K.I.T.T.'s T-Top

[Lost Knight]

Has anyone else noticed in the earlier seasons, when K.I.T.T. opened a side of his T-top, it would open like a hatch, yet in later seasons, the glass seemed to slide over underneath the other side? I guess this was just to make it seem like K.I.T.T. was more high-tech in later seasons? Makes me wonder how both sides could ever be open at the same time in the 4th season... where would the glass tops go? It would be a mystery just like the hard shell that covers K.I.T.T.'s back side when he's in Convertible Mode. And it's also funny how the top EBS flap is supposed to surface as one piece from two separate pieces of glass. I know it's all supposed to be just accepted for fun but I find it fun to ask these questions anyway.

[themarvelous3]

i never liked SPM. too many inconsistencies for me

[HondaSiR]

Me too. For a while SPM mode was pretty cool, and the convertible mode too. But it was still the same car, and people just grew tired of it fast. It would have been interesting to know if the producers elected to use a different car altogether, a newer, sleeker kind of automobile with newer gadgets...Would the show stay longer? Would a fifth season been possible?

[Lost Knight]

I doubt it...I don't think anything would have changed NBC's decision to cancel the show. The SPM mode in & of itself was more extreme than a new car with new gadgets, and if something as extreme as that didn't give Knight Rider the ratings that NBC wanted, I don't think a new car would have done much more.

[KnightRiderGirl]

I am personally a fan of SPM. There may be a few inconsistances, but I still think it's cool. *pats SPM*

[Lost Knight]

I loved the idea of SPM, though not necessarily the way it looked. To me, K.I.T.T. looked plain weird will all those extensions. However, when K.I.T.T. went into SPM, that was frequently the climax of the episode in my opinion, or at least for me it was. I loved the idea of K.I.T.T. charging up with all kinds of things popping out, the sound of a high-tech device charging up, then rocketing to 260+MPH.

I especially thought it was cool the rare times K.I.T.T. went into SPM at night and every extension was underlit with red lights. In terms of appearance, that, on the other hand, I did like. Reminds me of the ground effects on the cars in The Fast and the Furious. A great thrill for a child watching the show like I was and playing along with my Knight 2000 Voice Car! Ah, memories.


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[cloudkitt]

SPM was cooler when I was little. In fact, my favorite episode when i was little was Knight of the Juggernaut by far. (not that i knew the name, it was more of "the episode where KITT get's beaten up") And even now, that's a sweet episode, but not my fave.

When I was little I was really into anythign that transformed (I still have all my power ranger combining toys somewhere), so obviously SPM caught my attention pretty quick.

[themarvelous3]

now if SPM coming outta KITT looked like the "rocket mode" on the car in Men In Black 1, it would have been SWEET! ah, spcial effects...

[Lost Knight]

You know if there is an SPM or anything of the kind in the new KR movie, it will be all digital like the car in MIB and the Defender in the show Viper. At least in the 80s they used an actual car instead of a cartoon to show the transformation, though it had no engine in it and was only for close-ups.

[knightman]

when kitt was in convertable mode and then
went back to normal mode, was he a still a t-top
then?

[Lost Knight]

K.I.T.T.'s T-top was always there, only when he was in Convertible Mode, the T-top was stored under the mysterious hard shell that comes out of nowhere. The "hero car" was not capable of switching to a convertible; there was a separate car built with a pulley system made specifically to retract the roof and trunk, then there was another car that was a permanent convertible. He's a T-top convertible. When you think about it, he had the options of a sun roof by removing the T-top, a hard top, and a complete convertible all in one.

I've seen real 3rd generation Trans Am and Camaro convertibles, but they are rare, and as far as I know they are all rag tops.