transambill

iTrader: (1)

I just bought the first season on DVD and while watching the many diff. eppisodes I've noticed that theres something under the nose of KITT. It looks like a big plate hanging down in some scenes and in one scene it looked like a couple poles with some grateing between them. I thought it might be some sort of skid plate but it's huge and seems to hang down pretty far.
So does anybody know for sure what it is? Something else I noticed. When KITT is put thru any agressive driveing it looks like half the panels on the nose are going to fall off. There's gaps between the headlights and nose and body and looks like the car was thrown together rite before filming.Am I paying to close attention to the car or has anyone else noticed this?

omnipotentgoku

iTrader: (1)

If you have an opprotunity, watch the gag reels, especially the ones where they show what actually happened after those jumps... then you will understand.

3rdgenparts

iTrader: (8)

You mean KNIGHT rider right .Check on the knight rider sites,I remember someone asking the same question,but don't rememebr the answer.

Sorry

transambill

iTrader: (1)

Yea, e-bay has the blooper DVD but I'm not a fan of tearing up F-bodies for the sake of entertainment. I have noticed they always show the landing after a short jump from the front and you can see stuff fly off the car when it hits but you never see the landing from the front if it was a tall or long distance jump where you just know the car has landed on it's nose and really f---d it up.
Also is there an eppisode where you actually get to see under the hood of KITT?

KrisW

iTrader: (5)

I saw under the hood of KITT at universal studios in LA. Crappy stock LG4 with stock everything. I even got on my belly and saw the crappy stock exhaust with the twin muffler. I got to sit in it and they had a guy somewhere with a camera watching but talking through the dash. He hit on my girlfriend so I asked him why he thought he was so fast with all those crappy parts.... KITT cursed me out!! I thought I would never stop laughing!!

transambill

iTrader: (1)

I know what it would of had as far as a stock factory motor but I figured for the show it would be some fake futureistic motor with a lot of bling bling. On a side note Kris,where in S. Indiana are you? Madison/NorthVernon IN. area here.

KrisW

iTrader: (5)

Just N of Vincennes on 67........

transambill

iTrader: (1)

I know Vincennes. Went to college there in 90-91.Good Times

KrisW

iTrader: (5)

Still good times on that end of town!!!

transambill

iTrader: (1)

I use to have a buddy liveing there and I'ed go up there every so often to party. Damn I miss those days.
The Record Cellar and Barbs Gift Shop(head shop) got plenty of my money.

KrisW

iTrader: (5)

I don't get down there much, Danny's or Cutter's if I even go...

miamivice

to answer the question........that bar you see under the car is the 'tow' bar, which allowed them to pull the TA while hasslehoff was doing his lines and pretending to drive

transambill

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info. I thought it might be a big skidplate with maybe a large spring between it and the body to absorb impact from the jumps.
I wonder how many Birds were destroyed in the filming of the series? As far as technology has advanced they could now make all the jumps computer animated and not screw up the car.Kinda like they did with the big jump in the end of Gone in 60 Seconds.

Rage13

That jump wasn't all animation, they just used computers to stretch how for it looked like the car went..

Poor cars being molested and destroyed by TV and movies..

transambill

iTrader: (1)

Still being done today. Check out Fear Factor sometime. They do it all the time and seem to use third gens a-lot.

kanuck

I agree with miamivice, you're seeing the tow bar.

Some of the cars had plexiglass covers over the stock turn signal locations. They bent in the wind and warped in the sun. So yes, the cars were generally cheaply thrown together. The "hero" cars for close up shots probably looked better than the stunt cars that did most of the driving though.

They never showed a good shot of the engine. It was supposed to be some futuristic turbojet or something. In reality, some were carbed 350's, others LG4's LU5's, V6's, whatever.

BTW, some of the cars they jumped were not Thirdgens. Some were tube frame cars (which look stupid because you can see right through the car when it jumps) and some were 1:8 scale modified Z28 models (which look stupid because they are models). That's mostly in the later seasons though.

transambill

iTrader: (1)

Cool, that explains everything,

Ryan_Alswede

I always liked the show, just seeing an F-body kicking a** was cool. When they started the car on the show it always sounded good what ever engine they had. I noticed sometimes the car would be T-Tops, sometimes hard top, other times the nose would be different with lower light or sometimes without.

88txiroc

And this thread is going south.......................