Sneak Peek of New Hot Wheels 1/18 KITT!!

[Motor_Head]

Here is a sneak peek at the tooling model on display in Nuremberg for the annual die-cast show.

[OZKNIGHT1985]

Will this be available for worldwide distribution? Can this one talk?

[Tannim31]

VERY good, they actually used a turbine engine instead of the factory cross-fire engine found in a stock Firebird and in the Ashioma and first 1/18 scale....Color me impressed!

[KITTfan]

Looking already much better than ERTL KITT, it's got one wide foglight opening per side in the nose, turnsignal covers, long body side molding trims, realistic door hinges, T-tops have the "beam" where the opening mechanism is, rear window looks authentic and it's got flat tail light cover and great looking rear spoiler in the trunklid
Only one thing which I noticed which might need attention is the passenger side end of the dashboard, looks like there's Trans-Am stock dash underneath the "KITT" dash, ok that actually is correct for 1st season but I don't think it showed up in the passenger side like that.
Excellent model all in all, I definetely will buy this Hopefully there will be prototype photos of the 1/43 version as well.

[Motor_Head]

1/43rd

[Knight Racer]

Shouldn't the trunk privacy protector be higher and wider?

[PBH]

Man, I am ALL over this! I hope KARR will soon follow (it's easy enough).

If we all jump in and buy this once it's available, maybe SPM or the Recaro T/A will follow? Hmmm...

[PBH]

VERY good, they actually used a turbine engine instead of the factory cross-fire engine found in a stock Firebird and in the Ashioma and first 1/18 scale....Color me impressed!

True, but to be fair, that's probably what the real KITT had

[Motor_Head]

A couple more pics of KITT, this time showing a better view the front end. I'm liking this front end a lot better!

[RomanticKnight]

SWEET SWEET SWEEEEEEEEET!!! Now let's hope there's nothing to complain about this rendition of KITT! Especially since they got the nose and area around it OH SO CORRECT!! It would be a bonus if the headlights pop-up. Not only that, Hot Wheels ought to scrape up KARR (KITT's evil twin for those who don't know) in 2 different forms: one completely black with yellow scanner, (NOT orange) YELLOW! And KARR with 2-tone paint with said YELLOW SCANNER WITH NO HINT OF ORANGE IN IT! It would also be sweet if the bowling-ball hubcaps on KITT are more accurate and presentable. Not to mention having the Pontiac arrowhead logo in the center of each would be a bonus. Yes, I know that in Knight Rider the arrowhead was painted over in black to avoid Pontiac infringements. But now that Pontiac is belly-up , I should think that putting the Pontiac logo on KITT's hubcaps shouldn't be a problem. Just like the 1982 Recaro Trans Am.

[Dave Knight]

I REALLY hope they do with what they did with the 89 and 66 Batmobiles and offer a lower cost less detailed version as well as the Elite version. I have the basic versions of the 66 and 89 Batmobiles and I hope they do the same for KITT. I love the attention to detail on that proto, like the under side of the T tops, as a 3rd Gen F body past owner (had a 88 Camaro, and a 83 Trans Am Daytona 500 Pace Car replica) they are DEAD ON!

[KITTfan]

WOW! They've done excellent job on the front nose, this is the best KITT model ever Seems this is the 1st season model as it has the grilles in the foglight openings, turnsignal covers and 2tv dash. I wonder if it has working scannerlight? Perhaps if there will be standard and elite versions, the scanner light would work on the Elite version? Hmm... might want to get Elite version for display and Standard version to "play with"
The 1/43 looks pretty all right but perhaps the T-top edge at the top of the A-pillar & door window is a bit too round.

[Skav]

I like how the sunroof's open up. They shouldn't disassemble like the Joyride version, which was a little annoying when the model was picked up as the roofs would fall on the floor. The only thing is, there is a cover where the front lights should be but I don't remember the front of the 1st season KITT, whether it had front lights or not.

Edit: watching the pilot now and I don't see any front lights so it looks like that it is not a mistake.

[Knight Racer]

In some episodes there's no lights at all so I'll take covers over an amber light like Joyride did.I never once saw them use an amber light bulb in the show.

I had to tape the t-tops to the model by using 1 long peice between the 2 to make it barely noticeable.

[taoworm2323]

That is SO cool!
I want! I want!

If it doesn't come with a scanner we could always add our own.
But looking at how nice it is, one would assume there would be a working scanner.

[Dave Knight]

[PontiacGirl]

Super sweet! I want one!!

[corlando52]

KITT never had amber fog lights. Either 6, 3 on each side (behind grills Season 1, no grills Season 2), or 4 fog lights, 2 on each side, no grills. But NEVER amber. That's just ugly! I wonder if the grills on this will have fog lights behind them...Now THAT would look cool AND accurate!

Chris

[MR2NR]

So do they have any idea when this will be released? I came here after seeing a 2012 HW 64th KITT on Ebay. Boy have I been stalking every Walmart and Target within a 70 mile radius.....asking the employees too hold new cases and call me when one comes in lol.....found two Treasure Hunts though .


..............Anxiously awaiting!!!

[PBH]

We don't expect it to come sooner than the 4th quarter at the earliest.

[corlando52]

Let Hot Wheels know what you think. ... Hot Wheels Customer Service here, under my post Elite KITT:

http://forums.hotwheelscollectors.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6394061942/m/4481067047

Let's be heard!!!!

Chris

[Motor_Head]

Hey Chris,

You seem very confused. This has nothing to do with the 1/18 KITT produced previously by Ertl/Joyride or Aoshima. This is by Hot Wheels (a completely separate company) and this is called an ELITE because that is the name of the line of higher-end adult collectibles they offer. It has been used to separate models by their quality level before but this is now a thing of the past. Just like the A-Team Van and the Ecto-1 this will most likely be the only "level" that this car is released in. Also, don't be surprised if there are no "gadgets" in this release. Neither the Ecto-1 nor the A-Team van had any electronic surprises in them. Some Ghostbusters fans got all in a tizzy speculating what the Ecto-1 would include such as the theme song, siren, lights etc and the Ecto-1 got nothing. It is a perfect replica of how the Ecto-1 is today but does not have an electronics. Now, the only thing I have noticed is that this release has a slightly higher price-point than the two previously mentioned vehicles. The A-Team had the lowest price-point and this was evident as it had dog-leg hinges on the front doors. The Ecto-1 came in a little higher but every door on that car had real aspect hinges. KITT comes in a little higher than Ecto so there is a chance that it may have a couple of features such as the hinged T-tops, possibly pop-up headlights, but I highly doubt they are going to have a functional scanner or a voice box. I hope I am wrong but let's look at the history of all Hot Wheels 1/18 cars. The Big Daddy was the 1966 Barris Batmobile. It was released in three trim levels and there was huge speculation of what the "Super-Elite" was going to include. A lot of fans were disappointed that their extra $200 got them some more photo-etched parts and a fancy base rather than the Batman theme song, working lights, sounds etc. If Hot Wheels didn't do any electronic surprises on a $300 die-cast I'm skeptical they are going to do any on a $150-$160 one.
There is no sense in being disappointed in this news as I'm sure this will be the very best rendition of KITT in 1/18 scale.
Just my 2 cents.

[PBH]

Well said.

[Tannim31]

Hey Chris,

You seem very confused. This has nothing to do with the 1/18 KITT produced previously by Ertl/Joyride or Aoshima. This is by Hot Wheels (a completely separate company) and this is called an ELITE because that is the name of the line of higher-end adult collectibles they offer. It has been used to separate models by their quality level before but this is now a thing of the past. Just like the A-Team Van and the Ecto-1 this will most likely be the only "level" that this car is released in. Also, don't be surprised if there are no "gadgets" in this release. Neither the Ecto-1 nor the A-Team van had any electronic surprises in them. Some Ghostbusters fans got all in a tizzy speculating what the Ecto-1 would include such as the theme song, siren, lights etc and the Ecto-1 got nothing. It is a perfect replica of how the Ecto-1 is today but does not have an electronics. Now, the only thing I have noticed is that this release has a slightly higher price-point than the two previously mentioned vehicles. The A-Team had the lowest price-point and this was evident as it had dog-leg hinges on the front doors. The Ecto-1 came in a little higher but every door on that car had real aspect hinges. KITT comes in a little higher than Ecto so there is a chance that it may have a couple of features such as the hinged T-tops, possibly pop-up headlights, but I highly doubt they are going to have a functional scanner or a voice box. I hope I am wrong but let's look at the history of all Hot Wheels 1/18 cars. The Big Daddy was the 1966 Barris Batmobile. It was released in three trim levels and there was huge speculation of what the "Super-Elite" was going to include. A lot of fans were disappointed that their extra $200 got them some more photo-etched parts and a fancy base rather than the Batman theme song, working lights, sounds etc. If Hot Wheels didn't do any electronic surprises on a $300 die-cast I'm skeptical they are going to do any on a $150-$160 one.
There is no sense in being disappointed in this news as I'm sure this will be the very best rendition of KITT in 1/18 scale.
Just my 2 cents.

And like Taoworm said, if it doesn't come with a working scanner, we can always add our own and or voice options, then we would have our own "super elite"

[Motor_Head]

I absolutely love it when I am wrong and the news is this good:

Hot Wheels Elite Tweets:

"AlaskaPollock Walleye @HotWheelsElite K.I.T.T looks awesome! Will it have a functioning red scanner light?"
9 Feb

"HotwheelsElite Hotwheels Elite @AlaskaPollock you bet it will. We put in extra effort to get a functioning red scanner light on the 1:18 scale K.I.T.T.!"
16 hours ago


OH YEAH!!!!