Now own up; haven’t you always dreamt of owning a car you could converse with? Yes, I know a lot of car guys talk fondly and sometimes not-so-fondly with their vehicles, but wouldn’t it be cool if they could actually reply? Even better, what if they could step in and help out in times of trouble?

Photo: Barrett-Jackson

Well, KITT, the Knight Industries Two Thousand was capable of doing precisely that. Its owner, Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff) simply had to beckon it, and the vehicle would steam to his rescue. Now that’s pretty cool, eh?

Love it or hate it (and there are a number of people on both sides of that argument), Knight Rider was a huge hit with TV viewers in the 80s. I sort of straddle the fence on the warrants of the show. Yes, often the storyline limped along like Long John Silver, and whoever told Mr. Hasselhoff he could act was almost certainly living in La-La land, but I still tuned into the show each week because it was plain and simply fun to watch!

Of course, the black 1982 Pontiac Trans Am was the true star of the show. With that pulsating red strobe light buried in its hood, it wasn’t difficult to buy into the idea that this was a living, breathing automobile. I also enjoyed the stunt driving, although they never quite reached the standards of Hollywood, unless we’re talking of Disney.

The show survived from 1982 till 1986 but, towards the end, it was getting rather long in the tooth. Since then, there have been several attempts to reinvent it. In 2008, NBC launched a made-for-TV movie and tried to follow this up with another television series. By this time, a Ford Mustang had replaced the famous Trans Am and they’d also managed to find a younger lead (former male model, Justin Bruening). Unfortunately, he came across as only marginally better than his forerunner and the show only lasted a few short months.

Mr. Hasselhoff went onto bigger and well, better things. He became famous as the guy who hung around with those bikini-clad beauties on Baywatch, and most recently became a judge on a popular TV talent show. Justin, well I don’t really know what happened to him and, if I’m totally honest, I’m not actually interested enough to go search for that information.

What I really would like to know however is, whatever happened to KITT? After working with the Hoffmeister for years, did he simply drive himself into the nearest car-crusher at the end of the series out of pure embarrassment, or is he still out there somewhere waiting for someone like me or you to call his name?

Photo: Barrett-Jackson