Most Screen Accurate Knight Rider KITT Car Replica

[Music] there are many iconic TV and movie cars from the eighties that have been replicated such as the Batmobile the DeLorean from Back to the Future the General Lee from Dukes of Hazzard but I think the most iconic car of them all is KITT the talking car from Knight Rider I grew up watching Knight Rider in the 80s and I loved every minute of it I mean who doesn't love that sleek black futuristic car with that very futuristic dashboard with all those colorful buttons TV screens LEDs that iconic steering wheel and the personality that was KITT the talking car there are many replicas kick cars around but not many are at this level of detail Chris Blasius from Ohio is the owner and builder of this particular kit replica he spent two years searching for a low miles 82 hardtop Trans Am to start with which was the only way to find one without rusted out floors because they were known for leaking like crazy and rusting from the inside out and spent another 2,000 hours working on it over a two and a half year period Chris said the car he found for his project had zero rust but he had to then cut the top of the car off and replace it with a t-top from an 87 Trans Am once Chris finished converting the roof and had a good foundation car to work with he then started making all the iconic KITT parts and their iconic front bumper one of the biggest and hardest parts to make was the front bumper bar Chris said after looking at all the replicas I've seen the front bumper always looks wrong and usually is Chris begged his buddy Marc Brown for about a year to mold a one-off bumper for him from scratch he finally agreed to do it it took him another year to sculpt it Marc perfected all the angles of the original bumper by taking pictures of his sculpted bumper and overlaying them in faux shop until every angle was perfect it's so perfect he has actually created a business this year making Knight Rider bumpers for other replica enthusiasts every iconic part of the car was made to this level of detail including the steering wheel dashboard and center consoles while all the parts were being molded the car body was taken down to bare metal and the antenna hole welded closed to match the original the body was then skin coated and block sanded primed and made ready for printing the car was then painted in a black single-stage dupont paint to match the original now if you know anything about car paint colors black is the hardest color to get right as it can show up the smallest defect in the bodywork that is why the paint job on this car cost twelve thousand dollars to get it perfect with the parts now sprayed and on the car it starts looking like the car we know now at this point Chris installed the part on the car I was unfamiliar with it looks like some weird-looking metal bumper extending past the front bumper I had to ask Chris what is that as that was not on the original that I recall Chris replied with it actually was on kit from most saints it was used to tow kid around for doing close-up shots of Michael driving the production company was too lazy to take it off between scenes that it sort of became part of the look of the car to keep the car original I'd put the tow bar on my car but mine has a front camera mounted to it with the exterior almost finished now it was time to work on the interior Chris started laying down dynamic sound insulation using a hundred and twenty square feet of it to cover as much area as possible for the best result before installing the door panels and dashboard he installed new speakers and wiring to handle the totally custom dashboard center consoles and steering wheel Chris enlisted the help of his friend Billy Gunther billion turn contacted Michael chef who originally came with kits design for the TV series Billy invited Michael down to his shop in Atlanta to confirm the correctness of the pieces the - alone took Billy about ten months to create and according to Chris the engine rpm miles per hour oil pressure and fuel readouts all work under accurate Chris spent a lot of time and effort on fitting the electronics to the dashboard center console overhead console and pods behind the steering wheel but Chris didn't just want them to light up he wanted it all to function like in the show albeit without the special effects he approached a company in Italy called Z a electronica who amazingly enough specializes in Nightrider dashboard electronics as it's his passion also the company not only makes all the electronics and wiring you need but also with modern aluminum fascia overlays for the dash but all these custom electronics and parts came in a hefty price of $3,000 now that all the electronics were completed it was time to finish painting the dashboard consoles and steering wheel but that was just the start of fitting it all into the car and wiring it all up after that was all done they moved on to the interior cosmetics such as carpet seats and door panels all these seat covers and door panels were hand made from scratch because the material was no longer available all the seat material was professionally remade to look like the factory cloth found in the original kit all of the rest of the plastic interior pieces in the car were originally tan which matched the original kit but Chris had all the pieces resprayed and freshened up now it was time to reassemble everything now that the car was almost back together there was just one missing piece the personality voice and sound effects of the kit the voice in the car is William Danes who was the original voice of kit Chris painstakingly collected voice files needed for the car from various sources such as episodes from the TV and the internet Chris set up a voice activation system Riccar and installed a microphone in the cabin so when he says something or asks a question the car will respond with a specific voice response to that phrase and can respond to about 200 different questions here are a few examples can't tell me a joke [Music] kit let's go to the casino what's your favorite color Chris can update and change any response kit makes by simply swapping out an SD card with new responses which he programs on his computer kit will also announce when he's low on fuel and if you're driving too fast for the distinctive sound effects of the car itself it has a 600 watt amplifier that place kits distinctive turbine wine through exterior speakers when the car is in motion this replica car has a low minus 165 horsepower 305 cubic inch v8 engine equipped with General Motors short-lived crossfire injection which is believed to be the correct engine based on season 2 episode 1 most of the car was built using nos paths from 1982 the back glass was the hardest part to find white so special is because it's a hundred percent clear no tint and no defrost lines which kit didn't have it took Chris about four years to find the back glass alone the 15-inch wheels with caps were another hard part to find they were known for falling off days after the car was purchased in 82 I asked Chris what was the motivation that drove you to do all that work he said I told my parents at the age of six that I will own kit someday I actually begged them to buy me a new 82 Trans Am and save it for me until I could drive because they were still new then they said I would grow out of it but I never did the second reason was to set a goal and see if I could reach it so many people said I couldn't and never would do it and that made me just want to do it even more I asked Chris what does it like to drive I have heard that the steering wheel looks great but is horrible to drive with he replied in all honesty the steering wheel is perfect I think this is the way they should create steering wheels I know there is a video out there that went viral about how it's a pain to drive with that's because the car was made wrong most replica steering wheels are all fiberglass besides being dangerous all fiberglass wheels are very light my steering wheel is reinforced with steel and weighs about eight pounds which makes it actually feel good in your hands and I have a great clearance between the wheel and my legs I love it Chris does not use the car as a daily driver it doesn't have seatbelts as the real kit didn't have them so he can't legally drive it on the streets but he does drive it around his local streets to keep the parts lubricated but otherwise it's trucked around on the back of a trailer for promotional shows he thinks he will probably start driving it though after he gets tired of doing car shows with it people have asked Chris to build them one but he said I would never do this again I don't care how much anyone pays me you're building a car that doesn't exist with parts that don't exist I thought it was gonna kill me but I finally got it done and $50,000 in 2000 hours later it was worth it I asked Chris if you were to sell it what would be your asking price he replied I've been offered $80,000 for it but couldn't imagine selling it it would have to be around a hundred thousand to even make me think twice about it Chris's ultimate dream for the car would be to have a picture taken with David Hasselhoff with the car and himself and put that as his facebook profile picture forever building the car was the hard part getting a picture with David Hasselhoff should be a breeze by comparison let's hope Chris achieves it anyway that's the end of this video thanks for watching and we'll see you next time bye-bye [Music]

Channel: Wonder World

Views: 3,177,613

Keywords: Knight Rider KITT Car Replica Most Screen Accurate Build, knight rider replica car, Most Accurate replica kitt car, kitt replica car, chris blasius, knight rider replica build, Knight Rider Kitt Replica Car, knight rider replica, knight rider kitt, k.i.t.t car, knight rider car, full restoration kitt, kitt full restoration, knight rider chris blasius, screen accurate kitt, screen accurate knight rider, wonder world

Id: G2TTibbxYsA

Length: 11min 35sec (695 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 01 2018