‘Knight Rider’ Fan Series Reminds Us That F-Bodies Still Rock
KITT, KARR, Airwolf and numerous other Knight Rider characters have never looked better.
Knight Rider premiered in 1982. For four seasons, David Hasselhoff played the role of Michael Knight, a detective paired with an autonomous and intelligent car known as KITT. Anyone who loves cars (or Hasselhoff) is a fan of the show. It’s spawned numerous spin-offs over the years and has even found its way into popular culture in the form of commercials and cameos.
More than 30 years later, even as we start to see semi-autonomous vehicles on the road, we still can’t forget how cool KITT was in the ’80s. It’s even inspired some creators to make something entirely their own based on the franchise. Check out this awesome fan-made series all about Knight Rider.
Serious Animation Skills
Hasselhoff still has some serious presence both on-screen and off, but age catches up with all of and he just doesn’t look like he did 30 years ago while portraying the role of Michael Knight. That hasn’t stopped YouTuber and animator Kadir Deniz from featuring the image of the iconic actor in a series of animated shorts featuring KITT, KARR, Airwolf and numerous other characters that you know and love from the Knight Rider universe.
Deniz’s channel currently features three fully animated short episodes as well as some behind-the-scenes clips and test footage to help you see what it takes to bring this fun fan-made series to life.
A Piece of Automotive History
KITT is probably one of the most recognizable cars in the world. Based on a 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, KITT cost the production company more than $100,000 to build. If you adjust that for 30+ years of inflation, the original KITT would cost you more than $265,000. Of course, that’s nothing compared to what the car cost in the Knight Rider universe. Having a KITT of your very own would cost you more than $11 million.
The car that Michael Knight drove was a marvelous piece of engineering, equipped with whatever tools and toys the writer thought necessary to help Michael win the day and save the world.
Even if you can’t get your hands on an original KITT — considering that only five survived the show’s 4-year production run — you can always pick up a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am and create your own. Tribute cars are a popular way for automotive enthusiasts to show their love for a car without selling their soul to try and bring home one of the ones used on set.
Shadows of the Past
We might be a long way off from bringing home our own KITT, but autonomous vehicles are already starting to populate roadways around the world. It might not be long before we can use voice commands to ask our cars to drive us to work or to the grocery store.
Don’t count on finding a car with KITT’s AI though. Some things are best left on the silver screen, even if it would be pretty thrilling to save the world once or twice like Michael Knight did all those years ago.