The new Knight Rider car is a Mustang?

Does this honestly look like a state-of-the art car capable of being a super-hero? Of course not. It's a Ford.

The new star of NBC's Knight Rider (part deux) is a Mustang! K.I.T.T. is rolling over in whatever junkyard graveyard he's currently residing in. (Actually, K.I.T.T. is alive and well -- and probably living in sin with The General Lee -- but that's not important right now.)

I'm queasy enough with Knight Rider making a return in movie form. But now they're sullying tradition by having a Mustang stand in for the old Trans-Am?

My first car was a 1982 Mustang. Bright white. Decorative (aka "fake") air scoop in front. Let me tell how much I loved that thing. The engine caught on fire -- twice. The rear-view mirror fell off weekly. And in the last year of ownership, the only way I could get the car into gear was by sticking a butter knife into the transmission hole. American craftsmanship.

But according to NBC's publicity machine, the new K.I.T.T. "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."

Let's hope it knows how to made last-minute appointments at the service garage too. But wait! There's more: "Its artificial intelligence makes it the ideal good cop partner: logical, precise and possessing infinite knowledge. It is the ultimate car -- and someone will be willing to do anything to obtain it."

Trust me on this. If you do manage to obtain "the ultimate car," invest in a couple of fire extinguishers. They might come in handy.

-- The two-hour movie version of Knight Rider airs on Sunday, Feb. 17, at 9 p.m. Eastern time.

[NBC publicity photos]

Comments

[chase]

Hey, it's all about the product placement dollars. Just be glad Fiat didn't cough up the required Benjamins, "It's mysterious and foreign, it's compact enough to sneak through tiny spaces, and it loves the ladies ... The KITTiano is the "ultimisimo" in European styling."

[Spears]

Do you think my blog item hurts the chances of getting Ford to sponsor the podcast?

[Jeff in Cuba]

If you think Fiat would be bad product placement, how about this:

"Michael Knight (Ed Begley, Jr.) slips behind the wheel of the new K.I.T.T., (voice of Al Gore), a quality pre-owned 2002 Prius, that not only accesses the Internet, but invented the Internet. It is the ideal good world-citizen partner: stoic, wooden, and with a tiny carbon footprint. It is the ultimately efficient car, and someone will be willing to purchase negotiable, free-market emission credits in order to obtain it!"

[Rock_Vbrg]

Spot on Jeff. It is all about product placement and who has the dollars to do it. If you watched the Transformers Movie you would see that all of the "Good Guys" are GM products and all the "bad Guy" car was a Ford. (not my observation but a friend told me that one).

Steve, I'm sorry to hear about your woes with your Mustang but it must have been made on either a Monday Morning or Friday afternoon. But the new revival of the muscle car sort of works. I would figure the Mustang would work better for K.A.R.R than K.I.T.T.

[Marissa]

I never, let me stress NEVER, watched Knight Rider, but this blog post made me spew out my morning cup o'joe. Thanks for the giggle material, Steve.

[jane]

I also never watched the original Knight Rider, despite the obvious charms of The Hoff -- but I might tune in to this version, simply to hear Gob Bluth (aka Will Arnett) as the voice of K.I.T.T. He's got one sexy, badass voice. Rowr.

[Spears]

Have you seen Will Arnett in "Let's Go To Prison"? It was on the pay channels pretty regularly recently. Classic.

[jane]

I have not yet seen "Let's Go To Prison", but I'll now look for it, just for the Arnett factor. The only thing I've seen him in recently was on 30 Rock -- on which he was a riot, natch.

[Hamptune]

So the Mustang can change into other forms, like a Trans-Am perhaps...I don't know why GM/Pontiac did not jump at the chance to intro a new sportscar.

[Debra]

Hey Steve - you do realize what FORD stands for, right? Fix or Repair Daily. I have also seen Found on Road Dead.

[Rick]

Okay, so someone is a Ford man... but a Mustang??? Why not a Taurus for God's sake?

Why not a Ford GT which looks like a supercar?
http://cars.optzile.com/?p=67

The show was about as believable as Baywatch (with one wooden actor in common), but if they give it the TRANSFORMERS treatment, it could really be a fun movie, but not with a freakin' Mustang at the center of it. Lame choice.

[Linda Hartigan]

I can't believe that they think a Ford Mustang is anywhere close to being as slick and sexy as that Pontiac Trans Am original K.I.T.T !! Pontiac Firebirds rule!!

[powerage66]

I volunteer my 1990 Firebird for the upgrade to the new KITT car.

[Eric S]

I did like the original Knight Rider. Enjoyable show. My car right now is actually a '99 Mustang. Probably the best car I have owned. No problems in 9 years of owning it.

[jane]

Phooey. And drat.

From TVGuide.com:

Will Arnett has been replaced as the voice of KITT in NBC's soon-to-premiere Knight Rider TV-movie/backdoor pilot. According to Variety, though Arnett had already recorded what I am sure was some deliciously dry dialogue, it came to light that because the Arrested Development alum has done voice-over work for General Motors — and KITT is "played" by a Ford Mustang — he'd have to graciously bow out.

Val Kilmer instead will lend his pipes to the shape-shifting upgraded supercar.

[Jeff in Cuba]

Nick Rivers for Gob Bluth?

In automotive terms, I believe that's known as "trading down".

A Cobra at that! I bet the supercomputer is one of them high-powered Crays with all the bells and whistles.

[Rebecca]

Uh...in case you didnt know, you fool, Trans Ams are no longer made and havent been for several years. I own a 06 Mustang GT and am seriously sure the design team at NBC got it right..the car rocks...grow up...and I am a female..imagine that, a female that is a motorhead that knows what she is talking about...

[Rick]

Rebecca, HAVE YOU SEEN THE FORD GT!!!?

Talk about an American car that rocks!

[Sook Mii]

"Hey Steve - you do realize what FORD stands for, right? Fix or Repair Daily. I have also seen Found on Road Dead."

I have never heard this before! You are so witty!

[Recovering Detroiter]

OK, bag on Ford for letting their product be in what is sure to be a cancelled show, that's fine.
But don't bag on them for early 80's quality issues. Um, the statute of limitations has passed on that awhile ago. We all know that American cars (not trucks) were kinda shoddy in the 80s and 90s and Ford was no exception.
But look at Ford's quality ratings today: Consistently awesome (as are most car companies -- consumers expect quality, and they are getting it). Ford cars are boring, though (see Taurus, Freestyle, etc. - not that the Camry and Accord get my blood a-pumpin'), but the Mustang is still the best looking (and only real remaining) American muscle car out there. The Chevy Camaro will be out soon, and will turn some heads fo sho, but what's available now? The Avenger? 300M? Magnum? Or from our Japanese friends, the Civic Si? The Scion xB? Hardly the kind of cars to get excited about. The looks and performance of this second-to-none vehicle is enough to make me want to raise my beer to the fine men and women in Flat Rock who build the Mustangs.

[Rick]

I don't think that GM considered the Trans Am a muscle car, frankly, and Detroiter, the Mustang was a sports coupe not a muscle car until it was redesigned in the Bullitt days, and it surely reverted to sports coupe in the mid-70s and for a long stretch after.

But my question is, why not raise your beer to the Ford GT, America's only supercar, for dang's sake??? Made by Ford. Looks like Speed Racer designed it! But without a trunk for Spridle!

Not a single other post about the American car they SHOULD have used...Hello? Hello? Is this thing on???