well some of the body mod's were real, by what i mean is GM and or land speed racer's did have a biger hood bulge for turbocharging system ( vary valid reason to have said modifications ) and the front moving grills ( same shape so ripe off 🤔?? as charger ) ( and i think 🤔 but think but can't ask dodge managers but from what i gathered the 60's B-body's were ment to have the jet/turboprop/shaft engine ect. as a option but didn't happen sadly ) on the fender was ment to be factory ( for desert/extra engine bay airflow/cooling ect. ) dodge charger/super-bird/e-body pre-1973 ish as the was a pre production run/test on a 1968 charger but for some unknown reason to me Richard/team didn't get that into what i bought years later as a 21 year-O as a 90's kid and im not sure what to think about it anyways all together um yeh 3-car's/kitt in one doesn't make much sense as all 3 are wildly different in need's
I've always wanted someone to test the aerodynamics of KITT in his usual mode, vs KITT in Super Pursuit Mode - I've always wondered just how much drag all those pop-out panels and everything added, or if there was any benefit in terms of down-force, etc. I'm guessing they probably ruined the aerodynamic properties of the car.
I absolutely loved the last season of Knight Rider because of KITT’s Super Pursuit Mode. It’s a shame that Knight Rider didn’t get another season or two after the final 4th season. It would’ve been really cool to see what other additional features and Upgrades KITT might’ve gotten. I can’t believe even from a collectors stand point Pontiac ordered the Super Pursuit Drive Vehicle to be destroyed. What a total waste of not just Knight Rider history but tv history as well.This was a really great video and thank you for giving Super Pursuit Mode some much needed love.
Unfortunately, it was part of the contract with Pontiac that they had to crush those particular cars, due to them being potentially unsafe to actually drive after the train derailment. Sure, I agree there should have been another option, but it's what the studio agreed to.
I'll back you up Lee. Actually to me I don't think the show has weathered the years very well. Like you said as an 10-year-old I thought it was the coolest thing ever, But at 46 I find it sadly unwatchable.
Yea......I'm the same with StreetHawk.......as an eight or nine yr old I couldn't imagine a cooler motorcycle. I was lucky to survive my late teens and 20s thinking I might be good enough to be the next Nicky Hayden in supersport AND simultaneously convinced I could could cut a reaction time on a dragstrip comparable to Ricky Gadson. You know what.......I WAS WRONG TWICE !!! ...and after accumulating my fair share of injuries from having owned,rode,raced,and sometime straight destroying multiple Yamaha R1s...... numerous Ninjas from Tom Cruise GPZ 900s to ZXR900s....(and every other ZX from 6 to 12).......to several Suzukis ranging from oil cooled Gixxers .....Scarab shaped SRADS.....to a built and boosted Busas. Now at 45 I look back at that old XR500 dirt bike with a bunch of fiberglass and bondo bullshit hanging off of it being passed off as a 3 million dollar dirt bike that does 300 mph and old StreetHawk doesn't have quite the same aura of sexiness about it that my 3rd grade eyes once saw 😂. BUT.......if I had to be totally honest with myself I would still have to tell you that even today it doesn't matter if I jump on a 50 cc scooter or the lastest Valentino Rossi replica racebike some youngster lets me ride around the block.......I still will humm the Street Hawk theme to myself when I start to open the throttle up Bwahahahaha!!!! Straight Truth
As a child watching in the eighties i was wholly offended by the SPM car, so much so that i stopped watching the show. Little did i know it would be the final series.. After watching this episode i can appreciate the forward thinking and work that went into creating this transforming car. Keep up the great work guys.
Every time you say a car was crushed I smile knowingly...”crushed” is what they want you to think. We all know KITT’s molecular-bonded shell is too strong to be “crushed.” Right?
Except at the very beginning of season 4, K.I.T.T. had actually *lost* it, which was why that tank banged him up so badly and he was rebuilt with the added speed of Super Pursuit Mode in mind.
Due to the spraying KITT got at the end of Season 3 (?), the Molecular Bonded Shell was destroyed. This reduction in weight allowed the SPM and Convertable modifications.
Is there anything you don’t know about Knight Rider?😂 Amazing video, that just leaves me wanting more like this on the different KITT-cars. It confirms that your TH-cam-channel beats everything else on the TV...along with Knight Rider on Blu-Ray.
Ok, this episode was very interesting. Barely made it through seeing KITT being pulled from the acid pit once again and I don't know how many more times I can hear KITT has been crushed!! My childhood heart can't take much more. You guys really do your homework finding out this information. Thank you so much for all you do!
@@MasterMacLeod when I was taking Auto Repair in High School....there was a perfectly gorgeous 1976 Monte Carlo parked in the rear corner. It was our "school repair instructional unit" we never touched but to dismantle it the last month we were there. Tuxedo black with charcoal grey interior. It was a truck wreck car. GM demanded it only be used for instruction or to be crushed. Broke my damned heart. Ive wanted one since but I dont have a spare $12k sitting around.
Another great informative video. Keep up the excellent work. As a kid born in the 70's who lived the 80's (especially Friday night TV) to it's fullest, I appreciate the work you are doing.
I never really liked SPM in the show, but I always enjoy your videos. The research you do is really, really impressive. Thanks so much for all of your videos.
Wow. Can't believe they crushed SPM Kitt. Any automotive museum would have loved to have it. It was a testament to how we thought the future speed cars would be at that time. Lots of aerodynamics and downforce wings. Those airbrakes were totally useless probably but wow it caught a lot of young engineers and mechanics imagination.
I absolutely love your videos, sharing with us all your knowledge on everything knight rider. I'm 49 this year and I still.love this show. My little boy now watches the re runs with me.......he too has the same look on his face I did.
Thank you for taking the time to document all of this history so that it's preserved indefinitely. Yall's wealth of knowledge coupled with your ambition astounds me. Even though Knight Rider went off the air 6 years before I was born, I rank it among my favorite TV shows. Keep up the awesome work!
The production company could have got around the Pontiac clause of crushing the car by not officially cancelling the show and scheduling the next episode to be filmed in 100 years :)
One of the good ideas of this was that KITT was now less invulnerable than he had been before. He was faster now, but not as OP when it came to armor. Its rare to see a show scale back an ability.
The order to crush the train derailment cars was a tragedy in my opinion. It is the reason we don't have any of the screen used two-tone black and silver cars from "KITT V. KARR" and no screen used SPM cars. I understand the studio's hand was forced due to regulations however, someone should have done something to at least spare one screen used two-tone KARR and the driving SPM car. It is so sad the fate of those cars was the crusher and not the display floor inside a television history museum.
They threw out all the original Star Trek stuff, erased many of Johnny Carson's tapes ... have they finally realized some of this will be valuable later? Carson was FURIOUS.
Oh wow, love the Batmobile from the 60s Adam West Batman series. 2:05 Despite obviously being stickers, love how they attempted to detail the dash and overhead console in SPM KITT.
Wow! I always thought the car used for the acid pit scene in Junk Yard Dog would have been sent off the scrap heap after. Now it's even cooler that it became a SPM car later in the series! I'm glad none of the Trans Ams in the show went to waste and all of them had a specific role to play! Thanks for this! Awesome stuff!
I don’t remember this version, but was lucky enough to Get my picture taken as a kid sitting In one of the first KITT variants making the car show rounds back in The 80’s. Cost my dad $5 for a Polaroid shot. Wish I still had it.
I guess I was about 13 when this season started and it could have been my age, but the SPM just seemed a little too much for me. I still watched, though, because it was KITT and he was still the most awesome car on TV. (Has there been a cooler car on TV since?) Love the videos! Keep it up!
The staggering expenses run up by Barris' shop is part of what killed the series in the end, never mind that all that junk would make the car slower than the normal KITT.
@@startingQB : Expectations were different back then, which is why the Six Million Dollar Man could get away with what would nowadays be called cheesy. Far as air dynamics, look at Street Hawk. Making Knight Rider look plausible.
3:28, loving that still photo..it's like Michael Knight visiting the Ghostbusters lol! I know someone else has pointed this out I'm sure, but still cool as is the video.
When you mentioned seeing evidence of buttons for the remote hatch release, rear defrost, and rear wiper...you're just seeing the harness connections. They would be there regardless of what options the car came with. The wiring is all there for every feature the car could possibly come with. It makes the most sense to just make one harness.
Thank you for this video it’s very impressive how much detail you go into to find where the SPM car was built from. I personally thought Super pursuit mode was the best and I remembered feeling sad when I found out the series didn’t go beyond the fourth season. Hopefully there are brighter days for us Knight Rider fans.
As a kid in the 80s we used to watch knightrider at 530pm on a saturday afternoon ITV in the UK....I couldn't wait for another episode to appear on my tv!! Just brilliant! Which goes to show that hard work on a tv show pays off!! 😉👍
K•I•T•T’s Super Pursuit mode was added at the start of the show’s fourth season. It was the result of the redesign of the car to integrate new concepts consisting of improved rocket boosters for enhanced acceleration, retractable spoilers for aerodynamic stability, and movable air inlets for increased cooling. Super Pursuit Mode also provides a 40% boost in speed beyond the car’s top speed of 300 MPH. When Super Pursuit mode is used at night some of the exterior and under the wheel arches glow red. The E•B•S (Emergency Braking System) slows KITT down from Super Pursuit speeds. It consists of a forward braking booster and air inlets that popped out to create air friction (air brakes). First used in Season 4, episode 70, “Knight of the Juggernaut.”
sad to hear they all came from the train derailment situation so they had to be crushed, they would've been really cool to see them being used in a tour or at something similar to the Universal Studius Hollywood ride
You guys a awesome! Completely lost for words... have been following you for a while... the work you put into all of your videos is just amazing! Thank you!!
SPM was great and I liked the look of all the components protruding. What does bother me is the overspray of the black paint of the drivers side Dia-plane seen here at 2:51. You can clearly see the top right of the oval white circle has some black bleeding.
Loved this wee gem of info on the SPM cars..i was aware they used 2 cars for SPM,note the acid KITT car was never repaired after filming..which leads to think they had plans for the SPM cars well before s4 so decided to use the gutted out Trans-Am for the hydraulic car rather than repair it.... Joe,any chance of doing a special on the 2 blind drive KITT cars??... Keep up the good work!!
At that time I was only able to watch the show on Austrian TV. I did not know anything about "Transformers", but I surely remember the awe it gaves me seeing K.I.T.T. unfold like that.
Not my normal corner of car-TH-cam, but I have no regrets watching this. Kitt is right up there with the 'Vice Testarossa for favorite 80's hero car. The SPM transformation was mind-blowing to a younger me and ahead of it's time design-wise. Just look at the "race mode" on the McLaren P1 or Ford GT, fiction turned reality minus the rockets, lol.
I’ve never understood why people associate Miami Vice with the white Testarossa, for me it was all about the black Daytona, I guess the Testarossa fitted the times and themes better.
@@astonwards7236 First impressions in my case. One of, if not the first, episodes I watched was the one where they got the TR after the Daytona went up in smoke. As a ~10 year old or whatever I was at the time, it was the most beautiful thing I'd seen in my life. I have still not recovered from my mid-engine obsession, lol.
Pretty sure super pursuit mode is now owned by my 17 year old neighbor, except it’s a 2003 Toyota and he’s attached everything he could find to the car while also removing the muffler.
SPM was my favorite feature! I was sad whenever a 4th season Ep aired that didn’t use SPM. But of course I was obsessed with any transforming vehicle, including Transformers and my other favorite cartoon at the time, MASK.
I always remember quotes from the show but have forgotten which episode. Some of my favourite ones: Michael: KITT, football is like buttermilk, you like it or you don't. Michael: it's the gun that's not loaded that's the problem. Michael: [first time he sees inside of KITT] that looks like Darth Vader's bathroom!
I think the one I liked best was when he first drove KITT, wondered where the controls for the radio were (or something to that effect) and KITT calmly asks "What would you like to hear?"
I remember very well when I saw it for the very first time it immediately recall to me the contemporary WRC B-Group cars, for example the Ram Scoop wich comes out from the top pillar remind those fitted on the 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Rally Car (it may also remind of those fitted on the 2001 Lambo Murcielago though) , also the front wings are peculiar, them remind of the '86 Pikes Peak Audi Sport Quattro.
you just reminded me of a huge continuity error in Knight rider. When bonnie rebuilt kit with her team of street mechanics they couldnt recreate the molecular bonded shell. Bonnie informs Micheal of this herself, yet for the whole of series 4 KITT drives through everything and anything without getting a scratch.
Also I thought it would be fun to point out the super pursuit aero is wrong, those dive planes on the nose of the car would make it take off faster than Peter Dumbreks mercedes not stick it to the road....
They need just car channels like this for all classic movie cars. Like I want an in depth story and update on the original Bullitt mustang they found in a junk yard in Mexico of all places
Very interesting. I hadn't even reached my teens when the series aired and it was one of my favorites. I had never really analyzed the car to that degree.
Another fantastic video Joe! Thank you!!! Hated SPM though! IMO it’s when KR “jumped the shark.” Also met George Barris (RIP) about 17-18 years ago. Maybe he was having a bad day or something but he was super grumpy and not really nice. Oh well.
Dang, that's a lot of high quality photos, not some shitty copies taken from the web like you see in other videos on YT... good job. Good material, god presentation; that's how you make a good review/document.
Great video. Loving the midweek uploads in between my weekly Not A Directors Cut fix. I would be interested to learn more about the HTDD car. I just assumed bigger springs or a pair of blocks were used. I'm curious to see what was actually used.
Brilliant channel, and thank you for answering a 20 year old thought, I loved the SPM cars and always wondered what came of them 👍 keep up the excellent work
0:39: LOL! I've had the lines from that promo memorized in my head for the last couple decades, but somehow in my memory I had enhanced Hasslhoff's delivery of them to make them sound much more dramatic than they actually were! Makes me wonder if a lot of old stuff I thought was amazing back then has been "enhanced" in my memories and I'm making it better than it really was.
It's a pity that the SPM cars were crushed after all that work! George Barris must have felt sick to have learned the fate of his work. If only the studio could have reached out to the company and showed them what was done, ask for amendment to the sales contract and offer to pay full price for the original cars. They should have belonged to a museum garage or something, NOT BE CRUSHED BY A WRECKING BALL! As for the acid pit scene, it was easy to have all the attention focused on the "acid damage" of the vehicle, and not realize that the tires are surprisingly still intact! Didn't notice that till now. If it was truly nasty acid, the tires would have been totally eaten off the rims.
Love these videos. One small note, however: the two pieces that slide out of the front fenders during the SPM transformation are actually called "dive" planes, because they look exactly like the attitude control surfaces on submarines. Which are called dive planes. Also, modern race car aero packages often include devices called canards or dive planes on the front bumper, to create extra downforce on the front end, for added traction on the steering axle. Barris would've at least been aware of the submarine ones. Not sure if race cars had dive planes back in the eighties yet.
Heck yeah, that was super interesting info and photos! SPM was one step closer to the car from CondorMan!! Our highschool autoshop actually had a brand new train damaged Saturn that couldn't be titled and still had all the factory plastic wrapping. Teacher would unplug sensors and junk and make us troubleshoot it.
If they were going to chop up a car I guess one that was going to be crushed would make the most sense economically. It is a shame they couldnt cut out the VIN so it couldnt be sold, and put it in a museum instead.
Yeah, maybe they could have “renegotiated” that scrap mandate for a museum... But I presume no one was thinking about a museum for a just-cancelled show. Instead they’re thinking about the next show and trying to tie up loose ends ASAP.
@@danmurphy9173 They apparently did it on the Universal back lot on a Sunday when most employees were unaware. They were allowed to use those cars down to the fact they were damaged and illegal to sell.They were given on the promise with contract they would be destroyed when the show ended. When you think about it,it was lucky this derailment happened as the first 4 cars ,not destined for the wrecking ball,were getting well battered during filming .
Did not care for the SPM car but loved the front nose on KITT with those extra driving lights. Looked great. Surprised no one in my area did that custom to a real car.
Is the replica Super Pursuit KITT still at the Volo Auto Museum in Chicago. I remember seeing it there over 5 years ago,. Why wasn't the SP mode used in the last episode Voo Doo Knight. Great Channel, CHEERS.
The replica jay built yes,volo is notorious for flaunting replicas marked as real ones and putting decals on the doors and windows of the actors name and show etc.....cost cuts is why alot wasnt in the final episode
i did a search and some say that the trailer part was used in airwolf. But as for the tractor part No one seems to know. I often wondered if the tractor was used in the A team for some episode and then modded for knight rider. Nothing has come up on internet if the full lot survives or let a lone where it is now. I think we got very lucky about the semi, as i thought that had gone years ago.
Great video!!!The promo I remember quite well.Sad that both of those unique spm cars are no more.Also I find it interesting that they never added the passenger side ground effect even after converting to spm.Also note in the still of kitt on fire there is a mismatch on passengers side and rear bumper cover.Thanks for another very interesting video!!!
Never was a fan as a kid and especially now. This version took away the sleek lines of that timeless car design. SPM was just something to help the ratings. My opinion but no one can change my mind. Please keep these very informative videos coming. I look forward to these every week.👍
Interesting information as always :) I wasn't too big fan of the SPM, but C-mode KITT is beautiful. Having said that, I do have the Aoshima 1/24 modelkit of the SPM KITT, but haven't even started building it :P Maybe some day... C-mode KITT model would be nice, but I guess there is no such model, unless of course custom built.
Yeah SPM looks more ridiculous than ever now, but I gotta say the transformation sequence itself is still pretty damn thrilling to watch.
Loved the sounds of it. Almost as much as Arnold "gearing up" in Commando.
I had no issue with the side scoops, but the split front end and the rockets at the rear? Always felt they were stupid, back then, and today still.
Cheesy by today standards
well some of the body mod's were real, by what i mean is GM and or land speed racer's did have a biger hood bulge for turbocharging system ( vary valid reason to have said modifications ) and the front moving grills ( same shape so ripe off 🤔?? as charger ) ( and i think 🤔 but think but can't ask dodge managers but from what i gathered the 60's B-body's were ment to have the jet/turboprop/shaft engine ect. as a option but didn't happen sadly ) on the fender was ment to be factory ( for desert/extra engine bay airflow/cooling ect. ) dodge charger/super-bird/e-body pre-1973 ish as the was a pre production run/test on a 1968 charger but for some unknown reason to me Richard/team didn't get that into what i bought years later as a 21 year-O as a 90's kid and im not sure what to think about it
anyways all together um yeh 3-car's/kitt in one doesn't make much sense as all 3 are wildly different in need's
I love the sound of the turbine screaming whenever KITT enters SPM
I've always wanted someone to test the aerodynamics of KITT in his usual mode, vs KITT in Super Pursuit Mode - I've always wondered just how much drag all those pop-out panels and everything added, or if there was any benefit in terms of down-force, etc. I'm guessing they probably ruined the aerodynamic properties of the car.
I absolutely loved the last season of Knight Rider because of KITT’s Super Pursuit Mode. It’s a shame that Knight Rider didn’t get another season or two after the final 4th season. It would’ve been really cool to see what other additional features and Upgrades KITT might’ve gotten. I can’t believe even from a collectors stand point Pontiac ordered the Super Pursuit Drive Vehicle to be destroyed. What a total waste of not just Knight Rider history but tv history as well.This was a really great video and thank you for giving Super Pursuit Mode some much needed love.
Unfortunately, it was part of the contract with Pontiac that they had to crush those particular cars, due to them being potentially unsafe to actually drive after the train derailment. Sure, I agree there should have been another option, but it's what the studio agreed to.
@@MatthewN8OHU It was good that Pontiac cared enough about people's safety to mandate that, honestly. RIP Pontiac.
As an 11 year-old, SPM was one of the coolest things I had ever seen! As a 47 year-old... not so much.
This is nearly blasphemous.
well im 43, and i still dig it, haw! that said what you say has some truth.
I'll back you up Lee. Actually to me I don't think the show has weathered the years very well. Like you said as an 10-year-old I thought it was the coolest thing ever, But at 46 I find it sadly unwatchable.
Yea......I'm the same with StreetHawk.......as an eight or nine yr old I couldn't imagine a cooler motorcycle. I was lucky to survive my late teens and 20s thinking I might be good enough to be the next Nicky Hayden in supersport AND simultaneously convinced I could could cut a reaction time on a dragstrip comparable to Ricky Gadson. You know what.......I WAS WRONG TWICE !!! ...and after accumulating my fair share of injuries from having owned,rode,raced,and sometime straight destroying multiple Yamaha R1s...... numerous Ninjas from Tom Cruise GPZ 900s to ZXR900s....(and every other ZX from 6 to 12).......to several Suzukis ranging from oil cooled Gixxers .....Scarab shaped SRADS.....to a built and boosted Busas. Now at 45 I look back at that old XR500 dirt bike with a bunch of fiberglass and bondo bullshit hanging off of it being passed off as a 3 million dollar dirt bike that does 300 mph and old StreetHawk doesn't have quite the same aura of sexiness about it that my 3rd grade eyes once saw 😂. BUT.......if I had to be totally honest with myself I would still have to tell you that even today it doesn't matter if I jump on a 50 cc scooter or the lastest Valentino Rossi replica racebike some youngster lets me ride around the block.......I still will humm the Street Hawk theme to myself when I start to open the throttle up Bwahahahaha!!!! Straight Truth
I disagree!!!! back then and now this is🔥🔥
As a child watching in the eighties i was wholly offended by the SPM car, so much so that i stopped watching the show. Little did i know it would be the final series..
After watching this episode i can appreciate the forward thinking and work that went into creating this transforming car.
Keep up the great work guys.
Every time you say a car was crushed I smile knowingly...”crushed” is what they want you to think. We all know KITT’s molecular-bonded shell is too strong to be “crushed.” Right?
Except at the very beginning of season 4, K.I.T.T. had actually *lost* it, which was why that tank banged him up so badly and he was rebuilt with the added speed of Super Pursuit Mode in mind.
KITT's body and frame cannot be crushed, dented, scratched, or otherwise harmed.
Due to the spraying KITT got at the end of Season 3 (?), the Molecular Bonded Shell was destroyed. This reduction in weight allowed the SPM and Convertable modifications.
Except, in a later episode, it was mentioned indirectly that he had it back when him, micheal and RC "went through" lava.
I don't want to find that out.
Is there anything you don’t know about Knight Rider?😂 Amazing video, that just leaves me wanting more like this on the different KITT-cars. It confirms that your TH-cam-channel beats everything else on the TV...along with Knight Rider on Blu-Ray.
Thanks Jacob!
Ok, this episode was very interesting. Barely made it through seeing KITT being pulled from the acid pit once again and I don't know how many more times I can hear KITT has been crushed!! My childhood heart can't take much more. You guys really do your homework finding out this information. Thank you so much for all you do!
You will be crushed to hear about another KITT being crushed. It is crushing, isn't it? To hear about your crush getting crushed? Crush crush crush.
@@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial I'm CRUSHED by your comment lol
The derailment incident: A shadowy flight into the depressing world, of a bunch of cars, that officially don't exist …
Yeah...the REAL story behind Knight Rider.
Kinda made me chuckle.
Curious... did you guys repaint the KITTs that you own or do the countless layers of that fine Scheib 'enamel' survive?
GM execs should be locked up
@@MasterMacLeod when I was taking Auto Repair in High School....there was a perfectly gorgeous 1976 Monte Carlo parked in the rear corner. It was our "school repair instructional unit" we never touched but to dismantle it the last month we were there. Tuxedo black with charcoal grey interior. It was a truck wreck car. GM demanded it only be used for instruction or to be crushed. Broke my damned heart. Ive wanted one since but I dont have a spare $12k sitting around.
Another great informative video. Keep up the excellent work.
As a kid born in the 70's who lived the 80's (especially Friday night TV) to it's fullest, I appreciate the work you are doing.
I never really liked SPM in the show, but I always enjoy your videos. The research you do is really, really impressive. Thanks so much for all of your videos.
Wow. Can't believe they crushed SPM Kitt. Any automotive museum would have loved to have it. It was a testament to how we thought the future speed cars would be at that time. Lots of aerodynamics and downforce wings. Those airbrakes were totally useless probably but wow it caught a lot of young engineers and mechanics imagination.
When I was a kid me and my friends at school lost our minds when they ran the super pursuit mode. It's all we talked about the whole next day.
Rip Super Pursuit Mode May It Be Lost But Not Forgotten.
Every time I hit the sport mode button in my car I engage Super Pursuit Mode😎
The same can be said about David Hasselhof
@@danielplowright5701 hey hey now don't hassle the Hoff lol
Thanks guys. Found your channel a week ago and love it. This is the type of content that TH-cam seems made for.
I absolutely love your videos, sharing with us all your knowledge on everything knight rider. I'm 49 this year and I still.love this show. My little boy now watches the re runs with me.......he too has the same look on his face I did.
Cute view of SPM KITT in the filming location of the Ghostbusters firehouse interior before naming the SPM unique parts.
Thank you for taking the time to document all of this history so that it's preserved indefinitely. Yall's wealth of knowledge coupled with your ambition astounds me. Even though Knight Rider went off the air 6 years before I was born, I rank it among my favorite TV shows. Keep up the awesome work!
The production company could have got around the Pontiac clause of crushing the car by not officially cancelling the show and scheduling the next episode to be filmed in 100 years :)
One of the good ideas of this was that KITT was now less invulnerable than he had been before. He was faster now, but not as OP when it came to armor. Its rare to see a show scale back an ability.
The order to crush the train derailment cars was a tragedy in my opinion. It is the reason we don't have any of the screen used two-tone black and silver cars from "KITT V. KARR" and no screen used SPM cars. I understand the studio's hand was forced due to regulations however, someone should have done something to at least spare one screen used two-tone KARR and the driving SPM car. It is so sad the fate of those cars was the crusher and not the display floor inside a television history museum.
They threw out all the original Star Trek stuff, erased many of Johnny Carson's tapes ... have they finally realized some of this will be valuable later?
Carson was FURIOUS.
Oh wow, love the Batmobile from the 60s Adam West Batman series. 2:05 Despite obviously being stickers, love how they attempted to detail the dash and overhead console in SPM KITT.
Wow! I always thought the car used for the acid pit scene in Junk Yard Dog would have been sent off the scrap heap after. Now it's even cooler that it became a SPM car later in the series! I'm glad none of the Trans Ams in the show went to waste and all of them had a specific role to play! Thanks for this! Awesome stuff!
I don’t remember this version, but was lucky enough to Get my picture taken as a kid sitting In one of the first KITT variants making the car show rounds back in The 80’s. Cost my dad $5 for a Polaroid shot. Wish I still had it.
I guess I was about 13 when this season started and it could have been my age, but the SPM just seemed a little too much for me. I still watched, though, because it was KITT and he was still the most awesome car on TV. (Has there been a cooler car on TV since?) Love the videos! Keep it up!
I love this video and the last video about KARR but I get really sad when I find out the fate of these classic cars. Well you can't save them all
Have to admit, I was one of the guys who loved the SPM car. Great breakdown as always! Looking forward to Short Notice this Friday!!
The staggering expenses run up by Barris' shop is part of what killed the series in the end, never mind that all that junk would make the car slower than the normal KITT.
Yep, ruined the lines of the car. Destroyed the beauty of an externally only slightly modified car being a supercar.
Like what they did to the F15 when they "loaded it up with so much junk"
But it looked cool. Lol. watching this as a kid I had no idea about air dynamics.
@@startingQB : Expectations were different back then, which is why the Six Million Dollar Man could get away with what would nowadays be called cheesy. Far as air dynamics, look at Street Hawk. Making Knight Rider look plausible.
3:28, loving that still photo..it's like Michael Knight visiting the Ghostbusters lol! I know someone else has pointed this out I'm sure, but still cool as is the video.
When you mentioned seeing evidence of buttons for the remote hatch release, rear defrost, and rear wiper...you're just seeing the harness connections. They would be there regardless of what options the car came with. The wiring is all there for every feature the car could possibly come with. It makes the most sense to just make one harness.
Thank you for this video it’s very impressive how much detail you go into to find where the SPM car was built from. I personally thought Super pursuit mode was the best and I remembered feeling sad when I found out the series didn’t go beyond the fourth season. Hopefully there are brighter days for us Knight Rider fans.
I didn't exactly care for the convertible portion of KITT but I absolutely love the super pursuit mode
As a kid in the 80s we used to watch knightrider at 530pm on a saturday afternoon ITV in the UK....I couldn't wait for another episode to appear on my tv!! Just brilliant! Which goes to show that hard work on a tv show pays off!! 😉👍
K•I•T•T’s Super Pursuit mode was added at the start of the show’s fourth season. It was the result of the redesign of the car to integrate new concepts consisting of improved rocket boosters for enhanced acceleration, retractable spoilers for aerodynamic stability, and movable air inlets for increased cooling. Super Pursuit Mode also provides a 40% boost in speed beyond the car’s top speed of 300 MPH. When Super Pursuit mode is used at night some of the exterior and under the wheel arches glow red. The E•B•S (Emergency Braking System) slows KITT down from Super Pursuit speeds. It consists of a forward braking booster and air inlets that popped out to create air friction (air brakes). First used in Season 4, episode 70, “Knight of the Juggernaut.”
sad to hear they all came from the train derailment situation so they had to be crushed, they would've been really cool to see them being used in a tour or at something similar to the Universal Studius Hollywood ride
You guys a awesome! Completely lost for words... have been following you for a while... the work you put into all of your videos is just amazing! Thank you!!
You guys are giving new meaning to "Train Wreck Car"... for a good reason.
SPM was great and I liked the look of all the components protruding. What does bother me is the overspray of the black paint of the drivers side Dia-plane seen here at 2:51. You can clearly see the top right of the oval white circle has some black bleeding.
Fantastic SPM car info Joe, love it! Would certainly love to hear more details about the other cars as well!
Loved this wee gem of info on the SPM cars..i was aware they used 2 cars for SPM,note the acid KITT car was never repaired after filming..which leads to think they had plans for the SPM cars well before s4 so decided to use the gutted out Trans-Am for the hydraulic car rather than repair it....
Joe,any chance of doing a special on the 2 blind drive KITT cars??...
Keep up the good work!!
Loved the Knight Rider Series, both of them. Trans Am & the Mustang, especially the Mustang...
I love seeing what the mock up SPM/acid pit KITT looked like before Junkyard Dog.
Thank you for being so diligent in tracking down what happened to these cars.
Honestly if Pontiac came back and made only KITT cars they'd be super famous. Of course they'd have to price them normally too.
At that time I was only able to watch the show on Austrian TV. I did not know anything about "Transformers", but I surely remember the awe it gaves me seeing K.I.T.T. unfold like that.
The extra scoops are cool, but I can never escape feeling that the nose is silly.
Thank you guys for saving this beautiful car
Being 6 at the time SPM KITT was happy times!!!
Not my normal corner of car-TH-cam, but I have no regrets watching this. Kitt is right up there with the 'Vice Testarossa for favorite 80's hero car. The SPM transformation was mind-blowing to a younger me and ahead of it's time design-wise. Just look at the "race mode" on the McLaren P1 or Ford GT, fiction turned reality minus the rockets, lol.
I’ve never understood why people associate Miami Vice with the white Testarossa, for me it was all about the black Daytona, I guess the Testarossa fitted the times and themes better.
@@astonwards7236 First impressions in my case. One of, if not the first, episodes I watched was the one where they got the TR after the Daytona went up in smoke. As a ~10 year old or whatever I was at the time, it was the most beautiful thing I'd seen in my life. I have still not recovered from my mid-engine obsession, lol.
Pretty sure super pursuit mode is now owned by my 17 year old neighbor, except it’s a 2003 Toyota and he’s attached everything he could find to the car while also removing the muffler.
Spunds like a misplaced honda owner
the term is "Bosozoku"
SPM was my favorite feature! I was sad whenever a 4th season Ep aired that didn’t use SPM. But of course I was obsessed with any transforming vehicle, including Transformers and my other favorite cartoon at the time, MASK.
Excellent work once again, gentlemen. Great deep dive into (and out of) the acid pit!
Wow that was a damn shame those cars were destroyed.😱 those cars would have been perfect for a car museum😭
I always remember quotes from the show but have forgotten which episode. Some of my favourite ones:
Michael: KITT, football is like buttermilk, you like it or you don't.
Michael: it's the gun that's not loaded that's the problem.
Michael: [first time he sees inside of KITT] that looks like Darth Vader's bathroom!
I think the one I liked best was when he first drove KITT, wondered where the controls for the radio were (or something to that effect) and KITT calmly asks "What would you like to hear?"
When I was growing up in Burbank I saw this car before they ever used it for the show. My friends didn't believe me until the show came out lol.
I remember very well when I saw it for the very first time it immediately recall to me the contemporary WRC B-Group cars, for example the Ram Scoop wich comes out from the top pillar remind those fitted on the 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Rally Car (it may also remind of those fitted on the 2001 Lambo Murcielago though) , also the front wings are peculiar, them remind of the '86 Pikes Peak Audi Sport Quattro.
Amazing, the things you can learn about Knight Rider here.
Thanks for researching and continuing our enjoyment of a brilliant TV show
So much fun with KITT back in the day. ..
Other than being CRUSHED by the cars acually being crushed, I always enjoy these glimpses into the history of the show. 👍👍
Awesome information. They did quite some recycling on the cars back then.
Super pursuit mode is one of my favorite cars :D
also transformers never crossed my mind when kitt transforms
Only if all history lessons were as interesting as these Knight Rider history lessons
you just reminded me of a huge continuity error in Knight rider. When bonnie rebuilt kit with her team of street mechanics they couldnt recreate the molecular bonded shell. Bonnie informs Micheal of this herself, yet for the whole of series 4 KITT drives through everything and anything without getting a scratch.
Also I thought it would be fun to point out the super pursuit aero is wrong, those dive planes on the nose of the car would make it take off faster than Peter Dumbreks mercedes not stick it to the road....
They need just car channels like this for all classic movie cars. Like I want an in depth story and update on the original Bullitt mustang they found in a junk yard in Mexico of all places
Great stuff! I always wondered if the roof brake flap blocked the t-tops..
Very interesting. I hadn't even reached my teens when the series aired and it was one of my favorites. I had never really analyzed the car to that degree.
Dare I say it that in the promo KITT is sitting in the same firehouse used for the Ghostbusters firehouse interior?
Personally as a life long Fan of Knight Rider I think it's a Damn Sacrilegious those Original SPM Cars were crushed.
Another fantastic video Joe! Thank you!!! Hated SPM though! IMO it’s when KR “jumped the shark.” Also met George Barris (RIP) about 17-18 years ago. Maybe he was having a bad day or something but he was super grumpy and not really nice. Oh well.
Dang, that's a lot of high quality photos, not some shitty copies taken from the web like you see in other videos on YT... good job.
Good material, god presentation; that's how you make a good review/document.
Thank you!!
11:08 I have to see a long video doc on that original KITT Joe!
The whole series of each season was just so exciting every time!! 😉👍
Great video. Loving the midweek uploads in between my weekly Not A Directors Cut fix.
I would be interested to learn more about the HTDD car. I just assumed bigger springs or a pair of blocks were used. I'm curious to see what was actually used.
Brilliant channel, and thank you for answering a 20 year old thought, I loved the SPM cars and always wondered what came of them 👍 keep up the excellent work
KITT Soup or Pursuit Mode? Soup please Michael
Great nostalgic vid! However, there's only one pursuit special, and that would be the 'last of the V8's'. (Mad Max- Ford Falcon)
If you haven’t seen yet, Mr. Johnson is building a working SPM KITT and posting updates in the Knight Rider KITT Replica Foundation Facebook group.
Another fantastic, educational video on this gem from the 80’s.
Great history with the SPM KITT thanks for sharing
0:39: LOL! I've had the lines from that promo memorized in my head for the last couple decades, but somehow in my memory I had enhanced Hasslhoff's delivery of them to make them sound much more dramatic than they actually were! Makes me wonder if a lot of old stuff I thought was amazing back then has been "enhanced" in my memories and I'm making it better than it really was.
It's a pity that the SPM cars were crushed after all that work! George Barris must have felt sick to have learned the fate of his work. If only the studio could have reached out to the company and showed them what was done, ask for amendment to the sales contract and offer to pay full price for the original cars. They should have belonged to a museum garage or something, NOT BE CRUSHED BY A WRECKING BALL!
As for the acid pit scene, it was easy to have all the attention focused on the "acid damage" of the vehicle, and not realize that the tires are surprisingly still intact! Didn't notice that till now. If it was truly nasty acid, the tires would have been totally eaten off the rims.
These videos are awesome.... I've been a Knight Rider fan since the very first episode when I was a kid.
Love these videos. One small note, however: the two pieces that slide out of the front fenders during the SPM transformation are actually called "dive" planes, because they look exactly like the attitude control surfaces on submarines. Which are called dive planes. Also, modern race car aero packages often include devices called canards or dive planes on the front bumper, to create extra downforce on the front end, for added traction on the steering axle. Barris would've at least been aware of the submarine ones. Not sure if race cars had dive planes back in the eighties yet.
Heck yeah, that was super interesting info and photos! SPM was one step closer to the car from CondorMan!!
Our highschool autoshop actually had a brand new train damaged Saturn that couldn't be titled and still had all the factory plastic wrapping.
Teacher would unplug sensors and junk and make us troubleshoot it.
It's sad that every car with pursuit mode got scrapt.
If they were going to chop up a car I guess one that was going to be crushed would make the most sense economically. It is a shame they couldnt cut out the VIN so it couldnt be sold, and put it in a museum instead.
That's what I thought they could do put k.i.t.t in the museum with super pursuit mode. It would've been awesome to see k.i.t.t up close with it.
Yeah, maybe they could have “renegotiated” that scrap mandate for a museum... But I presume no one was thinking about a museum for a just-cancelled show. Instead they’re thinking about the next show and trying to tie up loose ends ASAP.
@@danmurphy9173 this, plus the cars were already in pretty bad shape by the time wrecking ball day happened...
@@danmurphy9173 They apparently did it on the Universal back lot on a Sunday when most employees were unaware. They were allowed to use those cars down to the fact they were damaged and illegal to sell.They were given on the promise with contract they would be destroyed when the show ended. When you think about it,it was lucky this derailment happened as the first 4 cars ,not destined for the wrecking ball,were getting well battered during filming .
Did not care for the SPM car but loved the front nose on KITT with those extra driving lights. Looked great. Surprised no one in my area did that custom to a real car.
I Loved Kitt
You guys do amazing work figuring all this out
Is the replica Super Pursuit KITT still at the Volo Auto Museum in Chicago. I remember seeing it there over 5 years ago,. Why wasn't the SP mode used in the last episode Voo Doo Knight. Great Channel, CHEERS.
The replica jay built yes,volo is notorious for flaunting replicas marked as real ones and putting decals on the doors and windows of the actors name and show etc.....cost cuts is why alot wasnt in the final episode
2:38 - I was always dissapointed how the hell they could paint it with THAT mistake :D
I always loved the airstops 😍
Loved the Super Pursuit mode back then and still love it now. It is silly stupid fun in all the ways I love.
Very interesting
Soon later Can we do a where is Goliath ??
My thoughts exactly.
i did a search and some say that the trailer part was used in airwolf. But as for the tractor part No one seems to know. I often wondered if the tractor was used in the A team for some episode and then modded for knight rider. Nothing has come up on internet if the full lot survives or let a lone where it is now. I think we got very lucky about the semi, as i thought that had gone years ago.
Great video!!!The promo I remember quite well.Sad that both of those unique spm cars are no more.Also I find it interesting that they never added the passenger side ground effect even after converting to spm.Also note in the still of kitt on fire there is a mismatch on passengers side and rear bumper cover.Thanks for another very interesting video!!!
Never was a fan as a kid and especially now. This version took away the sleek lines of that timeless car design. SPM was just something to help the ratings. My opinion but no one can change my mind. Please keep these very informative videos coming. I look forward to these every week.👍
I liked Transforming Super Pursuit mode. The stabilizer wings and extra air intakes made sense.
Interesting information as always :)
I wasn't too big fan of the SPM, but C-mode KITT is beautiful. Having said that, I do have the Aoshima 1/24 modelkit of the SPM KITT, but haven't even started building it :P Maybe some day...
C-mode KITT model would be nice, but I guess there is no such model, unless of course custom built.
I have a C model 1:18 scale and i think it is very rare.
@@EddyHardin Probably custom made? Is it ERTL or Hotwheels model?
@@mrjsv4935 Could be, it's an ERTL model with crablin hook an funktion scanner on the front. I baught it a year a go for 95 euro.
Love it!! I want to see more history of Knight Rider!!
Jeez, you guys are such friggin nerds. Love it!
Don't you mean.....Knerds ;)