Real Life Knight Rider: Fan Spends Over $22,000 Recreating Iconic Car
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
00:0001. Knight Rider
00:06Knight Rider, a classic 1980s TV series in which David Hasselhoff fought crime with the
00:13help of his talking car.
00:20This is the story of one man's 10-year crusade to build his own personal replica of Michael
00:25night's iconic vehicle, Kit.
00:36He's Scott Bainbridge and he lives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the north of England.
00:41Scott Bainbridge
00:42Night Rider 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 use is a great looking car to begin with, so it's
00:57just really won me over.
01:01In 2004, Scott bought a Wreck Pontiac Trans Am and after ten years work and an outlay
01:07of £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 dashboard, new carpets,
01:49new wheels and that's just to get it to look like a night 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
02:12the technical aspects of the original TV car.
02:15Gadget-wise, it's got the full dashboard with the TVs. Kit can talk to you.
02:21I'm the voice of Night Industry 2000's microprocessor, JITT for easy reference. A kit if you prefer.
02:30Gadgets planned for the future include an oil slick, smoke screen, grappling hook, but
02:36I don't think it'll get as far as over-cruise, unfortunately.
02:41Scott 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
02:50and I'm fighting crime or anything like that, but it's nice to just get out and hear the noise and whatnot.
02:57And the dramatic looking vehicle always causes a stir on the roads.
03:01It just looks like Night Rider, doesn't it? And you can't remember Night Rider. It's fab.
03:06Really good. It looks like the real thing. I love it.
03:10Whoa, look at this.
03:12It's a supercar with all the gadgets, all the toys, absolutely everything you could ever want.
03:18A nighties dream as well, really.
03:20The 30-year-old postman says he's become used to the amount of attention the car generates.
03:25I get quite a lot of thumbs up and people flashing lights in their cars and people taking pictures of me.
03:31Yeah, it's usually positive. I think it brings back a lot of memories for people when they see Kit cruising down the road.
03:38However, Scott is not finished yet and still has several improvements he wants to make to the car.
03:44Is it complete? No. All the dashboard needs to come back out soon, I hope, when I get my new set of electronics.
03:51That'll take a while.
03:53There's other little bits on the bodywork that need sorted out, so it probably will be getting painted for a third time.
04:00And then I've got new interior panels to put in as well.
04:03Just going back to the screen accuracy thing. The plastics are a tan colour, but mine aren't quite right, so 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 write-off, so we'll leave that one off.