The beauty of the pilot was that it was simple and harked back to the nostalgia of the old show, but the new series kept trying to reinvent the wheel to no avail. While KITT’s technology of the new millennium neatly explained away its ability to turn into a totally different vehicle, show makers couldn’t turn the tide of tight budgets and an overly complicated plot. However, things went downhill very quickly with KITT transforming into a Ford F150 pickup - a clear piece of product placement - in an opening sequence. A full series was commissioned with KITT to remain as a Mustang.Įverything was looking good for Knight Rider to make the comeback it deserved, with David Hasselhoff even appearing at the end of the pilot to set up Season 1. The pilot episode went down a storm with people pleasantly surprised by the NBC show. KITT’s amusing character remained, and all-in-all the Mustang was an acceptable successor to the Pontiac we know and love. The Knight Industries Three Thousand, voiced by none other than movie star Val Kilmer, busted onto the scene in glorious autonomous driving sequences. The mode seen in the pilot was relatively subtile in comparison to what was to come. KITT again featured a more extreme Attack Mode consisting of deployable intakes and wings for added high speed performance. The enhancements were subtle, primarily focusing on making everything black and giving the interior a futuristic feel. Budgets were tight and so when Harald Belker was tasked with modifying the car, he couldn’t be quite as creative as he had been with projects such as George Clooney's Batmobile. Mustangs had a great heritage as hero cars, they are American icons, and the new Shelby Mustang GT500 KR had hood nostrils perfect for a scanner. The four-wheeled casting net went from General Motors to Ford and Shelby. However, the Camaro’s starring role as Bumble Bee in the then recent Transformers movies put an end to that.
According to reports, executives originally wanted to use the latest Chevrolet Camaro - a car that would have likely become a modern-day Trans Am had Pontiac survived.
The new show opted to move away from the classic Trans Am, a logical decision for a new-era show, but there was no modern-day alternative to the iconic model. Any Knight Rider reboot was going to have issues with what car KITT should be.
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