Knight Rider Replica - Kitt - 1982 Pontiac Firebird

This is it! You don't find many of these on the road today! This is a 1982 Pontiac Firebird S/E model that I spent two solid years redone as Kitt from Knight Rider. It is a little hard to let him go. He is not very happy about it but it was a project that I wanted to see if I was capable of doing. I don't consider myself a mechanic but I do consider myself good with electrical work. So I decided to embark on this project since I have a love affair with this television show. So I bought this car on EBAY. I spent two years doing this at home. This car is not a perfect replica by no means but it is a nice one. If you check out all the photos you will see that it still looks pretty amazing. It isn't like you can just go to the store and go home and build this. Most of the materials and items in this car were bought on here and elsewhere from Italy and Canada. There must be over 200 wires that connect this and that together. I have rocker switches that can turn on everything from the little tv sets to dimming the lights in the dash. This car has a Nintendo System with Knight Rider the video game. With a flip of the switch the tv comes on and the game Knight Rider plays. The car looks and feels like a space ship and driving it is very fun. I spent a little too much time with wiring. Quick Disconnects on almost everything. Under the fiberglass dash is the original gauges which still work. The odometer and all. The digital dash has real working components such as gas gauge that works and much else. The tachometer is perfect. The only problem I have found is with the speedometer. It isn't perfect. It gives you a general idea what speed your going but it still needs adjustment. It doesn't register the speed until you get around 30 mph. Every other electrical component works flawlessly. Lights, dash, center console, I have wired this car in so many ways to work. It was a job. The steering wheel is truly fun! It is so easy to drive the car with. I can imagine someone is going to ask me why I did not have the pods behind the steering wheel and it is because I wanted this car to be able to maintain an ability to use a circular steering wheel in case you needed to have one. Turbo boost button has been screwed onto dash and beeps when pressed. Has an antennae for the right side lcd tv that can pick up tv stations. The left lcd tv has nintendo. The dummy gauges that kitt on the show had scan back and forth. It is a fun car. THIS CAR WOULD BE GREAT AS A SHOW CAR! Yet it can be driven on the street. I wanted to keep the front nose of the car which is not the same on the show because of crash impact. It is urethane and is safer in case you get in an accident and the integrity of it is very nice. I couldnt see spending the extra cash for something that would be fiberglass. If you buy this car this can be your call for replacing it. I actually hand cut acrylic sheets that are about half inch thick for the panels that cover the turn signals. I made it so you could still see the lights flash through it so it would be street legal. I love the vintage rear end of the car. I couldn't black it out. If you decide to do so that is your call. I think it looks great as is. This car is just fun to drive and the kids and attention you get is crazy.
Does Kitt talk?Yes through a CD PLAYER I put in the car I have pre-recorded voices from the tv show that I put on a cd and kitt's voice box reacts to his voice or any music you play in the car. I will be including the cds for you. You can also hook up an ipod or another device. I have left wired a power supply under the driver seat in case you would like to use a tablet with voice recognition for making kitt talk. I did have voice recognition and kitt would actually talk to you. The problem is ... was that kitt would hear his self and talk back to himself. It didn't work out well. Maybe you can do better? :) SO i left it simple with kitt's voice coming through the speakers with the pre recorded Kitt voices. If you can memorize what he will say you can talk back and it seems he is talking along with you. Fun with kids :)
Does it have a digital odometer as well?Yes it does... it is not quite accurate but it is very close. You will see that the numbers are off to the real analog odometer that can be found under the dash.
How is the Title?I bought this car 2 or 3 years ago on here and the title was clean and I have the exact same title from the gentleman I bought it from on Ebay. A car this old does not have to have a title is what I was told at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Insurance is very cheap on this car. I would suggest getting Classic Car Insurance since it is worth to a collector much more.
THIS KITT REPLICA DOES NOT HAVE T TOPS?
No, there is no T Tops on this car. It is hardtop. I was thankful actually because I didn't want to deal with leaking t -tops but it does take away from the replica feel I suppose but it did not matter for me.
WHAT I HAVE REPLACED SINCE HAVING:
BRAND NEW RADIATOR
NEW AC SYSTEM including R-134 conversion
NEW COMPRESSOR FOR AC
NEW CONDENSER FOR AC
NEW ACCUMULATOR FOR AC
NEW HOSES (many)
NEW SENDING UNIT IN FUEL TANK
REPLACED ALL FUEL HOSES WITH HIGH GRADE FOR FUEL INJECTION IN CASE A CONVERSION EVER HAPPENED
MADE NICE TRAP DOOR FOR FUEL TANK in case you needed access
Replaced the rear trunk quarters upholstery
Brand new tires
MOTOR RUNS GREAT
TRANSMISSION SHIFTS SMOOTH
WHAT IS AMAZING ABOUT THIS CAR:
A LOT!
It has style! LED SCANNER ON FRONT THAT CAN BE ADJUSTED TO ALL KINDS OF PATTERNS!!!
THE DASH will light up everyone who sees it!Kitt talks through his speaker behind voicebox!
ALL THE COOL BUTTONS!
NINTENDO NES SYSTEM WITH GAME GENIE WITH KNIGHT RIDER GAME!
WORKING TV THAT PICKS UP STATIONS!
ALL THE VARIOUS ROCKERS THAT OPERATE ALL THESE COOL OPERATIONS!
INTERIOR IS NICE! LOOKS GREAT FOR ITS AGE!
BODY STRUCTURALLY IS REALLY GOOD FOR ITS AGE!
MOTOR AND TRANSMISSION WORKS GREAT!CRANKS AND RUNS GOOD
THE ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS AND ALL THE DASH PIECES ALL COST ME THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!!!
THERE IS A LOT OF STUFF HERE.THE DIGITAL DASH INSTRUMENT GAUGES ARE ALL MADE OF STEEL!!!
THINGS WRONG WITH CAR:I am a very overly honest and perfectionist type of person so here is what I find wrong:
Car is in very good shape for age. It does have some dents and dings here and there so check out all the photos.There is a small dent on the hood on passenger seat side closer to the glass.There is a few dents along the driver door of the car. Also as can be seen in the photo there is some paint peeling off the rear driver side of bumper. Once again it needs a paint job.
Hood was weak on one side and had to put some painted steel plates in to give more support.
Exhaust leak around muffler ... corrosionat tail pipe around muffler. Needs welding job.Actually there is very to little rust on this entire car. I actually spent much time spraying the underside to prevent future corrosion.Roaring noise in the rear ... at around 60mph some shaking can be felt in the seats ... was told by mechanic most likely the wheels need balancing. Have no idea what or why but car drives fine otherwise.This car needs a paint job. It is o ...k ... but it is flat. It needs a shiny new paint job.
That is about it really. Truly is a nice car for its age. Had the differential oil checked and was told it looked like this car was brand new. The mechanic couldn't believe how clean it looked.The driver seat has a torn in it. Please check out the photo that shows that as well.There is dings, scrapes, imperfections in kitt's dash as can be expected from use.
SO WHY AM I SELLING?Well to be honest I don't feel that comfortable driving such a big car. I have lived my entire life driving tiny cars like VW beetles and Toyota corollas. It's big and clunky for me. That is me. I did this because in my opinion this is a beautiful car and I wanted to take on this electrical challenge. It was a HUUUGGGEEE JOB! I wouldn't do it again. I am glad and proud of it but it was a hugggeee job. LOL!
I am not a mechanic. I never owned a carburetor and don't really feel comfortable driving a car with one. If it was me I would probably eventually drop a nice Corvette motor in here instead. 6 cylinder is a little slow for this size car. I can imagine someone will buy this car will upgrade the motor in it. Turn it into a BEAST OF A SHOW CAR!
I would love for someone to come see me and check this car out before committing to buy. Please I can show you how everything works from the interesting buttons to general driving of this car. See before committing. It is a truly unique and beautiful car!
I have videos of kitt talking and the front scanner I can send to your email address please ask if you would like to see.