Do you like the look of the Super Pursuit Mode KITT?

[Kaine]

i always liked about kitt, that his body was a production-model and not a super-freaky concept that would attract attention on the street immediately.

he lost that with SPM, so i vote for a clear NO!

[Paul]

i always liked about kitt, that his body was a production-model and not a super-freaky concept that would attract attention on the street immediately.

he lost that with SPM, so i vote for a clear NO!

I agree to a point that the car was recognisably designed from a production model Pontiac but KITT was definitely not production at all, what with the blacked-out rear lights, the scanner in the nose, the tan interior, the dash that was definitely a super-freaky concept, even in season 1, the bowling ball rims, the winch and pulley on the front, etc etc.

None of those things were available on stock Trans Ams.

[MIKEMAC]

I do like it, but thr night version was so much better and made me drool. But I always got pissed when Kitt was going into SPM and he was moving, they would show the tires and they were not moving sometimes, (err in editing I guess).

[Lost Knight]

I'm sure another big factor was that it was a lot cheaper than throwing cars off ramps.

In the long run, possibly. The actual Super Pursuit Mode car itself cost Universal $250,000. So it's that price tag versus the cumulative cost of stunts per episode for the rest of the 4th season. The stunts might have been cut down because of the cost of the SPM car. I don't know if it can really be accurately determined if Universal actually saved money or lost money by building the car and cutting the stunts.

[PBH]

$250,000?!? Why the hefty price tag? Can anyone here who's worked in a body shop justify this $250,000US amount in the eighties?

[knightdriver]

i always liked about kitt, that his body was a production-model and not a super-freaky concept that would attract attention on the street immediately.

he lost that with SPM, so i vote for a clear NO!

I agree to a point that the car was recognisably designed from a production model Pontiac but KITT was definitely not production at all, what with the blacked-out rear lights, the scanner in the nose, the tan interior, the dash that was definitely a super-freaky concept, even in season 1, the bowling ball rims, the winch and pulley on the front, etc etc.

None of those things were available on stock Trans Ams.

Gee, My Trans Am came with a tan interior (just like KITTs) from
the factory as well as the rims and bowling ball caps. They were
stock Pontiac accessories. They only modified the dash, nose,
and added the tint cover. Sorry to say everyhting esle was stock.

[Lost Knight]

Even Michael Long's stock Trans Am at the beginning of "Knight Of the Phoenix" had the tan interior, PMD seats, and "bowling ball" hubcaps. The only modifications to K.I.T.T. were the nose including the scanner, dashboard & overhead console, and the tail light blackout. The hero car was also dropped about an inch from ordinary stock Trans Ams to make KITT look more sleek.

In regards to why the SPM car cost $250,000, it was probably a combination of things. First, Universal had to pay for the crew that did work on modifying the car (a 1983 model I think), the extensions that were welded onto the car, insurance on the car since it was a prop, etc. In the '80s I guess modifying a car was not as common a practice as it is nowadays, especially with television shows like Pimp My Ride. A lot of planning and design went into the construction of the SPM car which was probably another factor.

[Lyn]

I thought KITT was like a 4-wheeled "Speedy Gonzales" in that kind of mode, which was amusing to me....

[Michael Pajaro]

Although the SPM effects didn't make KITT go any faster in real life, they WERE functional. These weren't just cosmetic additions; the fins had to pop in and out smoothly and on cue. That will add a bit to the price tag.

We also have to consider that this is a Hollywood economy; they overpay for everything, so chances are a "regular" mechanic could have built SPM for half the price. But I also suspect (and I have nothing to base this on other than my gut) that NBC may have hyped up the price a bit. It's a much better publicity stunt to say you spent "a quarter million dollars on a car" than to say $150,000 or even $200,000.

Spread out over an entire season, the cost of the new car was only a little over $10,000 an episode. If you cut back on your turbo boosting and not destroy a couple cars every week, it's easy to save that amount.

[HondaSiR]

I'd like to add that the production crew made not just one SPM car for the fourth season. They made three conversions from three donor cars. One is for the fixed SPM KITT, completely drivable even at high speeds. The other is the "transforming" SPM KITT, no engine but steerable, full of hydraulics and only used for close-up transforming shots. The other one is the "convertible" KITT. Then there's also the mockup of the transforming roof section. I guess that's where the bulk of the $250,000 went, the conversion of three Firebirds.

[TurbomanKnight]

KITT was ok with the SPM styling. I loved the red accents on the underbody and cowl induction. KITT looked like a car straight out of hell. Loved it.

[Lost Knight]

HondaSiR, you're right about 2 separate SPM cars existing, one fully driveable one (the one with welded extensions that I mentioned) and the one without the engine (in order to make room for the extended rams to retract). Now, on the SPM car, there were fully functional pieces that popped out, but it was only the Emergency Braking System fins, not the other SPM extensions. So that's 3 fully functional pieces added to the SPM car. But I think the $250,000 price tag was for the fully driveable SPM car only, not the other cars. I'm just speculating on this though.

[AprilCurtis]

i don't like it at all wish I did, because the conceptof Super Pursuit Mode is amazing, I think!

[PBH]

HondaSiR, you're right about 2 separate SPM cars existing, one fully driveable one (the one with welded extensions that I mentioned) and the one without the engine (in order to make room for the extended rams to retract).

2 SPM cars?!? I highly doubt that. On the Knight Rider I watched, there was only 1 SPM car. The close-ups of the SPM change did not look like a real car at all! It looked like parts they simply priced together for that one transformation shot. As far as hydrolics goes, I highly doubt they'd spend unneccessary cash on that too. These moving parts may have been done simply by hand or a small electric motor. Spending money on hydrolics for a shot that the show keeps recycling is high unlikely.

[Lost Knight]

There were 2 SPM cars. As I said, the main SPM car had welded extensions on it that were unable to retract because they were permanently in place. During shooting, the crew sometimes had problems with the car because some extensions came apart at high speeds. The Emergency Braking System flaps did work however and functioned by popping up and down. This is the reason you can see the EBS flaps work in a continuous shot as opposed to producers needing to resort to stock footage when they show the SPM transition.

The second car was a real car, but had no engine and was used for only close-ups. It had a working steering and brake system, but no engine. The engine was removed in order for to make room for the rams to extend/retract from/into the car's body. The close-up shots were filmed once I believe (one for day time and one for night time), and that stock footage was reused for every 4th season episode after "Knight Of the Juggernaut." We never see the transition of SPM in a continuous shot other than the stock footage close-up because it was a separate vehicle that handled the retractions.

[knightdriver]

HondaSiR, you're right about 2 separate SPM cars existing, one fully driveable one (the one with welded extensions that I mentioned) and the one without the engine (in order to make room for the extended rams to retract).

2 SPM cars?!? I highly doubt that. On the Knight Rider I watched, there was only 1 SPM car. The close-ups of the SPM change did not look like a real car at all! It looked like parts they simply priced together for that one transformation shot. As far as hydrolics goes, I highly doubt they'd spend unneccessary cash on that too. These moving parts may have been done simply by hand or a small electric motor. Spending money on hydrolics for a shot that the show keeps recycling is high unlikely.

Not to sound sarcastic or anything but maybe you should do a little
research on the subject. Everyone here is correct in there being 2 cars.
Hydraulics where used which is why the car had no engine. The
information and photo's have been on the net for some time.

There were also 2 convertables as well. One full driving mock up and
a half a car mounted to a boat trailer. This trail car was used for
the shots of the top going down.

Hollywood has a tendancy to spend useless money on many things
that could be done alot cheaper if some thought was put into it. But
usually with their time contraints, they would rather pony up the
cash instead. Time is somthing they are usually limited on with a
production schedule and all.

[Paul]

Okay, sorry guys, I guess I dropped the ball with the whole stock/non-stock thing.

My bad.

[KRAvengerII]

I'm feeling strangely vindicated right now.

[PBH]

I think that I feel vindicated as well, but I need to figure out what that word means first.

[HondaSiR]

I think that I feel vindicated as well, but I need to figure out what that word means first.

"Justified" would be a fair word for it.

[Super knight]

Yes, i like it!