KITT Now A Mustang Shelby GT500KR

 KITT Now A Mustang Shelby GT500KR
new Knightrider is Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR

NBC has finally pulled the lid off their new version of KITT, custom made for their new Knight Rider movie.  A 540 horsepower black-with-gray stripes Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR will serve as the highly specialized Knight Industries Three Thousand.

This will no doubt be a disappointment in the eyes of purists, hoping the series would stick with either a rebuilt Trans Am, or at least a GM-made car like the new Camaro and the Z06 Corvette.  WorldCarFans readers had also been anticipating something fancier, like the Maybach Exelero, Nissan GT-R, or the Koenigsegg CCX.

Three versions of the car will be used in the show, including the everyday KITT Hero, the harder, better, faster, stronger KITT Attack, and the driverless KITT Remote.  Nanotechnology will allow KITT to shape shift and change color on the fly, and KITT's supercomputer brain can hack into any computer and electrical system.

KITT will have the same artificial intelligence that made it, and the original Knight Rider, an icon of the 1980s.  Unfortunately, William Daniels will no longer provide the voice of the vehicle.  Instead, KITT will be voiced by comic actor Will Arnett.  Not to dog Arnett, who was pretty funny in Arrested Development, he seems somewhat miscast in the role.

In the original Knight Rider, Michael Long is a police officer nearly killed by a gunshot wound ot the head.  After being publically announced as killed, Long is given facial reconstructive surgery and renamed "Michael Knight" by reclusive billionaire philanthropist Wilton Knight.  Wilton Knight runs an underground crime fighting organization, and brings in Michael as his new agent.

David "The Hoff" Hasselhoff, who played Michael Knight, will return as an elder version of his character.  All My Children star Justin Bruening will play an ex-Army Ranger Mike Tracer, responsible for helping track down the feared-dead original KITT creator, Charles.  Charles' daughter, Sarah Graiman, will be played by Deanna Russo, and Bruce Davison plays Charles.  Sydney Tamiia Poitier, who you may recognize as the star of Quentin Tarantino's half of Grindhouse, plays an FBI agent helping Graiman and Tracer.  Poitier is the daughter of legendary actor Sydney Poitier.

The two-hour movie is supposed to serve as a back-door pilot for a new Knight Rider series.  If successful, and the Writers' strike ends, episodes of Knight Rider may be ready by the next fall season.

American network NBC will debut the new Knight Rider at 9pm ET on Sunday, February 17.

Source: NBC

UPDATED 'KNIGHT RIDER' REVS UP TO RETURN TO NBC FOR SPECIAL TWO-HOUR MOVIE EVENT ON FEBRUARY 17 AS NEW KITT CAR IS REVEALED

BURBANK, Calif. - December 12, 2007 - As "Knight Rider" -- NBC's iconic 1980s television classic that became a runaway success, comes roaring back to life on the network with an updated sequel that will air as a two-hour movie event on Sunday, February 17 (9-11 p.m. ET) -- NBC unveiled the new customized KITT Ford Mustang to be featured in the series in a press event held at NBC's Burbank Studios today.

The movie stars Justin Bruening ("Cold Case," "All My Children"), Deanna Russo ("NCIS," "The Young and the Restless"), Sydney Tamiia Poitier ("Veronica Mars," "Grindhouse") and Bruce Davison ("Breach," "Close to Home"). In addition, David Hasselhoff (NBC's "America's Got Talent") -- who starred in the popular lead role as Michael Knight for four seasons during the original series -- returns as the same character in a special guest-star appearance. Will Arnett (NBC's "30 Rock," "Blades of Glory") will provide the voice of KITT.

Dave Bartis ("Heist," "The O.C.") and Doug Liman ("Mr. and Mrs. Smith," "The Bourne Identity") serve as executive producers.
NBC also has an arrangement with Ford Motor Company that provides for a unique content opportunity that makes the Ford Mustang one of the stars of the movie.

The three cars to be employed in the series include the KITT Hero -- a Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR that is playing the part of the everyday Hero car with 540 horsepower; the KITT Attack -- a super high-speed version of the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR Hero car that transforms into Attack mode with the help of air-ride technology and specialized body parts -- and a KITT Remote, which is a driverless Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR version of the Hero vehicle.

As the original story resumes, the new KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand) is absolutely the coolest car ever created: its supercomputer capable of hacking almost any system; its weapons systems efficient; and its body -- thanks to its creator's work and nanotechnology -- is capable of actually shifting shape and color. Plus, its artificial intelligence makes it the ideal crime-fighting partner: logical, precise and possessing infinite knowledge. It is the ultimate car -- and someone will be willing to do anything to obtain it.

Sarah Graiman is a 24-year old Ph.D candidate at Stanford University, following in her genius father Charles' (Davison) footsteps. But when men attempt to abduct her, Sarah receives a mysterious call from KITT warning her that he's a creation of Charles, who also invented the first KITT 25 years ago -- and that her father is in serious danger.

Sarah and KITT track down her best friend from childhood, Mike Tracer (Bruening), a 23-year-old ex-Army Ranger, whom Sarah hasn't seen since he left home at 18. Having served in Iraq, Mike is now jaded and lost and initially resistant. Eventually he agrees to help Sarah and the two set out to discover who's behind the attempt to procure KITT and find Charles. Along the way, Carrie Rivai (Poitier) plays the agile yet tough FBI agent who has a long-standing friendship with Charles and Sarah. Due to those ties, she is brought into the mix to help in the search.

David Andron is supervising producer and writer. Steve Shill ("Dexter," "The Tudors"), also a co-executive producer, directs the two-hour movie from Universal Media Studios and Dutch Oven Productions.

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 FOXHOUND FOXHOUND
hmmm... i wish they did keep it a GM car like the new camaro or something, but this mustang does look bad ass. lets see what happens. do you guys think this show will be a hit? i'm willing to give it a try, for lack of anything better to watch on tv.
December 13, 2007 3:27 pm
 Joe_Limon Joe_Limon
I like how "nano" technology gives the car a huge wing and side vents haha. Oh man, if only they made the side vents more like the 2003 era mustangs... not big squares. Also, lol 2 wings.
December 13, 2007 4:36 pm
 benzboy benzboy
lets see who gets more fan mail The Car or Justin Bruening, with his shirt off. Should have been the new camaro though much more furturistic
December 14, 2007 6:55 am
 phobos phobos
a mustang GT as the new KITT, noooooo..a mustang GT is not a toy...
December 14, 2007 2:47 pm
 BENZian BENZian
It just does not seem to be a good fit. I agree the new KITT should have been a new Camaro or Corvette...even a BMW M6 or an Audi R8 but not a mustang...why not a Ford GT... a mustang...just does not compute....
December 14, 2007 7:37 pm
 lilmissveevee lilmissveevee
Wow. I wish I could've been a fly on the wall in THAT set of negotiations. Wonder what made them jump ship to Ford. Does NBC have a big advert campaign with Ford? Did GM drop the ball? As if the scheduling set backs weren't bad enough, this is not the type of PR the new Camaro needs.
December 15, 2007 8:53 am
 radmeister radmeister
it's all about $$, who was willing to pay the bigger ammount, if you think nbc cares about cars you are sadly mistaken. GM had transformers, Ford had I Am Legend(amazing movie). Now ford got KITT, it was expected for ford to come back and buy a big title series or movie. In my opinion GM waited too long with the Camaro it should have been a smooth transition from 1 model to the next not a 6 year wait. And now with the Challenger being 37,995$ for 425hp i think GM is going to have a hard time selling their Camaro. And then ontop of this mistake they have not even announced a Trans Am. From mistake to mistake.
December 16, 2007 5:29 am
 Bristol411S3 Bristol411S3
That looks hideous. Nothing to aspire to at all.
December 15, 2007 11:01 am
 Straiyan Straiyan
Aww are you serious, this thing looks insane wish we got them -.-
January 21, 2008 12:27 pm
 foose1397 foose1397
Agreed bristol. This is what you get when a tuner hollywood guy doing work. Throw on a bunch of wings and side flares and hope it comes together
December 15, 2007 2:40 pm
 DiscoDaddy DiscoDaddy
They should have gone with the Ford Pinto...would have been just as good.
December 15, 2007 6:13 pm
 joelynn joelynn
not sleek, too retro- I thought it was gonna be a Konnisegg (however thats spelt) why not a Noble?
December 16, 2007 8:22 pm
 magoo magoo
I am totally dis-appointed.The Night Rider series was totally ignorant anyway.Hollywood was hurting for business when Night Rider was produced.This new series will be the same.A stupid movie for an entertainment starved audience.
December 19, 2007 4:48 am
You know it's a shame. I own all the episodes of the old series and know them all by heart. The series lasted almost 4 years. It was always cool to watch. It was also cool to see the new devices KITT would get from one week to the next: from the turbo boost only making the car go faster at first to the turbo boost later in the series making the car do outragous jumps... I guess Im most disappointed at NBC for being so thirsty to get a series aired that they would accept one of the lamest cars on the market to be put on the show. I have been blessed to own some of the hottest and most wanted cars on the road in the world (SL55, RS4, Z06, F430...etc) and i would have to say that a ford mustang (which i refuse to even put in caps) is one of the most horrific cars ever to grace the road. It is RETRO, and KITT is supposed to be the FUTURE. I don't care how much the show is supposed to stir our imagination. In real life, the mustang sucks, it's slow (even with 540hp), its not built well, it doesnt have good brakes, and it doesn't even get tested half of the time with cars that it used to compete with back in the day (corvette!!). Out of all the cars they could have allowed for this show to use... They pick a black shopping cart with a aftermarket body kit and some chrome wheels and put nano technology on it. This is like a bad dream... The only thing they could do thats worse than this is to bring back Miami Vice and let Crookett drive a ford mustang convertible. LOL. As the bully character from the Simsons would say: HA HA!
January 22, 2008 4:55 am
 phantom_lord phantom_lord
a just can't belive that they will use as stupid car as that. rear supsention on this car tells that this is only for driveing fast in a straith line
February 18, 2008 10:17 am
 Raptor Raptor
Well, Ford does have SYNC now, so I suppose making a car that recognizes voice commands isn't so far fetched, and it also makes sense that they give the role of a talking car role to a company that makes talking cars, but also, attack mode is just awesome.
October 17, 2008 6:42 pm
 Abderskilz93 Abderskilz93
They contradicted the whole show. I agree it should have been a GM. And the fact that they didnt use a Shelby GT500KR. I was watching the show and I noticed inside the interior it was a automatic shift. All Shelby models use a manual shift. Sorry but they bought a Mustang GT and dressed it up as a GT500KR. They cheated us.
July 16, 2009 10:58 pm