Do the KITT Cars that Drive Themselves STILL EXIST? History of the Knight Rider Blind Drive Vehicles
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- Опубліковано 2 сер 2024
- We pull back the curtain on the details of how KITT drive himself in "Knight Rider" by revealing not one, but two dedicated "blind drive" cars, as well as the world's best Halloween costume - the PMD "Seat Suit"!
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Yes, this is really interesting and doesn’t really crush the illusion of childhood. The knight rider magic is and will last forever.
True, especially, when we have TESLAs driving in self-driving mode. They only lack a Voicebox, a scanner, the GULLWING, and the molecular bonded shell.
Even as a little kid I couldn't past all the very obvious uh movie magic and continuity errors of the show enough to like it. I still find this channel interesting though even though I was never a fan of the show.
I never noticed the blind drive seats when I was 8 years old watching on a 19" CRT, I just assumed the car was remote controlled like the little cars I played with.
19" were pretty decent size screens at the time we had 19 Sharp branded, any thing much bigger was really big and really heavy
@@DavidMorales008 NoW WE GOT 19 INNCH TABLETS NOW
"KITT!!! I NEED YAH BUDDY!!"
*Countdown sequence*
*Puts in gear*
*Pedal to the metal*
*Wheelspin*
*Slides around and drifts effortlessly*
*Screeches to Michael's aid*
Good Times :D
Cool stuff for sure. Never got old.
I found this channel a while back, and have been really enjoying the content, then I saw all of Knight Rider being sold as a box-set via a mail-order DVD shop, and bought the lot. Have just finished series one, and just started on series two, with GOLIATH. I really rather liked that one, and David Hasselhoff was really excellent in the part of Garth. I forgot that it was the same actor with the same face after a few minutes! I was a little sad to see Goliath explode at the end, but perhaps Garth will be back in a future episode that I have not see yet. Please - no spoilers on that! :)
@@VauxhallViva1975 Season 2 is my favourite. Best stories and very good action. Except for some over use of miniatures. The Knight Rider score is amazing too. You're in for a treat!!
@@Samuel-gc6js YAY!!! Can't wait. Not that I disliked any of series one. There were several standout episodes such as TRUST DOESN'T RUST. I remember BITS of Goliath from when I would have seen it on TV back when I was probably 14 or so, but it was great to watch that one again in full. :)
"Power....fuel on....min RPM....ignitors"
I really like the thought of KITT's 'self-driving ability' being a pair of arms jutting from the sides of the driver's seat to hold the wheel.
Imma be honest, I'm a teenage girl who is in love with Knight Rider! I love older shows, especially car shows.
"Knight Rider" was prophetic in what would be the future of the car: Cruise Control, Park Assist, Autonomous Driving, etc. Honestly, what I enjoyed the most is when K.I.T.T. acted alone, since the protagonist was him. ;)
Joe when David came to South Africa in an interview on tv a child asked him how does KITT drive himself he said that it was an show Secret and gave a clue by saying that the one seat is bigger than the other seat I am from South Africa thank you again
This is both cool...and I wish I had never seen it. I somehow never noticed that seat looked off when KITT was driving himself, even in recent viewings. It seems obvious now, but now I can't unsee it 😂
It's really noticeable in the episode Junkyard Dog when the primer colored KITT is doing the obstical course. You can see the large cover over the driver through the back window on some of the shots.
When I went to the George Barris Star Cars museum in Gatlinberg Tennessee, I saw a KITT with a steering wheel in the back.
I'm now in my 40's but the truth of KITT's self driving ability is not news to me because when I got internet connection in my 20's, first things I searched for, was Knight Rider and KITT's secrets, how it was done and all things I could find about Knight Rider :D
Still, after all these years, I'm still learning new things about Knight Rider from these videos in your channel. Big thanks for making them :)
This channel is pure entertainment. Love from Germany
One person who disliked.. he couldn`t drive blind.. Wonderful video!
Fantastic video. Your thorough work in trying to convince us all that KITT couldn’t drive himself is impressive. All the photoshopping you must have been through. But you cannot fool the real Knight Rider fans. We all know that KITT can drive😂😂😂. Absolutely love it.
As a kid I wondered if they were remote controlled. As a teen I quickly saw the custom seat and realized how they did it. But the coolest thing of all was when they made the right side blind drive car so KITT could pull up and get Michael or Michael could get out and KITT then drive off by himself. That really sold the hollywood magic illusion.
Some fans have made remote controlled KITTs. Seems Universal could have done it back then. I suppose it was safer to have a man inside than risk malfunction
Very similar to one of the Kenworth trucks from 1989 movie License to Kill...the truck had dual steering and shifter so it could be driven from the sleeper.
Love the channel ❤ !
Back in the early 90's I learned about the blind drive cars from a mag that did behind the scenes looks at tv show and movies. Even as a kid I've noticed the seat looked "different" whenever K.I.T.T was driving itself, being a kid obviously i wasn't able to figure out what the deal was. Thanks for the more detailed reveal.
I have definiteky seen that picture of the guy sitting in the passenger blind drive seat on the floor outside the car somewhere before.
Thank you again. Such a crude set up for the blind drive but also affective.
I always wondered how exactly they did that. Something else. Leave it to the Knight Rider Historians to have the full breakdown! Thank you!!!
I remember when I was a kid I loved watching the show. Knight Rider was part of my childhood. And it became part of my son's childhood, who became five years this year. He identifies KITT as "Michael" but... You get the point.
From a TV illusion of a self driving car...40 years later we're on the edge of real self driving cars. Just think about it...
Your retrospectives of Knight Rider are so amazingly done it is now (in my opinion) something which is an irreplaceable companion piece to the series. In an ideal world these would be bonus features on the Blu Rays as there will never be a more dedicated and informative look at the series then Knight Rider Historians
I enjoyed this bit of TV history. I was born in 84, midway through the shows run, so I grew up with KR in syndication. I was captivated by the show. I spent my childhood thinking that this car could actually do all the things it did on screen. Those were the good old days.
I've got the Knight Rider DVD collection, and there was a 2-hour special episode made in Chicago where I live. It sticks out in my mind that I recognize the Citicorp bank on Wabash & Madison where KITT picks up Michael. KITT also drives down Lake Shore Drive by Oak Street Beach. At the end of the episode, KITT debuts a new feature that RC installed, an automatic convertible top triggered by a new "C" button on the dashboard.
I find it fascinating to learn how the automatic driving was done. The scenes with the automatic driving show the car so briefly that you really don't have time to notice the driver in the shot. It's interesting how the driver is situated to be camouflaged by a suit or covered by the seat. The cool thing is that there are real self-driving cars being tested now. Since I don't drive due to being visually-challenged, I would love to climb into a real self-driving car and travel somewhere.
I always thought later on in episodes they used a remote control to shoot Kitt driving by itself..lol
Nope.
They didn't even have a remote controlled Delorean for the scene at the beginning of Back to the Future where Doc sends Einstein 1 minute into the future. That was a stuntman driving it wearing a dog costume.
Yes me too ^^
@@pdennis93 So how they shoot "Knight of the drones" with the Thunderbird with no driver inside?
@@ilgwent8061 the drones had really dark tint to hide the drivers, actually likely the windows were painted black. You get a good sense of how dark it was when michael catches one of them. They show a shot from inside the car and you literally see nothing out the closed driver's window. Then michael opens the door and discovers it's empty. They did something similar with KARR in KITT vs KARR when he kidnaps Mandy. When you see her get in KARR and he closes the door on her, you can tell the side windows can't be seen out of. That's also how they did Christine. The windows were painted black and only had a small spot on the windshield with tint for the stunt driver to see through.
Ok now I get it. I always wondered on early episodes they always cut when Kitt got to Michael and he's about to get in. I guess that would be kind of awkward if he had to sit where someone was already sitting then in later episodes there is no cut so now I know why. The driver was on the other side. You think you know everything about your favorite show lol. I also heard Hoff say he had to fight with the guys sometimes because when he got in Kitt the blind drive guy would still want to drive the car and not give it to the Hoff lol
The auto show was called Carl Casper's Custom Auto Show and the cars were stored in my hometown of Jeffersontown, Kentucky in the Bluegrass Industrial Park during the winter's in the 80's. I remember them being sold in the mid 90's and was reported on in the Louisville Courier Journal.
I only came across this channel yesterday by pure coincidence. You have a lot of cool information for fans like me. Keep up the good work.
Another excellent content for the Friday's afternoon :)
Well, first of all, great video; I enjoyed this show (at age 22) more than I was willing to admit. And now, at 61, I'm enjoying these videos way more than I would admit to my 22 year old self. Second, I'll never get used to you saying that a car was crushed. It's just not going to happen. And, a very distant third: If the name of the seat style is 'Viscount' then it's (probably) pronounced as Vi Count. I think that the word ultimately comes to us from the French language, and we all know how the French treat their consonants.
I'm 52! I grew up in the 80's. I graduated from HS in 1988.
I’m 47. I entered high school in 1988. I still remember band practice, class schedule, & teachers. See some every once and a while.
Thank you for showing how the "self-driving" cars worked on set. It's amazing how many TV shows have inspired people to create devices that actually work very like those on TV.
Awesome, that more cars have been located and are still in tact.
So happy to hear that one of these survived.... If you see what got crushed of our childhood...
Great news in this video!
How am I just finding this channel??? Absolutely love Knight Rider!!!! New subscriber 🙋♂️
Childhood ♥️ now I'm grown... I still want a kitt car 🤩
For some reason, as a kid I use to think those PMD seats were made by Recaro as they use to place their badging in the middle of the seat on different models.. Great job in this vid.
Great explanations of the set ups in the cars. Always thought that Michael was sitting on the blind drivers lap, until I saw an interview where David Hasselhoff said he used to argue which the stunt driver whose turn it was to drive when he got in KITT.
Brilliant segment..thanks so much Joe...
This is amazing.I did notice the difference in the seats though
Nicely done explanation. I remember a couple of years later an Ohrberg build from his Hollywood Bl. shop. It was done for a middle eastern heir to royalty'. He ordered a KITT, but set up for right hand drive. I remember seeing the mockup of the dash. Jay later said the car had been totalled shortly after delivery.
George Barris owned the modified Ferrari 308 used as the Dagger DX in "Knights of the Fast Lane"
That was a reasonable explanation about K.I.T.T. driving himself. But we all know that...K.I.T.T. was indeed driving himself!!
great video , i just hope the self drive cars are better today than they were when they first came out , i remember seeing on the news how a woman got killed in a self drive car , it actually went under a lorry ,when she'd fallen asleep in the back , ouch, i would love to see a kitt car come & tour around the uk .
Oh yeah, more history to discover. Makes me really looking forward to season two. Thanks again guys.
Have you guys ever thought about building a replica for that experience? If so, I think you should do the silver trimmed K.A.R.R., complete with amber scanner.
During the first season at age 12 I've noticed something "different" about the drivers seat whenever it was self-driving. So much I've kept an eye on that seat to see what's so special about it. It became apparent that there was a stunt driver hidden behind the seat. I've often wondered how would that work until I've watched this video. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for uploading such an interesting info regarding KITT. It takes me back to 1985-86 Knight Rider days. Time has passed so fast, wow.
I'm such a huge fan of knight rider
🎉😃Kids and Children, prepare to be amazed, by the secrets of KITT's PMD seats!🎊🎈
Cool stuff Joe, thankyou. Also for anyone that's curious "Supercar Blondie" on ytube features KITT in one of her programs, she also features the Delorean from "Back to the Future"
Great to know what they did to the hero car. It's still played a great role in this series. So this was the one that played the cool scene in "Killer KITT". In the end, it was funny to see KITT for the first time doing business on his own.
That car is the real heroe of the whole series. Thus, it is the most precious one of the five still existing cars.
They did the same thing in the first Back to the Future Movie. When doc Brown shows Marty his brand new time Machine, he puts his dog in the driver seat for the test drive. Most of the long shots of the time machine being driven by a remote control, have the student driver dressed up as Doc Brown's dog.
Yup. I just pointed this out to someone in a reply about remote controlled KITTs. He thought they used one and I told him about how even the remote controlled delorean wasn't remote controlled.
Noooooo I can not believe it, my KITT drove itself the other day, I was working on the radio an accidentally hit the gear lever thingy and down the driveway it went, I was able to stop it before it hit the road, it is an old car and the gear lever doesn’t lock up when it is off. Great video.
Loved seeing this... So much so I upped my tier to support you... I am now a Prop Restorer Supporter... Keep these coming...
You're the best!
@@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial Oh no... You are... Wish I had the money to do things like this... I will have to pull out the 2 DVD sets I have and watch them.. I will skip passed the scary ones... Take care...
Digging the new intro and outro! As always, thought provoking and entertaining. You make Fridays better than you know.
Thank you for all the hard work you put into these shows. It means a lot 🎥🎞
Thank you!
Great work sir! Your videos are incredibly interesting, I love seeing all the BTS of my favorite show.
I enjoy knowing the back story on these vehicles. I enjoyed show especially the pilot when Michael meets KITT for the first time
Excellent video!!
It's funny that there are cars today that drive themselves. I'm waiting for someone to modify a Tesla to look more like KITT.
I don't know how that wasn't already made. Actually today I was searching for that :D
@@miguelferrazcosta So far the most I found was someone putting an LED scanner bar in a Model 3 and using the external speaker to play KITT scanner sounds.
@@StormsparkPegasus yeah, I found that one too a few hours ago :D but it was the only thing so far.
There is a remote controlled KITT I believe.
@@pdennis93 Yes I saw a guy that made one on youtube. It is amazing! Funny how us kids grew up and now that we are 40 and 50 we still love the car and some of us even have the means to make one better than the show.
I'll never own one but it's still fun to see fans making them
Great video!! I love this channel and the content!! 👍🏻
Awesome video Joe anther home run for the knight rider historians can't wait for your season 2 not a directors cut kitt has always been a staple for me since I was 10 thank you very much for reiginiting this passion I had for the show and the cast a pure master piece
Great news about the kitt still exists.
We see some pictures or videos about the car ?
How it looks now ?
Best wish Pierre knight
Great video thank you for taking the time to make these videos and keep us updated about what happened to the cars and semi truck from the show
3:43 Yes ! yesterday i watched the pilot of knightryder and yes we can see the stunt drive the car ^^
I have absolutely ALL from Knightryder (Named K2000 here in Belgium ^^)
I'm from 1977 and remember when i was 7 yo watchin this after school ^^
I did enjoy that :o) Amazing what works when it goes flashing by. In all honesty the video frame rates lined up so badly for us in the U.K. that the blind-drive guy could have worn a beige woolly hat and we wouldn’t have seen them :D
Fab news the right hand drive car still exists, thanks guys!
Wish they had figured out back then how to drive the KITT cars by radio control. I have seen recently a couple videos on You Tube of a guy standing in a parkinglot driving his Camaro with a Radio Control. I think it was a Camaro I don't remember too well. Just like the way we used to drive our Radio Control toy cars when we were kids only this was a full blown real car he was driving by control. That would have worked perfect for Knight Rider.
Look at the wax by the headlights on that privately owned right hand blind drive car
Great video. As a kid I heard that the stunt driver layed down on the passenger side of the car and drove it looking though a camera. Guess not. Lol
Today The Pontiac Firebird Trans Am is really hard to find!
That still of Rob Ford made me take a double look lol 🇨🇦 0:56
I'm glad that this video ended on a good note!
This makes Knight Rider even more awesome.😍😍
Okay 👌 thanks for another cool episode. I like the new intro as well .If anyone who watch Mythbusters show that Kitt never drove himself oh well still a cool idea .
They had some great ideas back in the day. Glad to hear one of the cars survived. Enjoyed the vlog!
Only 5 has survived as far as I know.
Man, you people are just awesome. So much detail and research into these bits.
Seeing these scenes again makes me remember - of course there was something odd about the drivers seat in these early bits, but I ignored it because the illusion was so cool. The power of the willing suspension of disbelief is truly awesome. Thanks for great vids!!
When I was a teenager watching the show, my brother and I thought that the car was being radio controlled from behind the camera, possibly using a full mock-up of the driving controls. I only found out by watching your episodes that somebody was actually in the car.
I wish they can bring a new knight rider show with a brand new Trans-Am gear 2021
Another great video guys. I can never overload on KR details so keep all that coming. I thank you by subbing on Patreon today after procrastinating for too long. Money WELL spent IMO. 😁
Ah wow 🤩. Thanks again Joe for another fantastic video 🙏🏻♥️
Very interesting and fascinating insight of my favorite show
"Well, it's not 1982 anymore... unfortunately"
When I discovered that KITT was driven autonomously by stunt drivers like Jack Gill it was 1997 on ESPN Speedworld when Jeff Gordon on the DuPont 24 Rainbow car would dominate. 200 mph on a NASCAR track is different than 200 mph on any Interstate with KITT in the 1980s by the time the 90s rolled around.
Even watching this as a kid Joe I could see the little mistakes, you'd see a hand pushing the door open or even a hand coming off the steering wheel when they did the blind driving but it didn't matter I loved the show 👌
I enjoyed that and I am a big fan of Knight Rider and I really like Kitt and I have a friend here in Claremore that has a Replica of Kitt for the third and fourth Season.
Great video. I always remembered the poorly designed Seat Suit, and watching when he would get in and thinking... what... how?? Later on I did find out, through various sources, how it was all done. But it's really good to hear so much more about it, including those photos. I assume they had to extend the pedal as well, unless the stunt driver was even taller than David! (which would be pushing it).
DOesn't ruin my childhood. In fact, thanks to this channel, I have a new fondness for the episode "Trust Doesn't Rust," and not just because Peter Cullen was in it. :D
The passenger side driver is set up the same way as how some cars are modified to be used for mail carriers.
Any behind the scenes pics and video from the making of the Knight Rider intro? Never saw any.
6:01-6:28 And cuz of this, it feels like the S1-2 dash was always there throughout the series even after KITT upgrades to the S3-4 dash.
Thank you Joe
This triggered a memory for me and there may be a third car. Star Cars in Gatlinburg, TN had a KITT that was out front in either 2000 or 2002 (not the current replica car they have) that was a blind drive. It had gas, brake, steering, and shifter mounted behind the DRIVER'S SIDE seat with a non-PMD seat in the front seat position. I have a photo of this car from the front and a close up shot of the controls mounted in the rear. I was with a bunch of friends who are car guys and not only were we HUGE fans of the show but we had just left the NOPI Nationals so were still all zoned in on car modifications and were fascinated at the rear-mounted steering controls in this particular car. Not arguing with you, but if somebody did a replica and did a replica of a stunt car and did it wrong? Now that would be weird. This is the only other picture I see on Google of the same car I'm talking about pictured in front of Star Cars.
history.loftinnc.com/Cars.htm
That car is a replica built by George Barris, it was never used in the show.
Great intro upgrade for Season 2. UA-cam also managed to smoothly put their ad into the middle of your episode at the end of act 1.
As always. I enjoy these videos. Thank you guys.
One of my favorite shows.
Another brilliant video update gentleman, this video was the final nudge i needed to become a patreon. Keep up the good work.
Much appreciated!
Ever since I learned about how KITT was driven years ago, I can't take my eyes off the little bulge in the back of the seat where the driver is. But that just makes me appreciate it more. Were there ever shots of KITT's steering wheel turning while in blind drive? I could swear there was but it looks like the set up takes the place of his steering wheel except maybe when it's the passenger side blind drive.
Even if it didn’t the idea came from that and growing up makes u realise K I T T was actually the car of the future
I (I'll bet a lot of people as well) always thought it was piloted by remote control... Like, in the mall parking lot scene in the first back to the future movie.
This was really informative and fascinating. Thank you for uploading this
I think it was Knight Rider and K.I.T.T. Not given, today we would probably not see Tesla with FSD on the street.
In this show was shown with playful means, as a quite pretty close future can look like.
So I think you should treat the Model s of Tesla also this Knight Rider running light, as a sign here, that in this vehicle the self-driving mode is turned on.
The tremendous acceleration is practically a reminiscence on K.I.T.T.T. Super persuit mode.
And ultimately, the driving noises somehow sounded like the noise of an electrodriven engine at that time, not this exhaust roar of a super sports car of those years.
You should not forget this voice control by means of a Smart Watch, which it did not exist then. It is really amazing how many aspects of this show, despite all the cinematic exaggeration, are actually almost identical today, and in this way, this show has changed the world more in a technical point of view, as many other science fiction stories.
All this time I thought they rigged the car for radio control.
Yes, me to. My thoughts as i was watching the beginning of the video.