Actor David Hasselhoff’s own replica of the car he drove in the Knight Rider TV series has sold at auction for £220,000.
The car wasn’t used in the series, but has undergone a full Knight Rider conversion that includes a pulsating red light in the extended front bumper, high-tech (for the 1980s) digital dashboard and TV monitor, plus a steering wheel with no top or bottom that must make negotiating roundabouts slightly tricky.
In the show, of course, Hasselhoff could simply delegate driving duties to the car. But because – like the cars that were used in the TV show – it’s actually just a 1980s Pontiac Firebird underneath the glitzy bits, there’s no autonomous driving function, no turbo boost, ejector seat, ski mode or bomb sniffer.
Hasselhoff played the lead role of Michael Knight in Knight Rider, which ran for five seasons between 1982 and 1986, and remains his most famous part. Hoff’s character is an undercover detective who is shot and almost killed, but saved by billionaire Wilton Knight, given a new name and face, and paired up with a the Knight Industries 2000 (KITT for short), a high-tech Trans Am so the team can fight injustice everywhere.
The show might have ended over 30 years ago, but Hoff and KITT are still doing their bit to fight injustice: apparently proceeds from the sale of the car are going to an undisclosed charity.
The replica was listed on the Live Auctioneers website with an estimate of $175,000-$300,000 and a promise from Hasselhoff to personally deliver the car to the new owner if the final sale price topped the reserve price by 25 per cent.
At one point before the auction ended on January 23, bidding had reached an incredible $975,000 (£712,000), but those bids were later discovered to be fraudulent and removed, leaving the winning bid at $300,000 ($220,000).
Keyword: David Hasselhoff’s personal Knight Rider car sells for £220,000