COMM: Knight Rider, a classic 1980's TV series
in which David Hasselhoff fought crime with the help of his talking car.
COMM: This is the story of one man's ten year
crusade to build his own personal replica of Michael Knight's iconic vehicle, Kitt.
COMM: He's Scott Bainbridge and he lives
in Newcastle upon Tyne in the north of England.
Scott: Knight Rider's sort of a combination
between technology and a cool car. So when you bring those two together, I just fell in
love with it, all the cool lights on the dashboard, the scanner light and the car
they use is a great looking car to begin with, so it just really won me over.
COMM: In 2004, Scott bought a wrecked Pontiac
Trans Am and after ten years work and an outlay of £18,000, has transformed it into a stunning
replica of Kitt.
Scott: I wouldn't say there's one specific
thing I like about the car on its own, it's sort of a combination of everything, I mean
it's black, it's sleek and you've got all the custom stuff on the inside. Everything
works really well.
COMM: When Scott began his project 10 years
ago, his Pontiac looked very different to how it looks today.
Scott: : I first got the car back in 2004,
it arrived on a low loader and it was in a very, very sorry state. So it’s taken
me ten years to get it from what it was originally, up to what you see now which is the whole interior
has to be redone, all new dashboard, new carpets, new wheels, and that’s just to get it to
look like the Knight Rider car.
Scott: But I’m also restoring a 25-year-old
American car, so it’s had welding, new doors, new wings, new windscreen,
paint, everything. Everything’s been replaced.
COMM: As well as fitting a 5.7 litre V8 engine,
Scott has also paid special attention to recreating the technical aspects of the original TV car.
Scott: Gadget wise it’s got the full dashboard
with the TVs. Kitt can talk to you…
"I am the voice of Knight Industry Two Thousand's microprocessor. K-I-T-T for easy reference, KITT if you prefer."
Scott: Gadgets planned for the future include an oil slick,
a smoke screen, a grappling hook, but I don’t think it will get as far as autocruise unfortunately.
COMM: Scott now takes his Kitt to Car shows and Sci-Fi events.
Scott: How do I feel when I’m out driving
it? It’s great, it’s I don’t pretend to be Michael Knight and I’m fighting crime
or anything like that, but it's nice to just get out and hear the noise and what not?
COMM: And the dramatic looking vehicle always
causes a stir on the roads.
Woman: It just looks like Knight Rider doesn't
it? Who can't remember Knight Rider? It's fab! Really good, it looks like the real thing, I love it.
Man: Come inside. Wow look at this!
Man: It's a super car with all the gadgets,
all the toys, absolutely everything. Everything you could ever want. An ITs dream as well really.
COMM: The 30-year-old postman says he's
become used to the amount of attention the car generates.
Scott: I get quite a lot of thumbs up and
people flashing lights on their cars and people taking pictures of me. Yeah it’s usually
positive. I think it brings back a lot of memories for people when they see Kitt cruising down the road.
COMM: However, Scott is not finished yet – and
still has several improvements he wants to make to the car.
Scott: Is it complete? No. All the dashboard
needs to come back out soon I hope, when I get my new set of electronics. That will take a while.
Scott: There’s other little bits on the body work
that need sorting out it so it probably will be getting painted for a third time.
And then I’ve got new interior panels to put in as well. Just 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 on.
Scott: Do I have any plans to fit a turbo boost?
No in a simple word. It might be fun getting some air, but on the way back down I think the car
would be a write off, so we’ll leave that one off.