1993 Rewind: Detailing Knight Rider's KITT at Universal Studios Hollywood 

Even after all these years im still fascinated with this car 🙂

I remember sitting and talking with KITT at this very attraction when I was a kid. It was such a thrill. I remember being mad that they wouldn't let us take longer than the...I believe it was 2-5 minutes they give each guest. I was so convinced it was KITT's voice too. To an excited little girl, he sounded spot on!

Visited Universal in 91 as part of the TN. based Hermitage Springs School Senior Class Trip. I consider sitting and chatting with K.I.T.T a highlight of our Universal visit n stay in L.A. enroute to Hawaii. Took LOTS of pics. Was very happy to see K.I.T.T. be part of the "Universal" experience even the show had been cancelled for several years at that point. Felt really cool to imagine I was Michael Knight, even if only for a moment. Thanks for posting all the great KR. history, vintage video clips, and rare info.

I asked KITT to tint his windows and he said it would drain to much of his battery power... Love y'alls videos! Really takes me back to the day!

To this day almost 40 yrs later. That car still looks so futuristic when you see the concept cars of today. It's still so Aerodynamic, so sharp & Bullet shaped, the profile with the Knight Rider Nose looks like a Knife cutting through the wind.

Still watching, but had to pause to comment. I’m 43, born in ‘76, and I was there!! I remember walking across the water to the car!! KITT was my favorite show!! I’m thinking I was maybe 10, or even younger, so it must have been 1985-87 timeframe... perhaps even 1984. I have a picture someplace I’m going to see if I can find it!! I’m from Northern California, and on this trip, we went to Disneyland and Universal studios, but out of all the rides and attractions both parks had to offer, THIS will forever be etched in my mind as the highlight of that trip!!!!

This was one of the highlights for me as a kid when I’d go to Universal!

YEP! I do remember this car at Universal. I am positive I still have the photo of me in the vehicle. Another photo that I have is the van from the A-Team, it was the fake full-scale replica that you could pick up off the ground.

you can hear the back to the future ride in the background. this is a rare historical gem

Had the pleasure of sitting in this car many times. I seem to recall the steering wheel was fixed and didn't move like in the video. I also recall kitts voice box was working when he talked. My sister thought it sounded like kitt but universe wasn't going to fool a 13 year old.... Me!

Favorite show growing p in the eighties. When I was about 7 I got to sit in KITT at Universal Studios CA, and KITT actually ask me my name and other simple questions. I was probably spellbound at that age. Later in life I happened upon THE HOFF just vacationing in Malibu as he was about to shoot for his failed reality show. I gathered my bollux and discretely approached him and explained my fandom asking for a photo with him. He took 4 eternal seconds to look up from his phone before Enthusiastically replying " Sure! That'd be just fine" before his bitchy assistant gruffly interjected "Give Mr. Hasslehoff a minute, to finish on his phone, and I'LL be taking the picture". Almost talking over her, HOFF is already asking where I hail from, and remarking on the Nebraska Cornhuskers. HOFF couldn't have been COOLER to me. One of the best moments in my life.

I went to Universal Studios back in 1984 and sat in KITT and had a nice conversation. I got a couple of pics.

Ok , Here's what I was told..,The dock was installed to protect the cars finish and keep kids safe ,and off the car , that's why the dock was built ,so the kids of all ages could sit in the car , and talk to It and still protect the cars finish and the safety of the kids .It was really an Offshoot of McHales Lake that they weren''t using for anything else at the time and it made a perfect place to put a dock and that's why I had to put on waders to detail the entire car

I want to know who the genius was that thought it was a good idea to put the car over nasty water & add ground effects even if it was for the speaker! Plus i want whatever AJ is on lol! Amazing video!

33:53 When the Iconic Lights Flip up. It gave Kitt that allure, Thank you so much for the Awesome video. I remember the Day. I went to see Kitt the pathway was closed. My father told Me The vice of Kitt was probably sick.

I sat in Kitt when I was a kid at Universal Studios. I think it was 1984. It was epic!

Guys, this channel is just awesome. Thank you so much for the time, effort, and passion.

By putting it in the water like that they prevented people from accessing the car from anywhere else except the bridge and kept people from crowding around the vehicle Very ingenious whoever thought that up because it allowed for great line of sight all around the vehicle

I remember going to Universal Studios three different times to go that exact attraction to sit inside KITT, the first two were back in 1984 when I was 10 years old and I remember that the rule that there had to be a minimum of two people to be allowed to sit inside KITT, I was with my mom and one of her girlfriends, and neither of them had any desire to sit inside KITT, at the same time a guy with his daughter who was probably about the same age as me, so it was decided to have me and his daughter sit inside KITT, I go to sit in the driver's seat and that girl got to sit in the front passenger seat. The second time was with a woman who used to babysit me and some other kids, two girls, and two other boys, not to mention the babysitter's daughter who was 2 years old at the time, this time it was me and one of the two other boys she used to babysit. The third time was probably back in like 1988 or 1989, and I think by that time I got to sit inside KITT who at the point now had the season three/four dashboard. I remember the commercial where KITT said come to Universal and sit inside me and have the experience you will never forget and of course KITT never forgets anyone, but on sitting inside KITT the second time, KITT said to me "I don't remember you," to which my dad concluded later on after I told him about it, that it was obviously a different person who was playing the voice of KITT that day. I remember asking KITT where was the C button, to which he replied that after the show was canceled that button was removed, and of course when I asked where was the Super Pursuit Mode, he just replied "that information is classified" to which I was thinking more like it was KITT's way of saying "I honestly do not know where that would be located," since whenever it was used a door panel would slide open so that Michael could press it.

As a little kid i got to sit in kitt at a car show,I remember like it was yesterday and I'll never forget it!

In the mid 80s my mom took me to see one of the touring KITTS at a local mall (Paramus NJ). I don't think she took any pictures of me in it. I just remember a KITT was parked in the middle of the mall and there was a repeating loop of Willam Daniels saying "Please don't ask me any questions as I am not programmed to respond" . It was exciting but I was wise and old enough to know that it was just a prop car from a fake TV show with a guy who recorded his lines as the voice, it didn't actually have a mind of its own.

Lovely! I remember sitting in this, but my memory is a blur, because I was 11 at the time.

I still drive a 1986 Trans Am and it's still sweet.

Hey, uncle jake! That's pretty awesome. I wish I was old enough to have seen you do it

It's funny because I remember visiting KITT in the mid 80s when I was only 5 years old, and I remember my dad talking about how shiny the car was sitting over the water. Crazy the stuff we remember.

I loved Knight Rider so much. God Bless the program makers Kitt and Michael Knight for some truly lovely childhood memorys Amen xxxxxxx Wow Earthly life was so much better back in these days

I think it was 1984 when my parents took me to universal and I have pics from me in this car, I was 8. Funny story, I got super sick for whatever reason and I ended up in the infirmary, yes they have some kind of infirmary at universal. I was in view of the car. ACTUALLY the car would talk back to you when you sat in it. I was extremely upset while I was sitting trying to get better, I saw the wire leading from the car to a box that was the size of a lil shed. The person came out of the shed that was the voice of Kitt. They could see the people get inside the car and they also had a microphone so they could hear whoever was in the car and respond back to them 🤣 Man what good times. Thanks for sharing these videos!!!

Had a chance to sit in that very car in the 80s. Thanks for the memories guys, cool footage!

Great videos lately. Thankyou for finding and uploading. Love all these. Imagine being the first visitors to see KITT after he was cleaned and shined..🥳 Wow.

I visited from the Netherlands as a kid. It was a fantastic experience to be in KITT. I talked to KITT and really thought he was talking back. I know there was also the A-team show. Great series back in the 80's.

I loved Knight Rider so much as a kid!! I remember the long line just to sit in the car. Meanwhile, my cousins went on all the rides. I had to sit in KITT. I had so many questions to ask KITT. But when it was finally my turn sit in KITT I suddenly became overwhelmed and forgot all my questions. Still have a pictures. The only rides I remember, if you can call them rides, that I got on were Jaws, E.T. demonstrations(I did not get to ride on the bike w/E.T.😂), Battle Star Galactica, and lifting an A-Team van prop. But still worth seeing the most awesome car.

Remember seeing this back in July 89 when I went to Universal Studios, lost a roll of film with all the pictures!

I was there 2 times back in 86 I was 16 what fun times

Thank you for sharing 🖖 awesome retro video 👍 @17:30 Lol guy said "I'm sick of being a Klingon"

Those were the better years! Even this old video makes you feel your there atm enjoying this beautiful moment!

Yes sir, yes i was one of them lucky people to seat in KITT in 1987.(And i have pic's to prove it lol) highlight of my trip to beautiful USA.

Awesome video. Nice to see how well that car cleans up. I just cleaned Jake's pool the other day. Cool guy. Cheers. What's up, George?

I remember that dock... I remember talking to a KITT... but it was not in the 90s. It was in the 80s. But I could have sworn the KITT I was in had the correct seats. I would have noticed something like that as a kid. lol Also... I can't believe they got a shot of my other favorite attraction from this period. The Star Trek Adventure! I loved that too!

My favorite show of all time. My teenage years always brings me thoughts of knight rider. I did get the opportunity to see David Hassellhoff when he visited South Africa in the mid 80s . It was something I Wil never forget. He had his famous Knight Rider leather jacket and a replica kitt.

Truly amazing piece of history :)

not watched it yet but its 52mins long, gona sit back with a beer and enjoy

I been to this Universal theme park or Universal studios back in the 80's . To see KITT knight rider and I thought it was the coolest thing ever! In a way I felt like a piece of history myself, probably because I got to see it. It was a real privilege to talk to the famous iconic car! Makes me miss the 80's! I remember talking to KITT and asking him how deep the water was next to the car and he told me it was not very deep. I guess I feared the little pond back then. I wish they could bring it back somehow. I'd like to see Airwolf too and have a picture of it also! I want to be in the cockpit awe man I love what the 80's brought to the general public. Anyway its all good!😅

Jake Paradise, glad to have spoke with ya.

Great video thanks I saw the car in the park back then.

I had the privilege see kit when I was a kid awesome experience

What a great video. The Airwolf connection is awesome. My 2 favorites. Glen Larson really knew how to capture our imagination, didnt he? I miss the 80's. Keep up the good work guys, and thanks.

Wow this is amazing. So glad you guys have your channel and are so active on it. I was born in 89 but always loved these cars and the show. Its interesting seeing how many sets of seat this car has had in photos. Makes sense that it would get dirty and probably easiest to swap a different set in and clean the next set.

Full hours of retro memory

Great video AJ and Joe, you guys rock!! Funny how Jake is wearing an Airwolf cap. Under the front bumper, that section was probably inserted afterwards, because that doesn't appear in the TV Show!!

Awesome video! Never been in that Universal KITT myself but this video sure was the next best thing :) I only have old clip from newspaper from sometime in the 80's, which has a photo of the Universal KITT, but it has 2 tv dash.

Wow! What memories! I came across to LA from England in the 90's, and visited Universal Studios may times. I remember sitting in KITT and telling him all about a fan fic I wrote where I mixed several shows together. He said he was pleased he was the star of it! LOL! MANY years later I was still writing fan fic for shows, and chose X Files as my topic. Amazingly enough, I actually got a response from Mulder (David Duchovny) who read it online in 2004! First time ever I was told by a celeb my writing was excellent! I have been making my old stories into audio books, and 'KITT's Duet' is one I am creating for fans this year! This combines Knight Rider characters with Fame, and A-Team. I now know Lee Curreri who played Bruno in Fame, and he liked my post when I said it was becoming an audio book, along with other Fame fan fics.

Thats crazy seeing that picture Of K.I.T.T. at universal studios Cause I had that pleasure 1985. To sit in K. I. T. T. Childhood memories.

So this is the very car I sat in In 1989. The voice that talked to me sounded just like mister Rodgers

I made my only visit to Universal Studios in November of 1993 & have a picture sitting in KITT. Depending on when they did this in '93, it may have been the detail job that made KITT shine during my visit! I was a senior in high school. Pretty cool!

Awesome! Have a pic of myself sitting in it 1996

If it was one of the originals, why in the world did they add the ground effects?

so apparently They thought K.I.T.T.was a boat,still cool to see,and those seat head rests were not correct.

Thanks for sharing this fantastic footage. It was always a dream of mine to sit in this car. Didn’t happen as there is a long way from Denmark. Weel guess what...Today I have my own KITT-replica to drive. And I cherish the work of our tireless Knight Rider Historians who keep the hobby alive.

Thank you very much for sharing this video, I really enjoyed it alot.

Hi Jake, this is Andy from knolls market. It was a pleasure meeting you and thank you for stopping by.

Man i remember sitting in this car in the 80s at universal studios very young and have pictures. and oh man the old west photo booth explains a lot of why i have a picture of me and the family in old west clothes in black and white with it was next to kitt.

Thank you for sharing this. Growing up in the 80s Knight Rider, as well as A team, Airwolf especially was staple viewing for myself and others here in Australia. Oh and Dukes of Hazzard as well. I never got the chance to travel abroad to the US to see any of the major studio theme parks and their attractions. I heard Airwolf or Blue Thunder featured at one of the parts at some point for a period of time. To see this, actual video of KITT being maintained and detailed kinda makes up for never seeing it first hand as a child. Again much thanks for sharing. Stay safe.

Kitt is one of the best movie car of all time., no movie car can never replace it

I sat in that car when i was a kid !

Just met jake today! Awesome guy

Brings back so much memories. I actually sat in that car too when I was a kid. KITT was the only reason why I wanted to go to Universal Studios.

I was on holiday when I was about 12 or 13 from the UK and I still have the photos of when I sat in KITT I'm 43 now and still watch Knight Rider

The seats were constantly different. I saw at least 3 different seat styles in all the still shots shown here.

Super cool! What a lucky guy. Thank you for sharing this video.

That was cool that he did that for the car, they were happy evidently just to let it degrade, back when I was a teen all I knew I wanted to do was see the T2 Battle Across Time attraction, I didn't know they had a Star Trek attraction right across from the Knight Rider experience, that's cool I was such a star trek geek back in the day if I heard it, I'd probably run across the park hearing the music, trying to locate it... Too bad they're all closed now...

These are different cars. Check out the headrests...some of the pics show PMD seats but then these look like leather

Thank you for this awesome video!

Wow! Awesome treasure to have. Thanks for sharing. I love your channel. I wonder why in the old photos there are both kinds of seats? Did they have 2 different cars they switched out or did they switch the interior at points due to wear? And I wonder why they added the ground effects?

I have a couple of pictures of that car from back in 89 or 90. I won a sales contest with Pepsi and got a trip to Universal to a private party with Elvira there @ Universal Studios. We had all day to walk around Universal and then went back that night for a private tour & party. It was a lot of fun and great memory's. I remember sitting in the Kitt TA and teasing back & forth with "man behind the curtain" ..oops I mean Kitt. ;)

A side Note to all My KNIGHT RIDER FELLOW FANS , I lost an old Friend ,and We lost a Grand Lady ,Yesterday , and ( as she told me back when I met her in the 80's Making an Episode of 'MURDER SHE WROTE" at the Turtle Bay Hilton ) Also a KNIGHT RIDER FAN. When she could catch it with her busy schedule So REST IN PEACE ANGELA . One of the Coolest things about You was that You told me to call you by your first name the first time we met., with you in your make up chair as you let me take your picture .Just before resuming filming . As We said in the Navy 'FAIR WINDS AND FOLLOWING SEAS " Jake AKA Your biggest Fan !!

Wow. Has it been that long? In 1982/83 I would walk from Altadena all the way to San Marino just to hang out with my friend Willie. He was the guy who kept Kitt looking great. I met "the Hoff." 😊 a few times. Secretly I thought he was Elvis with a perm. 😊😉 And that he was using a German last name because he was in stationed in Germany once. This was in California. San Marino was the set for the Devon miles estate. SIDE NOTE: The front entrance was also used in the 1966 BatMan TV show where they went to London. ("I know I'm gonna screw this name up...") The Londdinium Larcenies. A three-part episode. ================= So the next time you see Kitt racing out of that gate? From the estate? Just compare the two and know that Batman had been there FIRST! "HOLY BACK TOO THE FUTURE BATMAN." BATMAN: "Yes old chum, their clever. Devilishly clever." 😄

Cool. I was there in October of 93. The que to sit in KITT was too long, so I did the BTTF ride instead. Lol

My neighbor, Tim Burgess, worked at Universal Studios and was involved with getting the display up and running as well as maintaining it. Had some really fun stories. Glad to know the car was rescued and is well cared for.

As a Non Professional Detailer I appreciate it that as a Professional Detailer you enjoyed the video,. .There were times that I wish I could have had the car removed from the Water. But that wasn't happening ..It never occurred to me to see if there was a Cordless Buffer on the Market at that time. Hind sight is always 20/20 .. STAY SAFE .. LATER Jake.

I have a picture of this attraction back when I was 3 years old

I got a chance to sit on that K.I.T.T. one of my more memorable highlights. Remember like it was yesterday. Walking up the stairs from the Universal Studios by the wall waterfall and hearing the infamous scanner sound. I only being 6yrs old, ran ditching my parents to try and find what I knew was Knight Rider!!.

search by "Echtes Stück Frontscheibe von KITT aus Knight Rider" - its said to be a screen used part of this car here

Interesting to see the changes in the seats in the various photos over time. I have video somewhere of kids talking to that car. Ironically in that same vacation trip, noticed that the Hoff was on the same train car as we were on Big Thunder Mountain at Disney and he was nice enough to let me get a photo with him after the ride. I'm 6'2" and not used to many people taller than me, but that dude was tall!

Pretty sweet idea for a show and car. Even more cool to get to hear about it from Jake as we camp in Southern California. Always loved the show and especially the car when it went into pursuit mode!

Looks great

Listen to the Back to the Future theme in the background, the future version of downtown Hill Valley replete with a DeLorean time machine was close by.

I’m a detailer and would love to work on KITT... both my Volvos are black because I love knight rider so much ❤️

i never heard about the ride til way later, im way over in louisiana, and my dad work for DHS, theres no way he would drive all of us to Cali for me to seat in KITT. but i do remember walking to a chevy place with drawings of the dash that i drew up and was going to get them to build me a dash, (no electronics just the dash shell)

That's awesome

I was there the first time and the line was so incredibly long my dad was like F this. I got to see everyone else get in driver seat though, after that never saw him again, unless on TV or the only car toy I had of him, which I got from crying a lot that same day because of not wanting in line. Now as an adult the closest I've been to knight Rider is through Burnout Paradise City. We did get to see Miami Vice that day though yet it was no kitt.

wow that was awesome, great work and thank yo ufor sharing this with us

0:46 I was one of those thousands of fans to sit in that car. I was probably 5-7 years old and I vaguely remember sitting in kitt pushing buttons and playing with the steering wheel with kitt saying hello to me.

You Must remember this , A Kiss is Just a Kiss But K.I.T.T ROCKS FOREVER!! HA HA

My first job was at Universal. I had several positions while I was there. When I worked nights, it was my job to wipe down this KITT. This video really brings back memories.

This video should cross over with the theme park folks for the look at the Studio back then, and the Radio Shack Color Computer folks because of the use of Audio Spectrum Analyzer as the KITT display screen.

Oh man. You can hear the back to the future the ride theme on the background.

As a detailer this is fun to see. I'm surprised to see they didn't use an electric buffer. I guess that would have been tricky as the car was surrounded by water and a cord could have been submerged.

it looked rough when i visited , like it was cleaned with a brillo pad , whats with the bumper spoiler

lol I remember that. I have photos when I was there.

Nice photos