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Before he was saving lives at the beach on Baywatch, David Hasselhoff was busy fighting criminals as Michael Knight alongside his partner KITT, an intelligent and indestructible Pontiac Firebird Trans Am muscle car.
The worldwide success of Knight Rider has immortalised the iconic coupé, spawning numerous replicas since the show’s 1982 debut.
While Hasselhoff’s own 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am KITT – short for Knight Industries Two Thousand – replica went under the hammer in January 2021 for an unspecified price, a similar version of the iconic car is up for sale.
According to Knight Rider Historians – a fan-based organisation – Pontiac gifted the leading man a special-edition Trans Am in 1985, witty banter and high-tech weapons not included.
The one-of-one promotional car never went on sale and remained in Hasselhoff’s personal collection until he sold it to an unnamed seller in 1990.
Though Hasselhoff’s KITT Pontiac replica was actually equipped with the iconic TV car’s dashboard, fake screens and steering wheel, this promo version on sale retains the iconic black and red exterior, albeit on a later model.
However, the listing states the previous owner kept the Pontiac's stock interior and 5.0-litre V8 engine. Knight Rider Historians has the Hoff’s promotional Pontiac Firebird Trans Am listed for $US39,995 ($AUD61,489).
The muscle car features charcoal seats, power door locks and windows, subwoofers, air conditioning and rear window defogger.
But the car does come with some blemishes, such as slight paint chipping and multiple dents in the passenger-side door and rear mirrors.
If you’re doubting whether the 72-year-old actor actually owned the car, the rare sports coupé comes with the original 1990 transfer slip that showcases Hasselhoff’s full name, address (at the time), and signature.
Additionally, the specific vehicle on sale also features the ‘AREUWHO?’ licence plates, with Knight Rider Historians claiming it refers to people constantly asking Hasselhoff ‘Are you the Knight Rider?’.
While the Pontiac Trans Am has firmly planted itself in the pantheon of iconic pop culture cars, it's worth noting the car almost didn't make it to the Knight Rider set.
According to US-based classic car insurance company Hagerty, the legend goes that in 1982, Pontiac's then sales promotional manager Jim Graham wasn't too fond of the muscle car making an appearance on the show.
Graham was credited with placing the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am in iconic movies such as Smokey and the Bandit and the franchise's second movie, Smokey and the Bandit II.
Though Pontiac was struggling to stay afloat in the early 1980s, Eric Dahlquist, then President of Vista Group – Pontiac's West Coast PR Agency at the time – went against Graham's decision and went to work finding the support from the right people.
Bill Hoglund, Pontiac's then general manager, had hoped the 1982 Pontiac Trans Am – the first new model in 12 years at that point – would be the model to revive the brand, as per the Hagerty report.
Hoglund was in support of Dahlquist's plan to put the newly launched muscle car in the upcoming TV show, though he wouldn't dispute Graham's decision.
After gaining the support of key people within the brand, Dahlquist had the appropriate sign-off from executives to include the Trans Am in Knight Rider.
Armed with approval, Chuck Koch – Vista Group's then vice president of client services – recalled, “The cars would have to come out of dealer allocations, so there was some horse-trading involved, but everyone agreed”.
According to Hagerty, Knight Rider producers had three black 1982 Pontiac Trans Ams to use for the first season of the hit TV show.
Spurred by the car jump scenes that would come to be associated with 1980s action blockbusters, the show runners quickly realised they needed more Trans Ams to use for stunts, but Pontiac couldn't supply any further examples.
Call it fate or good luck, but a derailed train carrying a trailer full of Pontiac Firebirds ended up saving the TV show’s first season.
“It was a train loaded with new Camaros and Firebirds. It came off the tracks in Selma, California, just south of Fresno, on November 11, 1982,” Koch told Hagerty.
“It was bringing cars to dealers, but several freight cars filled with Firebirds landed on their sides. Although some of the cars weren't damaged very badly, they could no longer be sold. After I heard about it, I immediately got on the phone.”
Koch said most of the affected vehicles were traditional Firebirds and not Trans Am variants, but that didn't matter too much as the cars were quickly fixed and modified to be used as a fleet of KITT stunt vehicles during the first Knight Rider season.
Ethan Cardinal graduated with a Journalism degree in 2020 from La Trobe University and has been working in the fashion industry as a freelance writer prior to joining Drive in 2023. Ethan greatly enjoys investigating and reporting on the cross sections between automotive, lifestyle and culture. Ethan relishes the opportunity to explore how deep cars are intertwined within different industries and how they could affect both casual readers and car enthusiasts.
