TV's Most Famous Car Stars

The Show: Knight Rider
The Cast: David Hasselhoff, Edward Mulhare, Patricia MacPherson
Number Of Episodes: 90
Years It Aired: 1982 to 1986

"Right away, Michael." — K.I.T.T.

The undisputed star of the 1980's TV series Knight Rider is a car with personality — literally. K.I.T.T., which is short for Knight Industries Two Thousand, is a computer with artificial intelligence fitted into a Pontiac Trans Am that's so heavily modified it is like the Superman of cars.

This vehicle responds to verbal commands, not just by doing what it's told, but by talking back. Sarcastic and superior, this reluctant hero bickers with driver Michael Knight over his fearless plans, urging more caution, usually to no avail. But the loyal car never hesitates to break Knight out of jail when necessary.

K.I.T.T. is programmed to care for his crusader-owner, who drives him around the country to take on powerful villains. They work for the Foundation for Law and Government (FLAG), which designed the car to be the ultimate crime-fighting machine. For the most part, the vehicle prevails without suffering even a dent; its body is virtually indestructible because it is coated with a classified "molecular-bonded" compound.

The series initially uses a souped-up 1982 Pontiac Trans Am for K.I.T.T., bringing in other models as the seasons progressed. K.I.T.T. also gets updated regularly with additional supercar features.

Some of the favorite episodes for fans are the ones with K.A.R.R., an earlier version of K.I.T.T. that went haywire, and Goliath, a K.I.T.T.-like semi.

Barris recalls the engineering behind one of K.I.T.T.'s pursuit cars as "one of the most difficult."

 "It had to simulate speeds of over 150 miles an hour. And to get that vision, we had to put things on the car that could have possibly made that car fly. Then when it got into the air and it got back down to the ground at a 150 mph, how do you make it stop?"

A frequently used feature of K.I.T.T. is its high-performance turbo boost, which enables extraordinary speed (faster than a speeding bullet) and incredible jumps (leaps over tractor-trailers and even rivers, in a single bound).

The Special Features Available On K.I.T.T.

• Emergency ejector seats
• Surveillance mode: A radar and sonar force field that can detect anything within a 100-yard radius. Although usually restricted to following commands, K.I.T.T. can take independent action when in this mode.
• Automatic pilot: Allows K.I.T.T. to drive itself. (Look, Ma! No hands!) Includes automatic cruise control, auto pursuit, and auto crash-avoidance capabilities.
• Monitoring screens: Two televisions on the dash that K.I.T.T. uses to display visuals, with capabilities that include instant replay, freeze frames and zoom-ins. Comes in handy when K.I.T.T. records and replays action. Also displays data programmed into the car, like maps. Prints out hard copies upon request.
• Super-pursuit mode: Allows the car to pursue targets with the speed and accuracy of a heat-seeking missile
• Scanner: The red light in front of the car (reminiscent of the Cylons from the TV series Battlestar Gallactica), this feature enables X-ray vision.
• Infrared tracking scope: Allows K.I.T.T. to track any heat source, such as another vehicle's engine, within a 10-mile radius.
• Voice analyzer: Works like a lie detector
• Composes sketches of people based on vocal description
• Comprehensive configuration analysis, which indicates potential weak spots in an opponent
• Vital signs monitor, which can check blood pressure and heart rate
• Ignition and tire sensors: Can start the engines of other cars. Also can deflate and re-inflate the tires of other cars.
• Smokescreen capability
• Convertible mode: A late addition to the car, this enables it to turn into a convertible at the push of a button.

Photo courtesy of Barris.com

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