PUMA + Gumball Sticker Kit and each driver will receive an exclusive PUMA + Gumball T-shirt and Special Edition Speed Cat.

So that explains all the tats on KITT.

[FuzzieDice]

Sue - Maybe he told KITT it's either the stickers or paint him red, white and blue. So KITT says "keep pasting". LOL!

[HisNameisGarth]

I just hope all those stickers come off easy.

KITT wouldn't like that crap on him.

Makes me think of the episode rust Doesn't Rust....
When the cops suggested that Michael may paint the car another color until KARR
is caught. KITT said something like "Just basic black for me." (I'm paraphrasing).