A Knight Rider fan has spent over 10 years transforming a run down vehicle into the iconic car from the hit 1980s TV series. Scott Bainbridge shelled out over $22,000 to a turn an unloved Pontiac Trans Am into his very own Kitt - the car driven by David Hasselhoff in the show.
Scott bought the car in 2004 and started to re-create the sleek black vehicle - which even speaks in the voice of Kitt from the film and had to replace a lot of parts to get the Knight Rider model up to scratch – including fitting a new engine to the damaged vehicle.
Scott bought the car in 2004 and started to re-create the sleek black vehicle - which even speaks in the voice of Kitt from the film and had to replace a lot of parts to get the Knight Rider model up to scratch – including fitting a new engine to the damaged vehicle.
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MotorTranscript
00:00Nightrider, a classic 1980s TV series in which David Hasselhoff fought crime with
00:12the help of his talking car. This is the story of one man's ten-year crusade to
00:23build his own personal replica of Michael Knight's iconic vehicle, KIT. He's Scott Bainbridge
00:38and he lives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the north of England.
00:41Nightrider is sort of a combination between technology and a cool car. So when you bring
00:48those two together, I just fell in love with it. All the cool lights on the dashboard,
00:52the scanner light. And the car they used was a great looking car to begin with, so it just
00:58really won me over.
01:01In 2004, Scott bought a Rec Pontiac Trans Am and after ten years work and an outlay of
01:07£18,000, has transformed it into a stunning replica of KIT.
01:12I wouldn't say there's one specific thing I like about the car on its own. It's sort
01:17of a combination of everything. I mean, it's black, it's sleek, and then you've got all
01:22the custom stuff on the inside. Everything works really well.
01:26When Scott began his project ten years ago, his Pontiac looked very different to how it
01:30looks today.
01:31I first got the car back in 2004. It arrived on a low loader and it was in a very, very
01:37sorry state. So it's taken me ten years to get it from what it was originally up to what
01:42you see now, which is the whole interior has to be redone. All new dashboards, new carpets,
01:49new wheels. And that's just to get it to look like the Knight Rider car. But I'm also restoring
01:55a 25 year old American car, so it's had welding, new doors, new wings, new windscreen, paint,
02:02everything. Everything's been replaced.
02:05As well as fitting a 5.7 litre V8 engine, Scott has also paid special attention to recreating
02:11the technical aspects of the original TV car.
02:14Gadget wise, it's got the full dashboard with the TVs. Kit can talk to you.
02:20I am the voice of Light Industry 2000's microprocessor. KITT for easy reference. A kit if you prefer.
02:29Gadgets planned for the future include an oil slick, a smoke screen, grappling hook. But
02:36I don't think it will get as far as all the crews unfortunately.
02:40Scott now takes his kit to car shows and sci-fi events.
02:44How do I feel when I'm out driving it? It's great. I don't pretend to be Michael Knight
02:49and I'm fighting crime or anything like that, but it's nice to just get out and hear the
02:54noise and what not.
02:56And the dramatic looking vehicle always causes a stir on the roads.
03:00It just looks like Knight Rider, doesn't it? You can't remember Knight Rider. It's fab.
03:05Really good. It looks like the real thing. I love it.
03:08Come inside. That's not a good thing.
03:10Woah, look at this.
03:12It's a supercar with all the gadgets, all the toys, absolutely everything, you know,
03:16everything you could ever want. And IT's dream as well, really.
03:19The 30-year-old postman says he's become used to the amount of attention the car generates.
03:24I get quite a lot of thumbs up and people flashing lights in their cars and people taking pictures
03:29of me. Yeah, it's usually positive. I think it brings back a lot of memories for people
03:33when they see a kid cruising down the road.
03:36However, Scott is not finished yet and still has several improvements he wants to make to the car.
03:42Is it complete? No. All the dashboard needs to come back out soon, I hope, when I get my new set of electronics.
03:50That'll take a while.
03:52There's other little bits on the bodywork that needs sorted out, so it probably will be getting painted for a third time.
03:59And then I've got new interior panels to put in as well.
04:02Just going back to the screen accuracy thing, the plastics are a tan colour, but mine aren't quite right,
04:07so I've got a new set which need to go in.
04:11Do I have any plans to fit Turbo Boost? No, in a simple word.
04:15It might be fun getting some air, but on the way back down I think the car will be a right off,
04:19so we'll leave that one off.