Louis Cicciari, Tom Day, Gary Hunter, Nick Nugent, Daniel Trujillo Jr., Jennifer Catano, Dennis Resinger and Hero KITT (photo courtesy of Daniel Trujillo Jr)
This past Tuesday, the replica group Knights of the West Coast, stopped by a secret warehouse in California to catch up with two friends. As you may recall, after being re-imagined as a Mustang for the TV movie, KITT again changed as they went to series. The cars from the movie were auctioned for charity - but what happened then? Gary Hunter was able to track down the man who purchased them, and went with KOTWC to check them out. Author Nick Nugent, friend to KRO and KOTWC member fills us in:
Tom Day is a proud Grandfather who finds his wealth mostly through Real Estate. He loves to collect various high profile and rare cars such as Shelby and Roush mustangs, corvettes, classic, and movie/tv cars and other vehicles mostly to help raise funds for charity. He originally bought the two KITTs at the Barret Jackson Auction as a pair for just that very reason - charity. He also had the pleasure of meeting Justin Bruening who was very grateful for his contribution while at the event.
Tom says in the interview that he enjoys the hero KITT more than the Attack KITT. He told us when we arrived, a funny story about how his granddaughter drove the Attack KITT on the highway one afternoon and was pulled over by a cop. When he approached the car he asked her, "Isn't this just a little too much car for you to handle?". Tom suspects the officer just wanted to get a closer look at his prized possession and who wouldn't? The Attack Mode KITT definitely turns heads when people see it cruising out and about.Tom has several garages full of cars he's collected over the years and he chooses to keep them secretive. His long term goals for his car collection is to open up a museum which is currently in the finishing stages of being built where he plans to display his two KITT cars as well as other vehicles in his collection for all to see in a safe and fun environment for everyone to enjoy. Tom also owns a genuine GT500KR.
Tom hopes to restore the KITTs as accurately as possible. He hopes to make it to Knight Rider Festival III (March 18-19, 2011 in Las Vegas), so hopefully everyone can check out these rare items at whats shaping up to be yet another amazing event!
Be sure to check out more pictures of the cars below. Video of the day from both Nick and Gary can be found at their youtube channels: [Gary's Interview with Tom] and from Nick [Hero KITT walk around] [Attack KITT walk around] and [Interview with Tom]
Thanks again to Gary and Nick for this report. Nick's book, the Knight Rider Companion - an amazing guide to the original Knight Rider - is now available for $39.95 (previously $50) via his website valaryc.com (click on the KRC book tab)