the red car in the semi

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the red car in the semi

Post by ronnie » Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:02 pm

Hi everyone, I just wanted to ask if you have any information about a poster in the semi in the original series. Is there any significance of this poster? Could it be the red car in the Knight Rider 2000 movie? It can be seen in almost all the episodes in all seasons. Thanks.
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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by Knight Racer » Sun Feb 07, 2010 2:50 pm

I always thought of it from an engineering point of view.The insides of the semi had blueprints or schematics of kitt all around and it blended in with an aerodynamic car.

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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by jup » Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:15 am

I, too, have pondered why that vehicle was pictured there. It really does look like the car from the...ahem...movie I'd rather forget about.

What has been said in the past was that the KR2000 movie car was a totally unique design. And, that the 'very' close resemblance to those pictures was unintentional.

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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by Lost Knight » Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:10 am

jup wrote:What has been said in the past was that the KR2000 movie car was a totally unique design. And, that the 'very' close resemblance to those pictures was unintentional.
It's interesting because the Pontiac Banshee Concept Car (of which the Knight 4000 was based off of) first appeared in 1988, two years after the series ended. But surely the schematics/blueprints for it probably existed as the series was still on. It's always possible producers got access to some of Pontiac's concept art, but I do believe it's all just a coincidence.

It is a nice thought that the Knight 4000's design was a logical succsessor of the 3rd generation Firebird, as the 1993 4th generation Firebird's design was inspired by the Banshee. And of course having the picture there could always work out for storyline purposes if you want to believe F.L.A.G. always had the Knight 4000 in mind.
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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by TheRealOne » Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:33 pm

Wasn't the Knight 4000 actually a Dodge Avenger?

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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by Matthew » Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:49 pm

Another idea that merits consideration is that Wilton Knight clearly had a derivative of the Knight 2000 in mind before Tanya infiltrated his company. Given that Cameron Zachary didn’t recognise KITT’s Trans Am form as Wilton’s miracle car until Simpson told him what he’d seen, suggests that originally, the car had its own design, rather than a facsimile of another production line vehicle.

Given that those drawings were present from the get-go, before the semi got its makeover for season two, it’s possible that those drawings represent Wilton’s original vision. :good:

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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by jup » Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:54 pm

For some reason, the 'Tomato on wheels' bit comes to mind. :P

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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by jason1973tl » Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:10 pm

I always wondered about some of those pics. The one I wonder about is the three wheeled wire drawing.

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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by ronnie » Mon Feb 08, 2010 6:25 pm

thanks for all your comments, I am learning many interesting things from you. I think this re-readings, re-watchings of the series will produce lots new insights where fact and fiction can sometimes merge into one another.

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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by KITTvsKARR1995 » Tue Feb 09, 2010 1:43 pm

Why am I thinking of KI4T......
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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by jimmorrison » Tue Feb 09, 2010 4:37 pm

No, knight 3000 was a Dodge Stealth. It was sold on Ebay 3 months ago un-restored for $16,000.00.

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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by TurboBoostMan » Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:27 pm

actually the Knight 4000 was a Dodge Stealth. The Knight 3000 is a Ford Mustang
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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by knightprobe89 » Wed Feb 10, 2010 12:05 am

TheRealOne wrote:Wasn't the Knight 4000 actually a Dodge Avenger?
the knight 4000 was a 91 dodge stealth made to look like the pontiac banshee concept car, because pontiac wouldn't let them use the actual banshee concept car!
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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by Josch Schulz » Wed Feb 10, 2010 1:40 am

The second picture looks a littlebit like a normal dodge stelth
Image
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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by simon_a6 » Sun Jun 13, 2010 2:15 pm

knightprobe89 wrote:
TheRealOne wrote:Wasn't the Knight 4000 actually a Dodge Avenger?
the knight 4000 was a 91 dodge stealth made to look like the pontiac banshee concept car, because pontiac wouldn't let them use the actual banshee concept car!
I just found this.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1988-pont ... pt-car.htm

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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by DarylKnight » Sun Jun 13, 2010 7:11 pm

Too bad GM/Pontiac didn't allow it to be used for KR2000, however, it does get some background screen time in "Demolition Man" with Stallone and Snipes.

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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by K.A.R.R. (09) » Sun Jun 13, 2010 8:36 pm

Can you get more screen caps of this car and some up close ones that show the whole vehicle?


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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by Knight Racer » Mon Jun 14, 2010 1:34 am

I took 2 screenshots from the kitt vs karr episode and put this together.

Image

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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by Josch Schulz » Mon Jun 14, 2010 3:19 am

Looks a littlebit that Jay Ohrberg uses this car for the KR2010 Prototype :mrgreen:
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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by Matthew » Mon Jun 14, 2010 6:29 am

To be honest, the only similarity between the picture in the semi and the Knight 4000 is that both are red. If anything, the front end bares a striking similarity to the Ford GT40, which only furthers my belief that this was Wilton Knight's original vision for what would eventually become the Knight 2000. :good:

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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by simon_a6 » Mon Jun 14, 2010 6:31 am

In the same way that the only similarity is that it's red - the only similarity with a Ford GT40 are the headlights.

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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by Matthew » Mon Jun 14, 2010 8:20 am

The headlights are obviously a major part of the similarties that I've noted, but it's the shape of the front end in general, particularly in regards to the bumper, that makes that part of the car so similar to the legendary Le Mans winner.

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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by simon_a6 » Mon Jun 14, 2010 8:24 am

The funny thing here is that the image used was probably just a picture one of the crew had to be able to put a car or something up on the wall there. With absolutely no relevance to the show or any cars whatsoever!

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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by iKITT » Mon Jun 14, 2010 4:39 pm

simon_a6 wrote:
knightprobe89 wrote:
TheRealOne wrote:Wasn't the Knight 4000 actually a Dodge Avenger?
the knight 4000 was a 91 dodge stealth made to look like the pontiac banshee concept car, because pontiac wouldn't let them use the actual banshee concept car!
I just found this.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1988-pont ... pt-car.htm
Quite an interesting read. I mean, all the technology they put into this thing is amazing, especially considering it was still the late 80s when they designed this car. Looking at it, it looks like it could have been a real version of KITT, at least from a technological standpoint. I mean, look at all the gadgets! We do have most of that stuff in cars now, but I'm still waiting for my HUD display and guidance system like this car had.

Getting to the real topic at hand though, the concept car in the semi could have been something from Pontiac's files, it could've been a number of things. I do see resemblances to the Banshee and GT that everyone else does. Heck, this might've even been concept art for KITT before he became the iconic black Trans Am. I'm sure that Glen and the design team didn't just pick the Trans Am and go "there it is!" There was probably some concepts drawn up of how KITT would look before they made the final decision long before the TV show was put into production.

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Re: the red car in the semi

Post by Victor Kros » Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:30 pm

iKITT wrote: I'm sure that Glen and the design team didn't just pick the Trans Am and go "there it is!" There was probably some concepts drawn up of how KITT would look before they made the final decision long before the TV show was put into production.
- Actually that's exactly how it happened. Glen wanted the Trans Am and only the 82' Trans Am from the start and he hired a company called the Vista Group to get him the television use rights to it before anyone else. All he did was ask Scheffe to make it look different than just plain stock and he did exactly that. This whole quote about using a Datsan that has gone around is not true regarding the choice for KITT - that's what a producer wanted to use but Glen wanted the Trans Am since he first laid eyes on it. As I've pointed out before, the very, very, first draft of Knight Rider Glen ever came up with in Hawaii had K.I.T.T. named T.A.T.T. - the Trans Am Two Thousand.

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