A Knight Rider fan has spent over 10 years transforming a run down vehicle into the iconic car from the hit 1980s TV series. Scott Bainbridge shelled out over $22,000 to a turn an unloved Pontiac Trans Am into his very own Kitt - the car driven by David Hasselhoff in the show.
Scott bought the car in 2004 and started to re-create the sleek black vehicle - which even speaks in the voice of Kitt from the film and had to replace a lot of parts to get the Knight Rider model up to scratch – including fitting a new engine to the damaged vehicle.
Scott bought the car in 2004 and started to re-create the sleek black vehicle - which even speaks in the voice of Kitt from the film and had to replace a lot of parts to get the Knight Rider model up to scratch – including fitting a new engine to the damaged vehicle.
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00:06Knight Rider, a classical 1980s TV series.
00:10In which David Hasslehoff fought crime him with the help of his talking car.
00:19This is the story of one men's ten year crusade to build his own personal replica of Michael Knights iconic vehicle, Kit.
00:30He's Scott Bainbridge and he lives in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the north of England.
00:42Scott Bainbridge
00:43Knight Rider is sort of a combination between technology and a cool car, so when you bring
00:48those two together I just fell in love with it, all the cool lights on the dashboard,
00:52the scanner light and the car they use is a great looking car to begin with so it's
00:57just really won me over.
01:01In 2004 Scott bought a Wreck Pontiac Trans Am and after ten years work and an outlay
01:07of £18,000 has transformed it into a stunning replica of kit.
01:12I wouldn't say there's one specific thing I like about the car on its own, it's sort
01:17of a combination of everything, I mean it's black, it's sleek and then you've got all
01:22the custom stuff on the inside, everything works really well.
01:26When Scott began his project ten years ago his Pontiac looked very different to how it
01:30looks today.
01:31I first got the car back in 2004, it arrived on a low loader and it was in a very, very
01:37sorry state so it's taken me ten years to get it from what it was originally up to what
01:42you see now, which is the whole interior has to be redone, all new dashboard, new carpets,
01:49new wheels and that's just to get it to look like a Knight Rider car but I'm also restoring
01:55a 25-year-old American car so it's had welding, new doors, new wings, new windscreen, paint,
02:02everything, everything's been replaced.
02:05As well as fitting a 5.7 litre V8 engine Scott has also paid special attention to recreating
02:12the technical aspects of the original TV car.
02:15Gadget wise it's got the full dashboard with the TVs, Kit can talk to you.
02:22I'm the voice of Knight Industry 2000's microprocessor, K-I-T-T for easy reference, a kit if you prefer.
02:30Gadgets planned for the future include an oil slick, smoke screen, grappling hook but
02:37I don't think it will get as far as over cruise unfortunately.
02:41Scott now takes his kit to car shows and sci-fi events.
02:44How do I feel when I'm out driving it, it's great, I don't pretend to be Michael Knight
02:49and I'm fighting crime or anything like that but it's nice to just get out and hear the
02:55noise and what not.
02:57And the dramatic looking vehicle always causes a stir on the roads.
03:01It just looks like Knight Rider doesn't it and you can't remember Knight Rider, it's fab,
03:06really good, it looks like the real thing, I love it.
03:09I saw a good thing.
03:11Woah look at this.
03:12It's a supercar with all the gadgets, all the toys, absolutely everything you could
03:18ever want and IT's a dream as well really.
03:21The 30 year old postman says he's become used to the amount of attention the car generates.
03:26I get quite a lot of thumbs up and people flashing lights in their cars and people taking
03:30pictures of me, yeah it's usually positive, I think it brings back a lot of memories for
03:35people when they see a kid cruising down the road.
03:38However, Scott is not finished yet and still has several improvements he wants to make
03:43to the car.
03:44Is it complete?
03:45No.
03:46All the dashboard needs to come back out soon I hope when I get my new set of electronics,
03:51that'll take a while.
03:53There's other little bits on the bodywork that need sorted out so it probably will be
03:58getting painted for a third time and then I've got new interior panels to put in as
04:03well.
04:04Just going back to the screen accuracy thing, the plastics are a tan colour but mine aren't
04:08quite right so I've got a new set which need to go in.
04:12Do I have any plans to fit turbo boost?
04:14No, in a simple word.
04:16It might be fun getting some air but on the way back down I think the car will be right
04:20off so we'll leave that one off.