Keeping up with K.I.T.T.: The Legendary Car from Knight Rider

There are iconic cars and then there's legendary cars. A legendary car is one that an entire generation of people want to drive, and that honor definitely goes to K.I.T.T., The car from the television series Knight Rider.

K.I.T.T. stands for "Knight Rider Industries Two Thousand" and was voiced by William Daniels in the original series. In the show, K.I.T.T. had an assortment of various defenses against bad guys including turbo boost, a bonded metal shell, and an olfactory sensor allowing K.I.T.T. to "sniff out" poisonous gas. (Not to mention it was also a convertible when necessary.)

During production. there were a total of 23 K.I.T.T.'s made. All but five cars were destroyed when filming ended. The cars that escaped that sad fate have traveled across the globe. One "hero" car was shipped to a theme park in Australia, but is now believed to be back in the US (whereabouts unknown). Universal kept one "hero" car and one stunt car (and had a further replica made later) for use in their Entertainment Center display, which have since been sold to a private collector in the US. Another, a convertible, disappeared for a while before being sold to the former Cars of the Stars Motor Museum in Keswick, Cumbria, England. This convertible was sold to the Dezer Collection in Miami, Florida when Cars of the Stars closed. The fifth car is believed to be in private hands in the UK; this may be the only K.I.T.T. that remains "original" and is believed not to have been restored with replica parts.

With so much nostalgia attached to this car, it is no wonder that people want to keep K.I.T.T. for their very own. Besides, you never know when you'll have to thwart some bad guys with an oil slick.

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