KITT, the Knight Industries Two-Thousand, was a customized 1982 Pontiac Trans-Am. The 1982 model year was the first year of the third-generation (1982-1992) F-bodies (Chevrolet's Camaro and Pontiac's Firebird share the same platform), and was a complete redesign of the second-generation (see Smokey and the Bandit for a 2nd-gen Trans-Am).
Glen A. Larson borrowed the idea of K.I.T.T.'s hood mounted scanner from one of his earlier projects, 'Battlestar Galactica'. The Cylon Centurions in that series had an almost identical scanner that functioned as eyes, and Larson adapted the idea for K.I.T.T. Also, originally K.I.T.T. had a square red light on the dashboard that lit up as he spoke. His more familiar 'voice modulator', with three red lines broken into cells which went up and down as he spoke, was introduced half-way through the first season.
Pontiac, who supplied the Trans Am for the series, found itself swamped with customer requests for black Firebird Trans Ams with T-tops, tan interiors, and red lights on the front bumper, just like the show car.
The "jumping car" was a hollow-fiberglass Trans Am
The "auto-cruise" car was a right-hand drive car, so that Hasselhoff could get into the car without cutting the scene (only on the last season).
David Hasselhoff and William Daniels (voice of K.I.T.T.) meet on the Christmas party after six months filming the season. Until that point, Hasselhoff hadn't seen the face behind the voice of the car.
The "auto-cruise" car was driven by a stunt driver inside the driver seat.
Super-Pursuit Mode was introduced as a means of retaining viewers for a fourth season.
You never see a long shot of KITT changing into Super Pursuit Mode, since KITT is not moving at all. A shell of KITT's body was used when filming the transition to Super Pursuit Mode, since large hydraulic rams were needed to articulate the body panels, and there was no room for an engine or running gear in the car.
The narrator of the show's opening credits was Richard Basehart who played dying benefactor Wilton Knight in the pilot episode, "Knight Rider" (1982) {Knight of the Phoenix: Part 1 (#1.1)}.
Throughout Season 1, there is another car that appears regularly besides the Knight Industries Two Thousand and Devon's Mercedes-Benz convertible. It is a red 1974 (or thereabouts) AMC Gremlin X, possibly one of the crew's personal vehicles. It was never used in a "supporting" role, but only as a vehicular "extra", usually driving away from the camera.
In many of KITT's jump scenes, the screen jumps to another angle (such as Michael driving) before landing. This is because more often than not, the front end of the stunt car is totaled upon landing.
The second series saw the extensive use of miniatures provided by Jack Sessums for most of the really impossible stuff like jumping over trains, over helicopters, crashing into Goliath and "walking on water". The miniatures of KITT were made to 1/8th scale, modified from the existing commercially available Monogram kit of the 1982 Camaro Z-28 to the same scale. Almost everything done involving trains were miniatures built by Sessums and his crew, as it turns out Sessums was a model train enthusiast who had large scale garden railway models already built, and the production crews made a lot of use of these models which for the most part were ready for use. The same model trains were also used in The Fall Guy and other similar productions of the time.
The character of Michael Knight was originally known as Michael Long, a cop who is shot in the desert and left for dead. Recovered by Wilton Knight and Devon Miles of Knight Industries, Mr. Long then undergoes reconstructive plastic surgery on his face. He is given a second chance at life, joining the Knight Industries team donning a new a face and identity, he is Michael Knight, the Knight Rider. Other alias' include: Mr. Dugan, "Knight Rider: Inside Out (#1.9)"
K.A.R.R. - (Knight Automated Roving Robot) aka the evil Trans Am, was the prototype for K.I.T.T. But its system had only been programed for self-prevail, were K.I.T.T. is programed to regard and prevail human life its "evil twin" was not. The voice of K.A.R.R. was done by voice actor Peter Cullen, who is probably best known as the voice of Optimus Prime of "The Transformers", Cullen has also been voice to "The Predator" and Eeyore of "Winnie Pooh".
According to Brandon Tartikoff, the head of programming at NBC during the 1980s, the inspiration for the series came about when NBC executives started complaining about the problems of casting handsome leading men in TV series, because many of them couldn't act. Tartikoff and his assistant came up with a concept for a TV show called, "The Man of Six Words". Each show would begin with the leading man getting out of a woman's bed and saying, "Thank you." Occasionally, throughout the show, the leading man would say, "Okay," when receiving orders from his boss. Then he would chase down some villains and say "Freeze!" Finally, when the people he had saved from death would thank him, he would say, "You're welcome." For the rest of the show, the car would do all the talking. Although Tartikoff had meant the pitch to be a joke, the NBC executives liked the idea of a TV show about a man with a talking car, and approved it for development.
According to Car & Driver Magazine, K.I.T.T. was originally intended to be a modified Datsun 280ZX, but General Motors' recently introduced F-Body Firebird Trans Am was substituted in pre-production.
K.I.T.T. was referred to as a "Black Trans Am" in early episodes of the first season, then later simply as a "Black T-Top" for the rest of the series' run.
K.I.T.T. has The roving Red sensor on the hood, It is not only modeled after The Cylon's roving eye from Battlestar Galactic but when it shown in a close up, and is moving, not only does it look like the Cylon eye, but also has the same sound effect of it moving as the Cylon's eye made.
William Daniels who did the voice of K.I.T.T., never appeared in the in credits during the show's four year run. Daniels, also played the beloved principal 'George Fenney' on "Boy Meets World"
When this show became a hit, and for several years following its cancellation, aftermarket kits were available to add the "scanner eye" to consumer Trans-Am cars of appropriate vintage.
The running gag of the two car thieves trying to steal K.I.T.T. was written, shot and inserted after the first cut of the pilot was seven minutes too short
"Knight Rider: Knight of the Phoenix," Originally aired on NBC in 1982 as a two-hour TV movie. The two-hour pilot was later split in to two parts for syndication and the second half of the pilot was retitled "Knight Rider: Knight of the Phoenix, Part II."
Lance LeGault and Charles Napier both appeared on The A-Team; LeGault starred as Colonel Roderick Decker, and Napier replaced him for one episode as Colonel Briggs.
First appearance of Bonnie.
The opening narration: 'Knight Rider, a shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist. Michael Knight, a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.'' This narration doesn't actually appear in the opening credits until the 3rd episode "Good Day at White Rock," in syndication this episode would be considered #4 due to the original two-hour pilot "Knight of the Phoenix" being split in to two parts to create two separate episodes, "Knight of the Phoenix, Part I" and "Part II."
In the first season episode "Not a Drop to Drink" the scene where KITT fires rockets to cause a mountain to collapse into the path of water from a breached dam, the footage used is the same footage seen in Superman where an earthquake causes a dam to break and Superman collapses a mountain in to the water's path. The show's producers found it was cheaper to purchase the footage from the Superman film rather then trying to re-create their own scene.
K.I.T.T. is outfitted with a grappling hook.
K.I.T.T. is first outfitted with his Microwave Jammer (Micro Jam for short).
In one scene, Michael is sitting in KITT while in the semi and looks at Bonnie through the windshield. He wonders aloud "I wonder if there's a real woman under those overalls or just a robot?" KITT's scanners begin working and he responds" Under the overall she is 1.68 meters tall, 54 kilos in weight, other measurements are 97cm, 61cm" and then Michael tells him to shut up. Thus we know that Bonnie (and actress Patricia McPherson) is 5'6 with a bust of 38in and a 24 inch waist.
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