this was a transportation company owned by General Motors (GM). This caller told him to be at the Pacific Motor Transport lot by 4 p.m. The vehicles weren't included in the company's budgets for promotional programming. The Trans Ams couldn't be delivered through the Pontiac dealer, either, meaning it wasn't certain how the cars would get to the “Knight Rider” set.įinally, Dahlquist got a call from an unidentified speaker. The automakers also had issues with getting the cars into the showrunners' hands. There were a few delays in producing the new Pontiac Trans Ams for the show. Doing this would make it look like the Cylon Warrior from Larson's previous "Battlestar Galactica" series. They planned to change the look of the car's nose so it could feature a red light. Hoglund said he wouldn't go against Graham's decision, but if Dahlquist could figure out how to get the car into the show, he would sign off on any paperwork. With Hoglund in his corner, Dahlquist got the cars to come out of dealer allocations with a bit of wheeling and dealing involved to secure the original three Trans Ams used by the production crew.ĭahlquist also contacted the show's staff to design a modified version of the Trans Am to get the desired look for the series. Many others at Pontiac were on board with placing the car in the show to generate attention and raise Pontiac's decreasing sales at the time. Dahlquist even got the new Pontiac general manager, Bill Hoglund, on his side to make the KITT come alive. The president of Pontiac's West Coast public relations agency, Eric Dahlquist, was a major fan of using the car in the show. This aversion to placing the Trans Am in the show wasn't shared by everyone at Pontiac. However, Pontiac's promotion manager, Jim Graham, thought the show sounded corny and didn't want the car to be associated with it. When "Knight Rider" was in development, the show's creators honed in on the Pontiac Trans Am to be the primary car. How Did the Pontiac Trans Am Become the KITT? Among fans of the show, however, the car is mainly referred to as the KITT rather than its full name. The acronym is less of a mouthful to say, and it's familiar to fans of the show. KITT's full name is Knight Industries Two Thousand. What Was the Car's Name in "Knight Rider"? The vehicle could be set to autopilot and the transmission featured an eight-speed microprocessor turbo drive. In the show, the KITT's engine had a turbojet with customized afterburners. This car was a two-door coupe, featuring rear-wheel drive, a large front hood and illuminating grilles. The KITT from the original series was a 1982 Pontiac Trans Am model. While the car couldn't top out at over 200 miles per hour (mph) and many of its added features were aided by TV magic, it was based on a real vehicle - the Pontiac Trans Am.
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