Knight Rider. A shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist. Michael Knight, a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.
The Knight Rider phenomenon began as a cornerstone of action/adventure show in the mid-eighties. Starring David Hasselhoff as crime-fighter Michael Knight, the centerpiece of the show was a specialized car, modified into a high-tech, snarky crime fighting computer on wheels. It was code-named KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand), an ultra-sophisticated vehicle with enough features to make James Bond jealous, which enabled Knight to travel across the country as a one man (and one machine) crime-fighting army. KITT was bulletproof, capable of unbelievable speed and equipped with a "turbo boost" that frequently allowed the car to smash through or launch any obstacles in its path. Armed with the standard-issue Spy Hunter car features like oil slicks, reinflating tires, smokescreens and all sorts of other gadgets, KITT was the reason millions tuned in every week. Oh, did we mention the car talked too?
The series was fantastic, and made enough of an impact to stay in fans' hearts to warrant a feature film and a few made-for-TV movies. Knight Rider has undergone a complete overhaul, cleaned out the cobwebs and is returning as a weekly series beginning this fall.
The real star of the show, however, is once again Kitt. Harald Belker, the man behind the Batmobile design in Batman and Robin, was brought onboard to give the new KITT a complete makeover.
The original KITT is gone, replaced with a sleek, souped-up Ford Shelby GT 500 KR Mustang. The new Ford Shelby GT 500 KR Mustang was released this spring in celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the 1968 Shelby Cobra GT500KR. This car is the most powerful Mustang to date, which makes it a fitting choice for the Knight Industries Three Thousand (aka KITT).
Black with grey twin stripes, KITT is now loaded with a supercomputer that can hack almost any system, an updated and very capable weapons system and, thanks to nanotechnology, a body capable of shape-shifting and changing color at will. All of the actual ‘transforming' will be done through CGI animation, however, like in the Transformers movie.
There will actually be three models used in filming: Hero, which is essentially a stock GT500KR, Attack, the model with all the bells and whistles, and Remote Control which, you guessed it, is operated via RC.
The Mustang KITT also features air-ride suspension, which allows its driver to lower the car's ride height when the vehicle morphs from Hero to Attack mode.
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