knight rider online

The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles is hosting an auction of "The George Barris Collection of Kustom Television and Movie Cars & other properties" May 14th.

Up for sale are the "Knick Rider" (my name for the bizarre KITT used on the Nick & Jessica Variety Special), and a General Lee, as well as other vehicles.

The Petersen Museum is worth a visit on its own; seeing the celebrity cars is a bonus opportunity.

i went to the website and got this:

http://www.petersen.org/pdf/bonham.pdf

It looks to be the part SPM of KITT

Note: you will need adobe to see it.

I've seen this car up close in person. It has some SPM-type parts attached to it, but it also has some things that never existed on any KITT during the original TV show- obviously those hubcaps are wrong and there is also an additional spoiler added to the front of this car for some reason.

The spoiler in front is a hack job of the front end of the original SPM car. Michael- Didnt you post a few picture of this car a while back?

Yes. Here are some photos I took at an open house at Barris' shop:

http://www.knightridermovie.com/misc/ba ... rris1.html

That's really interesting. The only thing I can figure is that since George Barris built the original Super Pursuit Mode car, this is a half-assed way of trying to rebuild his design just enough so that it is different than the original K.I.T.T. The changes also may have something to do with copyright issues.

I'm interested to know how much the car will fetch in the auction. I don't think it will go as high as the Universal KITT that was auctioned off in ebay last year (for US$40,000 IIRC). If the car breaks $5000, it will probably be due to the fact that it was owned by Barris and that it appeared in a television show. I wonder if it is drivable though.

I'm sure for a little more cash Barris will authneticate it for you as a screen used car

I've seen the cars he made for the Double Dragon film in person and they were just as much hack jobs as this "KITT." He must have been something once to have the reputation (and ego) that he has, but anymore he is living off of his past achievments.

GOOD LORD!!! I thought my ideas for replicating the SPM were far fetched, but now I know even I could come up with a better one than this!

I have always hoped to see someone attempt this type of replica, but this guy, whoever he is, needs some professional help, with the car and maybe himself!

It's funny how the builder of that "Knick" Rider car is the original builder of the SPM car used in the show.

Well for less than a grand any one can build a half ass "replica." All you need is a car and an eBay bumper and a 3 or 4 cans of Krylon. No effort went into this car at all.

Barris had to put some effort into the real SPM car or Universal would have gone elsewhere.

Now he's just living off reputation. People don't really remember the specifics of the show these days. All they remember was a red light and a black car. In that respect Barris has delivered. He tries so hard to forge an association with KR that really doesn't exist. So many people may honestly think that he is the driving force behind the series and as such has created a perfect replica. When I met him he wanted me to believe that Michael Schffe had nothing to do with KITT's design and that it was all him. Fact of the mater is he is only a contractor that was hired to fabricate 2 prop pieces for the shows final season. Nothing more.

If you saw smoe of the dashboards up-close of the actual KITT's used in filming you might say "no effort went into this car at all." That's because for most distance shots, they didn't need an expensive dash in place, nobody would notice. The same could be said for the Knick Rider.

I saw this car up close in person, and in spite of the odd bumper up front, I can tell you the SPM-style fins were REMARKABLY well done. They were amazingly smooth, not even a paint ripple on the seams. Frankly I think it was his son and not Barris himself who made the Knick Rider, but whoever did it was an expert mechanic/metalworker/whatever.

Yes, George Barris exaggerates his role with Knight Rider. But those two "prop pieces" were in fact major contributions to the 4th season. I just don't think his career should be judged based on a single car that appeared on a dreadful variety show.

Well his ego soured me on him. Met him once, have no desire to again.

Maybe this was just a dry run for the son.

Unfortunately, you're not the only one from what I hear. So I don't hold it against you

barris also claims to have designed and built the original ectomobile from GHOSTBUSTERS, batmobile from BATMAN (1989), the delorean time machine from BACK TO THE FUTURE, and general lee from DUKES OF HAZZARD...

i don't doubt that he did really cool stuff back in the day, but it's VERY lame how he cashes in on the work of others. although i admire his original work from the early days, barris is as much of a legend as my right leg.

d_osborn wrote:barris also claims to have designed and built the original ectomobile from GHOSTBUSTERS, batmobile from BATMAN (1989), the delorean time machine from BACK TO THE FUTURE, and general lee from DUKES OF HAZZARD...

i don't doubt that he did really cool stuff back in the day, but it's VERY lame how he cashes in on the work of others. although i admire his original work from the early days, barris is as much of a legend as my right leg.

Designer DeLorean: Andrew Probert & Ron Cobb/Builder: Kevin Pike
General Lee: Paul Picard/Builders: Various (if you wanna know, ask me) but it's not that @#$% Barris

Michael Pajaro wrote:Unfortunately, you're not the only one from what I hear. So I don't hold it against you

Deal

Barris actually claims responsibility for ALL Batmobiles (not too sure what his stance on the 'begins' tumbler(?) is, but I'm sure he'll claim it as well).

CNH 320 wrote: Designer DeLorean: Andrew Probert & Ron Cobb/Builder: Kevin Pike

Don't forget Michael Scheffe in that list. He's also responsible for the Knight 2000.

Man, this Barris guy seems like he's so full of crap. It's beginning to get under my skin. He should have some respect and dignity and not fabricate the amount of cars he created. I'm suprised none of the actual designers/creators of some of these cars have done anything about it? Or have they? And what about patents/copyrights?

Well to be fair, I spoke with him yesterday and he was very friendly and pleasant. In fact, he was kind of busy with people coming in and out of his shop so several tmies I tried to make a graceful exit to let him work, but he kept engaging me in conversation. Maybe I just caught him at a good time, but he was a very nice guy.

My random guess is that 50% of the bad things you hear about him are true. But 50% of the good things you hear are also true.

My time frame for meeting him was about 15 years ago (people mellow with age). I was introduced to him as a stary eyed youngster with aspirations of owning a replica. From what I understand Mark of Mark's custom kits is equally as stand-offish because of all the people that want a KITT of their won and flood him with stupid questions so I don't know if that had anything to do with it.

However, Mr. Barris, I cordially invite you to my garage to gaze upon something that you told me was totally out of my reach

thats one sad looking replica... i've seen better looking ones at other tv car museums.