The most famous talking car of the 1980s now has its own Playmobil playset.
Officially called Playmobil 70924 Knight Rider KITT vehicle set, this highly collectible toy features a 3-inch scale Pontiac Trans Am car complete with lights and sound, headlights that go up and down, a rotating license plate, and a removable hood. It also includes articulated figures of Knight Rider franchise characters Bonnie Barstow, Devon Miles, and Michael Knight.
Priced at $89.99, the Playmobil 70924 Knight Rider KITT vehicle set is now available for pre-order at Amazon with shipping slated for August.
KITT is the short name of two artificially intelligent electronic computer modules from the Knight Rider franchise. While having the same acronym, the KITTs are two different entities: one known as the Knight Industries Two Thousand, which appeared in the original TV series Knight Rider (1982-1986); and the other as the Knight Industries Three Thousand, which made its debut appearance in the two-hour 2008 pilot film for a new Knight Rider TV series (2008-2009).
Both KITTs were installed in the body of a highly advanced, very mobile, robotic automobile. The original KITT car was a 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, which is the inspiration for the new Playmobile playset. The second KITT car, on the other hand, was a 2008–2009 Ford Shelby GT500KR.
Dubbed as the most-watched man on TV of all time, David Hasselhoff played Michael Knight, the crime-fighting KITT driver, in the two aforementioned Knight Rider TV series.
In August 2020, it was announced that a film based on the original Knight Rider TV series was being developed by Spyglass Media Group and Atomic Monster’s James Wan and Michael Clear, with former video game writer TJ Fixman adapting the screenplay. While Hasselhoff wasn’t entirely involved in the reboot, the actor revealed in an interview with Consequence of Sound last January that the people behind the new movie had given him the opportunity to throw his two cents on the project.
“The guy who’s writing it is a major Knight Rider fan. He sent me a picture of him in the Knight Rider car,” Hasselhoff said of Fixman at the time. “[As for] the concept [of the reboot], I don’t really know. I threw my hat in the ring as ‘nostalgia meets Knight Rider of today,’ which is not a new Knight Rider, but a continuation of it. They want to do a script that has my approval on it. Whether I’m in it or not, or whether I approve of it, the answer is: I don’t know.”
Buy Playmobil’s Knight Rider KITT on Amazon
This Playmobil model of Knight Rider's KITT plays voice clips from the original TV series and features a removable hood, flip-up headlights, and a detailed interior
About the Knight Rider car
The original Knight Rider KITT was designed by expert customizer Michael Scheffe, who also worked on visual effects of different movies like Starship Troopers (1997), Stuart Little (1999), and Spider-Man (2002).
But in the Knight Rider universe, the first KITT, according to the original TV series, was designed by the late Wilton Knight, a brilliant but eccentric billionaire, who established the Foundation for Law And Government and its parent company Knight Industries. In the 2008 pilot film, it was implied that Charles Graiman, creator of the second KITT, also had a hand in designing the first KITT.
Michael Knight’s car is basically an advanced supercomputer on wheels. The vehicle is equipped with the so-called Knight 2000 microprocessor, which allows the car to think, learn, communicate, and interact with humans. The microprocessor also lets the Knight Rider KITT develop his own ego and personality. Kind yet sensitive, the vehicle is known for its easy-to-bruise ego and dry sense of humor.
KITT also has a voice synthesizer (for speech) and an etymotic equalizer (audio input) that allow the car’s logic module to speak and even simulate other sounds. Though KITT’s primary spoken language is English, he can also speak fluently in Spanish, French, and other languages.
Since KITT is used in crimefighting, the car is packed with equipment for attack and defense. For instance, KITT has flame throwers mounted under its bumpers, which can also spray a jet of oil to create an oil slick. KITT can also dispense a cloud of tear gas, launch magnesium flares, and beam lasers. The sentient car can also release oxygen into its driver compartment and provide air to passengers if he was ever submerged in water or buried on earth.
KARR vs KITT
KARR, whose full name is Knight Automated Roving Robot Micro Processor, is KITT’s seemingly indestructible alter ego. KARR first appeared in season 1, episode 9, Trust Doesn’t Rust, and was so popular with viewers that he was brought back again in season 3, episode 6, KITT vs KARR.
Unlike KITT, whose primary directive is to protect human life, KARR was programmed for self-preservation, making him a ruthless threat. KARR demonstrates a complete lack of respect or loyalty, as he considers himself superior to everyone. Despite these, KARR has a child-like perception of the world. He is naïve, inexperience, and not as streetwise as KITT.
Watch an epic showdown between KITT and KARR in the video below:
How many season of Knight Rider
The original talking car show ran for four seasons on NBC. A sequel series of the same name also aired on NBC for one season.
What year did Knight Rider come out?
As mentioned above, the first Knight Rider series premiered in 1982 and concluded in 1986, releasing 90 episodes in total. Its sequel series, meanwhile, debuted in 2008 and ended in 2009, only running for one season.