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| Why did you build a Knight Rider replica? |
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I call it "a childīs dream comes true". Iīve been a huge fan of "Knight Rider" when I was 12 years old. At that time I was dreaming of building a K.I.T.T.-dash into my car when Iīm big... Well, now Iīm "big enough" and Iīd never build such a dash into my standard car. In 2003, I came across Project-KITT.de by Chris Groeling and realized, that you can buy most of the conversion parts via the internet. At this time, I already thought about letting my dream come true. In 2005, I started to buy the first parts, but planned not to buy the car before 2008. In August 2006, I found a partly-finished K.I.T.T.-replica for a affordable price and simply bought it.
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| How much is such a replica? |
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Thatīs very different. I know of people who build their replica at very low costs and on the other hand there are people, who pay a lot of money for all the parts. Personally, I'm kind of in the middle. Altogether you should be looking at 10-15,000 Euros for a good exterior replica and 15-20,000 Euros for a complete replica including interior. The donor car can already be bought for about 2,000-2,500 Euros. A complete new paint-job (which is necessary in almost every case) will cost at least the same and the conversion parts are not for free, too. My project did cost about 20,000 Euros over the years. But you also have to add additional costs (garage, taxes, insurance) to the car plus repairs for the car itself. So 30,000 Euros is a realistic price for the hobby.
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| How much is the scanner (or other parts)? |
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I donīt list prices here. I mention the manufacturers for every part, I used. You can use Google to find out the current prices for yourself, if you need to know. I did not choose the cheapest vendors myself. I prefer better quality over low prices.
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| How long did it take you to build your replica? |
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I started buying parts in 2005 and purchased the car in August 2006. In May 2008, the replica was mainly finished (including dashboard and all interior and exterior parts). We only worked on the car on weekends. The most delays come, when you want to buy parts. Some of them are extremely rare and hard to get, others have delivery times from 10-12 months (dash electronics). Additionally, you don't want to spend all the money at once. So most people buy one part after another. So building a replica can be a hobby for years, especially if you want to do it with quality.
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| Whatīs the donor car for the project? |
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K.I.T.T. used to be a 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from General Motors with t-top and auto transmission. For replica projects, you can also use later models until 1992. Donīt buy a car just from photos, without having seen it in person! Most cars look much better on photos than in reality. My car also was in a worse condition that it seems to be on the photos!
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| Which season is your car? |
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I have a 3rd-season-K.I.T.T. with the newer dash, which only has one big monitor instead of 2 smaller ones. Since my car already had a 4th-season-front, when I bought it, I had a 4th-season-K.I.T.T. until May 2009. Then I decided to install the 3rd-season-frontnose by Knight Passions, that I always preferred.
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| How screen-accurate is your replica? |
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I'm proud to say, that my replica is very screen accurate. Still, there are some differences:
In Germany, we are not allowed to mount a black taillight cover, so I'm using tinted taillights.
My car has a manual drive, because I prefer to shift myself.
I don't have a 82 center console, because I don't like the clunky look of it. So I also have a self made center console for K.I.T.T. with special functions.
Besides that, my car has all necessary elements that make it look like the original K.I.T.T. including custom frontnose with red scannerbar, Cowl Induction Hood, rear bumper, Turbo Cast Rims with Bowlingball hubcaps, rear side deflectors, t-top, interior in TAN, PMD-seats, overhead console, custom dashboard, switchpod and gullwing steering wheel... (see also Original vs. Replica).
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| Are the K.I.T.T.-dash-electronics working? |
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The dash electronics work just like the original dash did. There are displays for speed, oil pressure, temperature, gasoline, voltmeter. My 3rd/4th-season-electroics additionally have a working compass which also shows the turn signal function.
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| Where did you get the conversion parts from? |
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Everything you need, to build a K.I.T.T.-replica is available through the internet. Take a look at my link-section for vendors.
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| Can I buy replica parts from you? |
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No. I don't offer any parts. From time to time, I'm selling spare parts here. Besides those offers, I have nothing for sale.
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| Are there German vendors for replica parts? |
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There are, but personally, I made the experience, that their quality is not good at all. Of course, everyone has to decide for himself.
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| Can you help me with buying parts from foreign vendors? |
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Sorry, but I don't have the time to do so. Get yourself a PayPal-account and contact the vendors yourself. If you can read this, you'll probably speaking English. That's what most vendors do, too...
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| Where can I get plans for the scannerbar or the voicebox? |
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Not from me. I donīt have any, because I bought them already finished.
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| Can I build Lectricīs Scanner into my Fiat Punto/Volkswagen Golf? |
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The scanner has been designed to fit K.I.T.T.-frontnoses. It probably wonīt fit other cars or you have to have good bodywork skills.
But please, don't ask me, if it will fit. I donīt know, and to be honest: I don't even care ;)
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| Is the conversion street legal in Germany? |
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Not everything. Weīre not allowed to have a red light in front of the car, so Iīm not allowed to use the scanner. A steering has to be round, so Iīm not allowed to install the gullwing steeringwheel. Weīre also not allowed to mount taillight-covers. Everything else should be no problem.
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| Why is ... not like the original K.I.T.T.īs? |
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Some things (e.g. the taillight cover and the gullwing steeringwheel) are not allowed in Germany. So I canīt legally have a 100% accurate replica. But since I also want to drive my car, I have to go with some compromises.
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| On some images, you have 6 front lights. Didnīt K.I.T.T. have 4? |
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The images show my old 4th-season-frontnose. In the meantime I changed the frontnose to a 3rd-season one with only 4 front lights. But 6 front lights are correct, too! The look of K.I.T.T.īs front changed through the seasons and sometimes even throughout one episode. In the 4th season, K.I.T.T. used to have 4 front lights. But there are also some episodes, where he had 6 front lights (screenshot).
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| Do you have a manual drive? |
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Yes. I prefer manual drives over automatic.
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| Does the car speak? |
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Actually, it does. Technically, itīs not a problem anymore to have a realistic computergenerated voice. But I prefer to hear K.I.T.T.īs original German voice. I already have a speaking software which works great (Demovideo WVM 6.75 MB)... Most of the time, I'm using a 30 minutes audio file containing hundreds of phrases, which can be individually controlled via my Windows Mobile phone.
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| Where can I get the speaking software? |
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The speaking software contains of "Naturally Speaking 8" (or higher) and the additional "KITT Talk" software, which has been created by Chris Groeling and can be downloaded for free on his website. Please read his very detailed instructions. I donīt give any further support!
The software does not include any soundfiles of K.I.T.T. - you have to make them on your own.
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| Where can I get the soundfiles? Could you send me yours? |
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For copyright reasons, I won't give away my soundfiles. You have to find your own way to capture them from the DVDs...
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| How do you build the turbo boost? |
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The turbo boost is just a movie effect. Infact, you can see the ramps they used in a lot of episodes, if you watch closely. For me, it is too expensive to install hidden ramps all over the town. So I abstain from this "function" ;)
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| When will you build the Super Pursuit Mode and the convertible mode? |
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Both modes were only film-tricks, which are impossible in reality. Actually, I donīt really like the look of both modes. I have T-Tops, so I donīt need the convertible mode at all. Additionally, my K.I.T.T. is a replica of the 3rd season, where both functions did not exist, yet.
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| How fast is your K.I.T.T. and how much of gasoline does he need? |
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I decided to buy a "V6" machine only, because itīs cheaper and I donīt want to speed with the car, because it has been quite expensive to build it. The car officially makes 170 km/h, but I already made 190 km/h with it. It needs about 10-13 liters of unlead gasoline. The actual average gasoline consumption can be found on the left side of this website, the complete overview can be found here.
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| V6 engine is too weak. You need more power! Buy a V8 engine! |
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I often hear something like this. The funny thing is, most of them have never ever seen a V6 firebird in real life. Of course the V6 engine is not the best option for a 1.5 tons car, but it has enough power to win against other cars. The most reason, why I decided to get a V6 instead of a V8 are the costs in buying, insurance, taxes and gasoline. And as long as I have to pay the bills it's my decision...
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| Is the car recognized? Is everyone jealous, when youīre driving the car? |
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Very different. Because, weīre not allowed to activate the scanner on German streets, the car is not always recognized at first sight. But when the scanner is activated, while parking, a lot of people stop to take pictures. A lot of people also get "crazy", when they see the dashboard, because most of them donīt expect a complete interior replica of K.I.T.T.
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| Is K.I.T.T. your daily driver? |
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No. K.I.T.T. is my second car "for fun". I use it to cruise around in summer only (May-October).
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| Can I see your car anywhere or come to you? |
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I surely will attend some meetings in Germany in the near future. The car is not at my home, so you don't have to come to me without asking.
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| Iīm a Knight-Rider-Fan for 50 years and my greatest wish is to sit in K.I.T.T.! |
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I get quite a lot of mails like this. Itīs nice to see, that a lot of people like my project, but I donīt have the time to meet them all and take them for a ride with my car or to open a K.I.T.T.-museum. Please try to understand that. Iīm going to attend to some meetings here in Germany as soon as the car is finished. You can go there, too - and certainly take a seat in the car and make some photos. But there is no chance for more than this, sorry.
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| Did you build the car on your own? Where did you learn all of that? |
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I would be quite helpless, if I did, because I donīt have any experiences in car technology. A good friend of mine (electrician and airplane-mechanic) is helping me. The car is from 1988 and much easier to work on than newer cars.
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| Cool website. Iīll sure start to build my own replica soon! |
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Donīt underrate the efforts and costs! There are many replica-projects, where the owners realized too late, that everything is not as easy as it seems to be. I also did underrate the efforts and my project would not even be half as good, without the help of my friend, wo is a mechanican. Most replica parts come "out of the mold" and need a lot of additional work before they can be built into the car. You should not think, itīs too easy. We took hundreds of hours of work and I donīt even get started about the costs.
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| Where do I get more information for building my own K.I.T.T.? |
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Take a look at my link-section and the KnightFoundation.net forums.
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| How do I get the red light between the headlights? |
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I often get emails like this... Of course, everyone should try to get the project done by himself. I provide a lot of images of my conversion, but I cannot provide detailed building instructions. If you have particular questions about special problems, post some images at KnightFoundation.net and Iīm sure someone will find a solution.
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| Can you build a K.I.T.T.-replica for me? I pay a lot of money! |
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Sorry, I donīt have the time to build anything for anybody.
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| Would you sell your K.I.T.T.? How much do you want for it? |
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Sorry, I don't want to sell my car, because I'm not in the mood to build another one for myself. Of course, money is the key to anything. Offers from 299,999 Euros could be successful ;)
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| When will you build the new K.I.T.T. (Ford Mustang Shelby GT)? |
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Simple answer: NEVER. The new show may be OK, but Iīm not interested in the new car. There is only one real K.I.T.T. - and I already own him ;)
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| Are there still some original cars from the TV show left? |
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No, the original cars all had to be destroyed after the end of the show. Pontiac placed a special clause in their contracts with Universal Pictures, who actually followed this condition (see Interview with David Hasselhoff in 2004 (German): "The real cars, who starred in ŦKnight Riderŧ, were destroyed because of an order by the producers. I never realized, why."). The cars, that were exhibitioned at the Universal Studios themeparks were only replicas of the original cars.
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| There is an original K.I.T.T. in Bern (Switzerland)! |
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No. The car that has been promoted as "screenused original" by a person in Bern (Switzerland) is a replica, that has been built by "Zapper80" (forum username). He used replica parts by several vendors, just as I did, when I built my car. The car has been sold in 2004 at eBay (more info) and was finally brought to Switzerland with a fake certification by George Barris (wo definately was never involved in building this car). The new owner first claimed, he paid more than 150,000 Euros for it, but when he tried to sell the car in the beginning of 2010 he did not claim to offer a screen used car at all. And he "only" asked for about 55,000 Euros for it - so you can be sure, it was made up for promotional reasons from the very start, because he also offered the car for rent.
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| There is an original K.I.T.T. Stockerau (Austria) or Würselen near Aachen! |
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There are two other cars, which also are often claimed to be "originals". Both are early replicas, which were commissioned by David Hasselhoff's father in 1987 to be used as promotional cars for David's European Tour in Austria (see book "Making Waves" and Interview with David Hasselhoff in 2004 (German): " I called a tour manager and said: ŦHi, my name is David Hasselhoff, are you interested in a tour with me and my Knight Rider car?ŧ He was. Then I bought two cars, let them built them up and drove them to the habour and shipped them to Austria.").
David Hasselhoff got the license from Universal Pictures, so these replicas were built under license by the same companies, which were involved in the show. There also are about 16 licensed replicas today by RobLouisell.com - plus a lot of parts in other cars, sold by Rob. The Austrian cars have never been used for the shooting of "Knight Rider" - but they were used for promotion of the Hasselhoff-Tour in 1987 in Austria. They were sold after the tour ended. Both replicas have many detailing errors and mixed different seasons (e.g. dashboard of season 2 with front of season 4). One of the cars has been stored for 20 years in the garage of Georg Fechter, until it was restored in 2008 to participate at the Gumball 3000 ralley with David Hasselhoff - pasted up with advertise stickers. Today it is privately owned in Germany. The other replica has been presented to a small Austrian car museum in Stockerau in 1987 by David Hasselhoff himself, where it "went to seed" for almost 20 years. Then it was sold for about 20,000 Euros in bad condition to Bavaria. The new owner offerd the car in the end of 2009 at eBay where it was sold for 12,000 Euros to Würselen near Aachen, where the new owners started to restore it. Unfortunately, they also claim it to be an original screen used car of the 1st season, which of course is not true.
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| Don't you think, there still could be an original car left anyways? |
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Nobody can tell for sure. There are a lot evidences against it, but I would not eliminate any possibility of a still existing "screen used" original. The only cars, that were really good looking were the close up cars, which have definately been destroyed. Anything that could be left, are bad detailled cars, where most new replicas are superior - for optical and technical reasons.
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