We've had a LOT of spammers in the comments recently - I guess we are doing something right to attract the attention! Please note that we will NEVER reply to a comment saying you have won something, and we certainly don't use Telegram. If you see these comments - report them!

Whoops! We did miss one car - the hardtop Trans Am destroyed in "Knight of the Juggernaut". That car was only used in this episode and was obviously destroyed!

@jonmyers8046

Жыл бұрын

Do you have any info on that vehicle as far as specs and options?

@dspencer8827

Жыл бұрын

It would of been nice for some pieces of that car to be saved ,ie the left hand t top .or the left door or pieces of the car

@jonmyers8046

Жыл бұрын

@@dspencer8827 They may have pulled some parts to use on other cars at the time. It was a hardtop.

@dreyes78

Жыл бұрын

Where did this car come from?

@SayAhh

Жыл бұрын

@@dreyes78 General Motors! I'll show myself out...

Was a technician at a Pontiac dealer from 1995 till Pontiac went away. Miss those Firebirds. Knight Rider was my all time favorite car related show.

@SayAhh

Жыл бұрын

My favorite car related show was MotorWeek 😅 All kidding aside, Knight Rider was the ***t.

@FransieGriesel-ps1zz

2 ай бұрын

❤

My Mom's cousin is Ron Martinez. Executive Producer at Universal then NBC. He was in charge of production for Knight Rider from start to finish. He is definitely a car guy. Has an extensive collection and his first real car was a 68 Firebird. Needless to say Firebirds were near and dear to his heart. He always stated that Knight Rider was the most fun he had in his entire career. I asked him about the show at a family event in the 80's and he said with sadness, "We wrecked alot of Firebirds. Too many."

OMG The NES Game intro... was not expecting that. So many hours playing that game, and I couldn't even beat it in drive mode, let alone the regular mode.

As a kid in the 80s, I literally teared up and screamed at Goliath for "hurtin" KITT. KITT was as much of a hero as Michael to us kids. They were a team, and thinking he was "hurt" broke my little heart back then, LOL. I was like, 5 or 6 then.

Knight Rider Historians are the best investigators ♥️♥️♥️

I'm an Australian who lives in Brisbane and I went to Expo 88. I sat in car 14 a few times over the 6 months. :)

@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial

11 ай бұрын

Wow! Do you have any photos? If so, we would love to see them! Knightriderhistorians@gmail.com

@chadcunnington7152

5 ай бұрын

I also hail from Brisbane, and remember sitting in the KITT car at World Expo 88, My family still has a couple of photos, somewhere ...

Awesome Work Joe, Thanks 👍👍👍 Greetings from Helsinki, Finland 🇫🇮🇺🇸🇫🇮🇺🇸🇫🇮🇺🇸

Sad that so many original KITT’s were destroyed, understandable the legal obligation from the factory. However, would have given anything to have had one of these pieces of history

@Clay3613

Жыл бұрын

At least they didn't trash perfectly good cars for stunts like Dukes did.

@vettebecker1

Жыл бұрын

@@Clay3613 True

I absolutely did NOT wait for this Video, but as IT popped up i instantly knew: This is the video, i have been waiting for my while life .

@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial

Жыл бұрын

Yes, yes it is. You were born to watch this video. Enjoy.

@StevenBe9799

Жыл бұрын

I saw the video link on Facebook and I was trying to figure out (from left to right) which car was on what season and I know the one of the left very well. That’s season one…half Michael Long and half Michael Knight KITT car

If you have a replica, be proud of your replica. They look better, and more accurate to the in-universe KITT than the actual screen used cars. The screen used cars used a lot of Hollywood smoke & mirrors - only the details that were actually on the camera had to be finished. Heck one of them wasn't even a full car, it was half a car attached to a camera truck.

I really enjoyed this one, Joe! I hope car #24 is still with us and will be added to your collection of screen used vehicles and props, soon.

Very interesting and thorough look into every KITT cars used in the show :) Funny that one with engine block heater, probably was supposed to go in some cold climate area.

@pdennis93

Жыл бұрын

Iirc some were headed to Canada.

Ohh yes - I'm watching it immediately right now 😄 Good job, thank you Knight Rider Historians!

Awesome stuff Joe, can't seem to get enough of it. You have done an exceptional job, hopefully one day I see the surviving KITTs in person.

Amazing work! Very much enjoyed and appreciated! 😁

Outstanding work, as always. Many thanks for this important ongoing archiving effort

My favorites: Hero, Hero2/Light Duty, Backup/Drop Down, Hardtop/Hardest Working KITT, Stick Shift, Stock Nose, Jump/Jump2, Stunt, Flivver, Convertible, Left Hand Blind Drive, and SPM/insert.

@ClarkeMarek

Жыл бұрын

Oh and how could I forget Display Stunt/Historian Stunt?

You're more than just a fan, never thought I'd watch the whole thing.

I really hope the other hard top stunt car still exists. it would be really fortunate to know another kitt car still exists

Really appreciate and enjoy every second of watching this video thank you joe from your number one fan from South Africa

Thanks for the upload. Very nostalgic, reminds me of good old Knight Rider days. Your dedication is commendable, have done a lot of hard work.

Well what can anyone say other than that was incredible!!what a video!!!amazing work Joe,utterly brilliant probably rewatch it after this message.....but I will b honest and say I did predict the final cars...to think the first Trans-Am would be there almost to the end...in my opinion RHBD car was the best FX effect they did ,made it all the more believable KITT drove himself when KITT could pull up and Michael gets in in one shot....again so well done..and you even played my phone ringtone music from Buyout at the end credits....

Love the story how the first three cars were handled with a no name mysterious call from Pontiac "Be in the back lot at 4 PM, keys are inside...Click"

Thanks for the video…after a long day at work this is awesome to sit and relax to ❤

25:40 I believe that when I interviewed him at the one KRF/LVCS where he made an appearance, Dennis Braid told me personally that this was NOT in fact a boat trailer, but a fully original trailer customization done by him (He said this while looking at his photos laying out the tubes for the trailer chassis to be welded on the cement floor of Barris' shop, which leads credence to his claim, not that we would have any reason to doubt him)

Fantastic video, thank you guys!

Another excelente video, very interesting and informative, things I never knew about my childhood Kitt

Some of the Camaro’s went on to Simon and Simon also.. btw auto rack train cars hold approximately 12 cars each

@pdennis93

Жыл бұрын

I know Simon and Simon had a custom targa top Camaro but I don't know if they were train wreck cars.

Absolutely brilliant, informative, and insightful video on all the KITT cars! Keep up the brilliant work!! John Sciberras, Sydney, Australia 🇦🇺

Really loved this breakdown! Although kind of a shame we don't have a better idea of how many jump cars might have been used or totaled over the course of the series. You'd think they would keep close track of that somewhere. Of course I imagine with some jumps the only real damage was the front nose getting destroyed, which is something they could easily replace.

That was awesome!!! Thanks so much for your hardwork.

good job man, love to watch this! greetings from Italy, yes, KR was popular also here ;)

I believe KITT used his T Top in a good day at white rock, when Michael told KITT he was on vacation too and to get some sun when Michael went rock climbing.

@pdennis93

Жыл бұрын

Yes but that was a wire trick. Iirc the historians have mentioned that in most of the auto roof scenes, they used fishing line to pull open the t-tops. It was done in the pilot as well. Only that s3 insert car had actual powered opening t-tops seen in scenes like the one at the football field in knights of the fast lane.

Great video and info. Thanks Joe.

Wow Great job so much info. Loved it 👍

Awesome video!! And while you've probably covered this in previous videos, your timeline dispels a rumor I've heard over the years that KITT was originally intended to be either a 280 or 300 ZX. But that the train wreck cars were offered to Universal so they changed to the Trans Am because of that. However, if the train wreck didn't happen until Season 1 had already started, that crushes the rumor.

You guys doing amazing job of searching. My next goal meet up you personally and KITT. Keep it up.

I'm absolutely certain that some of the earliest cars you mention (the trainwreck stuntcars used only in single episodes) ended up being converted into "roll caged, acrylic windowed jump cars". Those scanners and front noses don't come cheap (and neither did new Trans Ams), so they must have tried to get as much use out of them as they could. Converting cars was something they did all the time, after all. Also, I still wonder why the season 4 insert car was destroyed. It was not a trainwreck car, it was not involved in any stunts and it's exterior wasn't altered, it even still had the gold trim along the bottom. Are we absolutely certain they didn't just remove the overhead console and dash shell and sold it as a normal Trans Am?

@andrewsz8552

Жыл бұрын

According to a photo the season 4 insert car (#17) was in a pretty bad condition before the "wrecking ball day".

@KRHExclusives

Жыл бұрын

Hans, great comment! As far as "Are we absolutely certain they didn't just remove the overhead console and dash shell and sold it as a normal Trans Am?" Yes, we are absolutely certain. We have photographic evidence (which we spared showing you in this video) where we can see it go under the wrecking ball. Sorry, Hans!

@Theratron

Жыл бұрын

@@KRHExclusives Tanks for the reply! Bummer it was destroyed, I love me some black and gold early 80's Trans Ams... ;) It's still strange, seeing how all the other non-trainwreck cars were saved, but they must have had their reasons. Or they made a mistake and thought it was part of the trainwreck-gang, haha.

So a minimum of 26 cars were used to film the show? Can one assume that those KITT's that only popped up for an episode or 2 would have probably been converted into the acrylic window jump car once they were damaged beyond repair?? Hope you get those much needed call sheets and production notes!

Great video. I hope you guys are able to locate the hard top stunt car. I love to see it after all these years.

Have you ever thought about the possibility that these “destroyed” cars became donors for parts for the ones used the most and as they were gutted, then decommissioned?

It would be nice to have a kitt from each season of nightider because he was upgraded several times over each season

Super great video! Thanks so much.

Hi Joe Huth, IF William Daniels passes away soon, I suggest you bring your screen used K.I.T.T. to his funeral service. ;-)

At approximately 46:58 on car 19, look closely above Hasselhoff and notice in this picture what looks like the hinge assembly for the t-top "auto roof" so the t-top could go up and down, which is mentioned right after this.

Amazing, great job 😊

Just bought me and my girl, his and her t-shirts from your store. Awesome channel guy's, thanks...

@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for your support!

Such awesome detailed info.

Nelson Pontiac in El Monte??? I think I remember that dealership!!! El Monte is two cities west of West Covina (Baldwin Park - the birth place of In N Out, then El Monte is right after that).

I can’t help but wonder what sort of show Knight Rider would have become if they hadn’t received that plentiful supply of stunt cars from the train derailment. It would have been a completely different show - slower paced, less stunts, more of a “Magnum PI” cop drama type show. What we got was an amazing stunt filled never to be repeated extravaganza!!. Even if they bring KR back one day, it will all be CGI. This show was a one of a kind gem that literally came about by accident.

Love this video a lot. One of my favorites. Are you still going to do a fully dedicated video of the acid pit/transforming KITT? Just curious.

The video that we waiting for👍👍

I remember back in probably 84 or 85 being at Universal Studios and being on the backlot tour. We road past a car carrier truck with as I remember 3 or 4 KITT cars on it. There was no mention of them they were just sitting there. I used to have a picture of it but I lost that long ago.

One hour and four minutes? Is it already Christmas? Now i just need to seat back and eat some pistachios.

@BlueShift2000

Жыл бұрын

Just a little update after watching this video. I enjoyed every pit of it, I can feel the love put into it.

Hi I must have sat in one of your cars when on hols from UK back in 1985. We went to universal studios LA. I love knight rider. Take care.

Excellent video thank you

Wow. Now this is what I would call "exhausting" - no pun mentioned! Highly impressive and interesting. And...what a waste, all those beautiful and faithful kitt cars destroyed... Thank you very much!

Hands down, you are the best KRH!!! 🍻🍻🍻🙂

Reunited and it feels so good!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone.🦃

Really interesting to see all the differnt KITTs! One thing to ask/mention; In Season 1, Episode 12 "A Plush Ride" KITT kinda already does the first "reverse Turbo boost" when saving Michael and himself from driving down the cliff - or at least he calls it turbo boost and pushes the button.

Bravo Joe 👍 Saved to favourites 👍

Amazing video friend

During the 80's I built lots of car models in various different sizes. I remember there was one episode where KITT gets stuck in deep mud. In that scene you'll see KITT backing out and they used a model of it for that scene. It's real obvious too that it's a model. Well, they used a Camaro model for that scene. I think it was a 1/8 scale model. I built that same model and it's pretty big. But you can tell it wasn't a Trans Am model because the Camaro had a recessed strip that ran the length of the rear bumper. I don't think back then they had a 1/8 scale trans am or Firebird back then.

Bravo, great video..

Great presentation, great video, I guess I see the first hero KITT car as KIIT and the other Firebird Trans am are there to present his amazing capabilities... it would be intersting to learn more about the first hero car (KIIT) e.g. how it came to be and who owns it now.

wow ı was 5 wen this show comes up. ı was always wonderıng why there are details in every episode. good work.

Thankyou. Enjoyable watch.

@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial

11 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

Great job!

Great video thanks

I still have to say that my favorite car from Knight Rider is the hero car, whether it’s the Season 1 hero car, or Season 2 hero car, or the Season 3 & 4 hero car, to me, the hero car was the best looking of all of the Trans-Ams that were used on Knight Rider

Yeah Like I always said Joe I wish I could have kept the one that I used to work on that you have now ( Universal Studios serial number 1994) since I knew it was destined for the Junk Yard but I couldn't talk them into letting me have it, Oh well at least it has a good home now with You & Sarah & the kids KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK .. Later Jake

Great video..

Great video, I wish they didn't make the spm car from the train derailed cars, it would've been really cool for that car to still be around!

I remember in the 80’s as a very young kid I had the Kenner Kitt and Micheal. Obvi it had no electronics on it,but my step Father took an old key chain size flash light that you squeezed to make the light work,i’m sure you know what i’m talking about,right? Confused why any KIT toy wouldn’t have his working chase bar was disappointing, so he took that car apart one day cut out and put red film in the front ,between the hood and grill and glued that flash light under the hood inside,behind it,then put it back together. When you pushed on the hood the light would come on! Just a true story from a child growing up in the 80’s! One that led to later, Ultra Collecting everything rad and awesome from the 80’s and 90’s!

Great video as always. Has anyone ever seen footage of the cars being destroyed by the wrecking ball?

@briank.8925

Жыл бұрын

There's a KNH video about trainwreck cars and there's a still photo in it. A grinning man standing next to a KITT and a wrecking ball sitting on top of it.

@johnkramer7161

Жыл бұрын

@@briank.8925 I BELIEVE THAT GRINNING MAN WAS SENT BY EITHER gm OR pONTIAC TO SUPERVISE THE DESTRUCTION. Sorry about the caps

@andrewsz8552

Жыл бұрын

@@briank.8925 There are more photos of the "wrecking ball day"

01:03:00 XD that reminds me of these videos where it says: "Man spends xx hours on this and that" XD - awesome video, thanks for the whole summary! ^^

I'm sure you know this but i believe that either half way through or completely through the first season or start of the second season the show was forced to stop calling Kitt a Trans Am and started calling it a T- Top.

@ClarkeMarek

10 ай бұрын

Trust Doesn't Rust.

You guys really know your stuff

Well Done. When is the semi trailer ramp episode coming? What will you do with the semi and traler when completed, put in museum?

What's funny is that back when I was watching this as a kid on my 480P black and white TV (I think 12"?) I would have never seen these details. :) Even if I wanted to. Now watching it, I can easily see the dash isn't "KITT" and and I can easily see the stunt men etc. even the guy hiding in the seat driving the car when Michael isn't in it.

So folks...throughout the entire Knight Rider seasons...what was your favourite version of KITT?...For me it was his first facelift that Bonnie did in "Junkyard Dog"` Season 3 Ep14...I preferred the single TV screen to the dual ones...The cabin was freshened up...the seat bolsters were more bucketed and solid. The worse one had to be season 5's Super-Pursuit version...I liked the fact that in KITT vs KARR they used the previous body of KITT for KARR...we got a little nod to the older seasons there when he was dragged out the sand....

There was a Pontiac Firebird prominently featured throughout an episode of Magnum, P.I. (Episode 119 - Summer School). Any idea if this car was owned by Universal or if it had any connection to Knight Rider?

@pdennis93

Жыл бұрын

There was also a black and gold 1983 Recaro used in a car chase on The A-team and in a few background shots of a Hardcastle and McCormick episode. I am pretty sure they are the same car as both shows were produced by Stephen J. Cannell.

I loved all the cars and couldn't tell them apart I don't know how you do it

Ha ha ha, I played that video game from the intro so much when I was a kid!!!

Car 11 shows black tint strip in some of your clips, but not in others. Not sure if you showed in order or not. Also car 12, the convertible KITT, has tan A pillars as well. So wonder if studio paint bombed it too?

Great work joe , I have a question… I visited dezerland park last week and I saw two kitt cars beside the knight rider 2000 kitt ( the red one ) so i think in this video you mentioned the history convertible kitt but the other one you did not talk about or mentioned which episode used . Can you please explain it

31:55 Kind of surprised that when you list the option details of this car, that you leave out the fact that it has a factory 2.8L V6 instead of the more common (and expected) 305 V8. But I WOULD love for you to elaborate on why we see a yellow (presumably gas) horizontal shock absorber just under the front nose at 32:03

Is there any video on the history of the second Kitt you have? You made one video of the car that was on the backlot and later found in the yunkyard. Thanks

Ha ha ha!!! That’s funny to me that there were like 227 Dodge Chargers used in The Dukes Of Hazzard but only a verified 25 used in Knight Rider. 😂😂😂

i recon that the one hit wonder kitts, were stripped for spares for the ones that were to be used more, later on in shows life. Which would make sense on keeping the cost down on spare parts if a car was damaged or needed repairs.

I would think for safety reasons that most T-tops we're equipped with an automatic unless it was specifically ordered as a manual

@pdennis93

Жыл бұрын

Not really. Manuals were just not as common because people don't drive stick as often. I had a 1983 manual trans am from 2012-2013. It was a black/gold with 15" turbo fin wheels (different than turbo cast/bowling ball), power windows but manual mirrors and locks, lockable storage compartment, gray cloth interior with split rear seat and the LG4 engine. It also had rear disc brakes which were apparently somewhat rare in 82/83 as there was a shortage of rear calipers. Interestingly they only used one style caliper with the caliper being on the front of one rear disc and at the back of the other.

Joe, In the bloopers video there was a Turbo Boost jump that appeared to completely destroy the car on landing. Was that the case or did it get repaired for future use. Also, were any of the Screen used KITT’s you have ever Jumped or Skied?

You should make a video about the two different dashboards designs used in the show.

Are there any pics of the Barris season 4 front nose with the turn signal indents?

I assume the derailment cars destroyed during filming still required documentation to GM that they would never go on road. Were they crushed one by one?

@CR7659

Жыл бұрын

They made a production of it by using a wrecking ball to smash them at Universal. I don't know it was discussed what came next but presumably on a truck and off to the scrap yard. GM does the same with cars donated to tech schools for automotive technician training. A car gets damage in transit, they may donate it to a school for the tax write off. When it becomes obsolete the school has to have it crushed.

(See picture at 48:08) If the full time SPM car was a t-top, how did they build the braking flap on the roof? That picture of it looks like a solid roof made to look like a t-top.

@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial

Жыл бұрын

It was a ttop that they converted to hardtop

Now that's an enjoyable video....its ruined K.R. for me knowing K.I.T.T. wasn't just 1 car but still Really interesting 👌

Glenn Larson said that he got 22 Trans Ams. At the time when knight rider and fall guy were on, he sent 11 of those Trans Ams to the knight rider set. The other 11 Trans Ams he sent over to the show fall guy.