I was amused and enthused to accidentally find that there’s a whole car hacker culture on the web devoted to making Knight Industries Two Thousand (KITT) car replicas. Check out the Knight Replicas web site for building tips, discussion forums, links to parts suppliers, and information about the Knight Rider Television show. Of the parts suppliers, Mark’s Custom Kits was by far the most interesting—despite the terrible web design—and seemed to have the best quality parts. I was fascinated by their description of restoring a car from the tv show. The Convertible Project also looks fun—what a beautiful car!
Back in the Fabulous 80’s, KITT was the coolest car ever. KITT could talk, drive himself, and do killer stunts. The trademark glowing red “eye” and crazy instrument panel were totally awesome.
What blows me away is that many of KITT’s capabilities are a reality now or very close. They’re also more and more affordable. Voice recognition is old hat and GPS guidance systems are available now. Moble phones are available everywhere, and video call functions are coming along. Self-driving cars aren’t quite here, but there’s been much more research into it. How quickly science fiction becomes everyday fact.
I’ve had schematics for KITT for years now. Perhaps someday I’ll build him. I can dream anyway. It’s good to recapture some of that boyhood wonder.
It appears that Thursday is blog day this month. Ah, well. Blog as you can, not as you can’t, right?