Found something very interesting!!!
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- Knight-Armen
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Found something very interesting!!!
I might have got this wrong, but a lot of sources that I have visited claims that the original Knight Rider cars has all been destroyed.
In fact they were destroyed directly after all seasons were done and yet I found this interesting website.
The website is called Mark's Custom Kits and he is up to replicas and restoration of Trans Am's. This guy is AMAZING! His company both installs and creates basically everything for a Knight Rider replica. Anyway, as I was browsing through the site I came on this very interesting thing. He has got a new project and that is to refresh one of the original Knight Rider cars we seen in the series!!! But wait a minute! Didn't they destroy all the cars? What's up with that? Anyway, I managed to copy down the link to his website for you guy's to take a look! You can follow the project step by step:
http://www.markscustomkits.com/Recent-projects.htm
In fact they were destroyed directly after all seasons were done and yet I found this interesting website.
The website is called Mark's Custom Kits and he is up to replicas and restoration of Trans Am's. This guy is AMAZING! His company both installs and creates basically everything for a Knight Rider replica. Anyway, as I was browsing through the site I came on this very interesting thing. He has got a new project and that is to refresh one of the original Knight Rider cars we seen in the series!!! But wait a minute! Didn't they destroy all the cars? What's up with that? Anyway, I managed to copy down the link to his website for you guy's to take a look! You can follow the project step by step:
http://www.markscustomkits.com/Recent-projects.htm
Michael: Kitt what matters to me is who you are not what you look like. Sure we don't have the car so we can't turbo boost so we can't go over 200 miles an hour but it was all icing on the cake anyway
- Knight-Armen
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Just to make my point clear, I've added some of the sources were I read about the destruction of the Knight Rider cars:
Scroll down to the english text:
http://hem.passagen.se/pejj/hemsidafilmnytt.htm
In order to make it easy for you to find the "Kitt destruction statement" scroll down to the very bottom of the page and then look at the fourth question counted from the very last question and up (sorry, couldn't find the proper english word):
http://www.fortunecity.com/tatooine/phl ... 9/id86.htm
Scroll down to the english text:
http://hem.passagen.se/pejj/hemsidafilmnytt.htm
In order to make it easy for you to find the "Kitt destruction statement" scroll down to the very bottom of the page and then look at the fourth question counted from the very last question and up (sorry, couldn't find the proper english word):
http://www.fortunecity.com/tatooine/phl ... 9/id86.htm
Michael: Kitt what matters to me is who you are not what you look like. Sure we don't have the car so we can't turbo boost so we can't go over 200 miles an hour but it was all icing on the cake anyway
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that's not right four of the origanal tv cars are still hanging around, over the years I've tracked four of these down.
one is at universal studios theme park Florida where I went about 10 years ago and seen it on desplay its one of the ones from the 3rd or 4th season with the one tv dash, and has been very badly run down over the years.
Another is in Australia somewere I think by memory in perth and other George Barris has, and the other I know about is owned by a former Knight Rider stunt driver named Jay Ohrberg.
Kitt: that paint job would stun a blind man a fifty paces
Michael: racing is a colorfull sport its all part of the spectical
Kitt: well I have no intention of ever becoming one, it was Henry Ford who said as long as its black and I agree aligant quiet basic black
one is at universal studios theme park Florida where I went about 10 years ago and seen it on desplay its one of the ones from the 3rd or 4th season with the one tv dash, and has been very badly run down over the years.
Another is in Australia somewere I think by memory in perth and other George Barris has, and the other I know about is owned by a former Knight Rider stunt driver named Jay Ohrberg.
Kitt: that paint job would stun a blind man a fifty paces
Michael: racing is a colorfull sport its all part of the spectical
Kitt: well I have no intention of ever becoming one, it was Henry Ford who said as long as its black and I agree aligant quiet basic black
- Lost Knight
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I agree too.MissKnightly wrote:And i still wonder why they should destroy the original TV cars.
Such action doesn't make much sense to me.
Knight Rider Portugal: http://knightriderportugal.forumeiros.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
- Knight-Armen
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Don't kill the messenger, as they say! This is just what I read. It may be true but it may also be wrong! If you think I'm wrong then prove me otherwise!And i still wonder why they should destroy the original TV cars.
Such action doesn't make much sense to me.
Michael: Kitt what matters to me is who you are not what you look like. Sure we don't have the car so we can't turbo boost so we can't go over 200 miles an hour but it was all icing on the cake anyway
The basic story is that most if not all of the of the screen used cars were indeed destroyed. These cars were props and when the series ended Universal had to do something with them... Generally they destroy them...
However.
Universal made several cars that were used in their "Floating KITT" display that were never screen used cars. These cars had things on them that the screen used cars did not have.
Please note the GTA style Ground Effects...
Also there were at least 3 that I can account for "world of Wheels" type vehicles made. Some of these had Roll up windows and crudely decorated lower/upperconsoles with dash electronics that were very incorrect....
my apologies to the original owners/posters of the following images....
Also David had a KITT constructed for his "Knight Rocker" tour I believe...
The Only Screen Used vehicles that I am aware of belongs to a private collector in California, and the convertible.
However.
Universal made several cars that were used in their "Floating KITT" display that were never screen used cars. These cars had things on them that the screen used cars did not have.
Please note the GTA style Ground Effects...
Also there were at least 3 that I can account for "world of Wheels" type vehicles made. Some of these had Roll up windows and crudely decorated lower/upperconsoles with dash electronics that were very incorrect....
my apologies to the original owners/posters of the following images....
Also David had a KITT constructed for his "Knight Rocker" tour I believe...
The Only Screen Used vehicles that I am aware of belongs to a private collector in California, and the convertible.
- Knight-Armen
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So, I wasn't wrong after all! The only thing that confuses me is the fact that two identical replicas were made directly after the destruction of the K R cars by, George Barris and/or Jay Ohrberg? Were these cars considered to be original? According to the "Knight Rider World Supersite", they were both sold to Hasselhoff himself! And then after a year or two, Hasselhoff sold them to museums world wide. Whatever happened to them?
Another thing that is mentioned as well is that a emplyee of Universal stole one of the K R cars and drove of the studio! Is it possible that there is a second original car left?
Another thing that is mentioned as well is that a emplyee of Universal stole one of the K R cars and drove of the studio! Is it possible that there is a second original car left?
Michael: Kitt what matters to me is who you are not what you look like. Sure we don't have the car so we can't turbo boost so we can't go over 200 miles an hour but it was all icing on the cake anyway
Actually it seems that more than a couple of cars were built for the car show circuit...
The story about the employee driving off has never been substantiated any more than it just being a KR urban legend.
I do know of one for certain screen used car in the hands of a private collector.
And Rob Louisell sent The Foundation board some shots of an authentic Universal KITT that languished in a auction yard for years....
http://www.knightfoundation.net/forum/v ... =universal
The story about the employee driving off has never been substantiated any more than it just being a KR urban legend.
I do know of one for certain screen used car in the hands of a private collector.
And Rob Louisell sent The Foundation board some shots of an authentic Universal KITT that languished in a auction yard for years....
http://www.knightfoundation.net/forum/v ... =universal
- walter h. anderson
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real kitt
The car from California was from Beverly Hills and was aution to a guy in Perth Western Australia. I remember looking at the aution my self and bidded on it. it came with every thing that proved it was an oringanal car,
blueprints, knight rider scripts from the knight rider episode it was in an origanal keyring that said if lost return to a universal studios lot and the number.It got autioned for way out of my reach, it went for over $100.000 U.S I even wrote universal a letter at the time to see if it was an origanal or if it was a hoax because $50.000 is a lot of money and I dident want to be riped off. And a manager at Universal Studios said if it is a car from a second season epidode it is real. so I went ahead and bidded but was beatten by a very long shot years later I seen the same car again on marks custom kits site being restored again.
I've kept the origanal add that was out around the world,
heres some of it.
437. K.I.T.T. (Knight Industry Two Thousand) car from Knight Rider. (Universal TV, 1982-85) This highly-modified 1983 Pontiac Trans Am is an original screen-used hero car used during the second season of the hit TV series. Instantly recognizable with its working scanner in the front and highly futuristic interior, this vehicle was arguably the star of the show! Accompanied with the original ownership certificate listing MCA Universal Studios Inc. as the registered owner. For insurance and liability reasons the vehicle's identification number was removed by Universal (common practice for their film and TV cars) and it was subsequently assigned the in-house inventory control number of "1177" (numbers can be found on the driver-side door and under the hood).
Among the studio modifications done to this car by the Special Effects and Stunt Coordinator:
A brake differential lock was used and tied into the master cylinder and actuated by a foot switch on the floor. By hitting the switch, stunt drivers such as Jack Gill could disable the front brakes, leaving only the rear brakes operational making those famous "bootleg turns" possible.
The original 305 c.i. Crossfire V-8 engine was removed (along with emission control equipment) and replaced with a high power Chevy 350 c.i. plant. Major fabrication is evident in the engine bay to make room for extra batteries, special effects items and accessories.
The factory gas tank was replaced by a two-gallon racing fuel cell in order to minimize the amount of fuel on-board during stunt driving, jumps and high speed passes.
A heavy-gauge steel skid plate was welded onto the lower frame to the protect the undercarriage, transmission and lower engine from road impact during jumps.
A special cable with "T" handle was installed in the panel beside the rear passenger seat; when pulled, KITT's trunk would seemingly open by itself.
After being released from its film duties, KITT found its way into the show circuit by promoting many Budweiser World of Wheels car shows for a number of years. After its tour of duty, the car was in need of restoration and in 2001 the owner approached Mark Scrivani of Mark's Custom Kits to restore the vehicle. The original, futuristic dash built by universal would only illuminate and was not intended to be functional; the owner commissioned Scrivani to make the dash fully functional, thus, the various non-functioning consoles were removed, cleaned up and made functional with pushable buttons, sound and visual effects. The dash received fully operational gauges and instruments, as well as an in-car camera tied into one of the two dash-mounted LCD monitors. The other monitor is wired into a trunk-mounted VCR for running and viewing tapes for future car show use. The original scanner mounted in the front of the vehicle was restored and functions properly. The scanner sound effect is also added to external speakers so it can be heard while the scanner is running. Besides the original Universal registration, the car comes with the original stamped steel "KNIGHT" license plate, the original Universal Studios key ring with "1177 Trans Am" inscription (return postage guaranteed!), and a photocopy of a production sheet from the Knight Rider episode entitled "Many Happy Returns", dated 9/3/85 which features "TA´S-1177", identifying this car as used during the production. Also accompanied by a signed letter of authenticity/provenance by Mark Scrivani who performed the restoration on the vehicle
So what I was saying was'nt wrong ether
I also have photo's from the add but havent yet figgered out how to post them.
blueprints, knight rider scripts from the knight rider episode it was in an origanal keyring that said if lost return to a universal studios lot and the number.It got autioned for way out of my reach, it went for over $100.000 U.S I even wrote universal a letter at the time to see if it was an origanal or if it was a hoax because $50.000 is a lot of money and I dident want to be riped off. And a manager at Universal Studios said if it is a car from a second season epidode it is real. so I went ahead and bidded but was beatten by a very long shot years later I seen the same car again on marks custom kits site being restored again.
I've kept the origanal add that was out around the world,
heres some of it.
437. K.I.T.T. (Knight Industry Two Thousand) car from Knight Rider. (Universal TV, 1982-85) This highly-modified 1983 Pontiac Trans Am is an original screen-used hero car used during the second season of the hit TV series. Instantly recognizable with its working scanner in the front and highly futuristic interior, this vehicle was arguably the star of the show! Accompanied with the original ownership certificate listing MCA Universal Studios Inc. as the registered owner. For insurance and liability reasons the vehicle's identification number was removed by Universal (common practice for their film and TV cars) and it was subsequently assigned the in-house inventory control number of "1177" (numbers can be found on the driver-side door and under the hood).
Among the studio modifications done to this car by the Special Effects and Stunt Coordinator:
A brake differential lock was used and tied into the master cylinder and actuated by a foot switch on the floor. By hitting the switch, stunt drivers such as Jack Gill could disable the front brakes, leaving only the rear brakes operational making those famous "bootleg turns" possible.
The original 305 c.i. Crossfire V-8 engine was removed (along with emission control equipment) and replaced with a high power Chevy 350 c.i. plant. Major fabrication is evident in the engine bay to make room for extra batteries, special effects items and accessories.
The factory gas tank was replaced by a two-gallon racing fuel cell in order to minimize the amount of fuel on-board during stunt driving, jumps and high speed passes.
A heavy-gauge steel skid plate was welded onto the lower frame to the protect the undercarriage, transmission and lower engine from road impact during jumps.
A special cable with "T" handle was installed in the panel beside the rear passenger seat; when pulled, KITT's trunk would seemingly open by itself.
After being released from its film duties, KITT found its way into the show circuit by promoting many Budweiser World of Wheels car shows for a number of years. After its tour of duty, the car was in need of restoration and in 2001 the owner approached Mark Scrivani of Mark's Custom Kits to restore the vehicle. The original, futuristic dash built by universal would only illuminate and was not intended to be functional; the owner commissioned Scrivani to make the dash fully functional, thus, the various non-functioning consoles were removed, cleaned up and made functional with pushable buttons, sound and visual effects. The dash received fully operational gauges and instruments, as well as an in-car camera tied into one of the two dash-mounted LCD monitors. The other monitor is wired into a trunk-mounted VCR for running and viewing tapes for future car show use. The original scanner mounted in the front of the vehicle was restored and functions properly. The scanner sound effect is also added to external speakers so it can be heard while the scanner is running. Besides the original Universal registration, the car comes with the original stamped steel "KNIGHT" license plate, the original Universal Studios key ring with "1177 Trans Am" inscription (return postage guaranteed!), and a photocopy of a production sheet from the Knight Rider episode entitled "Many Happy Returns", dated 9/3/85 which features "TA´S-1177", identifying this car as used during the production. Also accompanied by a signed letter of authenticity/provenance by Mark Scrivani who performed the restoration on the vehicle
So what I was saying was'nt wrong ether
I also have photo's from the add but havent yet figgered out how to post them.