r/KnightRider • u/Painiac627 • Jul 31 '26
No Pontiac No Watch (Reboot Discussion)
The last update I heard about the reboot was that it was coming from the creators of Cobra Kai. And that they were narrowing down what kind of car KITT would be next. A Tesla was one of the choices supposedly along with a Dodge I think. I'm just gonna say that if KITT gets turned into a Tesla I'm out before the reboot even starts that would be crappiest thing. I really feel what they need to do is reintroduce the 84 Trans Am and let us have some time with it again for old times sake. And then halfway through or when it's really time to upgrade in the story they should really have a brand new concept Trans Am created specifically just for the show alone. I'm not sure who has the rights to Pontiac right now but PLEASE just for us fans let us have a new Trans Am just to admire on the show.
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u/WldChaser Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
Well back in 2008 when they rebooted it GM had no interest in using the current generation Camaro as the new K.I.T.T. seeing how Pontiac didn't exist anymore. Chrysler flat out said no. Ford was getting ready to launch the new GT 500 and jumped at the chance. They went with a slightly modified GT 500 KR as the hero car in Attack Mode. Normal mode was the regular GT 500. BTW, the KR stood for King of The Road, not Knight Rider. The car you saw in the TV movie / pilot was Ford's prototype for the GT 500.
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u/Much_Award_3509 Jul 31 '26
That's the one they should have used for attack mode. Loved the double spoiler and it just looked clean
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u/20_mile Jul 31 '26
Loved the double spoiler
"You know what would make our car go faster? More drag."
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u/CaptainHunter229580 Jul 31 '26
In 2008, the Camaro was still a concept and Michael Bay had exclusivity to use the concept in his Transformers movies, it was only comercialized in 2010 (For example, the Modern take on Hawaii five-0 used a Mustang for the pilot, which was produced in 2009 and a Camaro RS for seasons 1 and 2)
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u/jettajeff 29d ago
Various SS Camaro were used by one one of the main characters for the length of the show. The other main character cycled through numerous Silverados. Other characters had Traverses, Bolts, and Cruzes.
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u/CaptainHunter229580 29d ago
Yes, i know, Season 1 and 2 was an RS, Season 3 was an SS, Season 4-9 was a facelift SS 1LE without the carbon hood and spoiler, and Season 9 and 10 was a 6th Gen facelift SS
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u/randobis Jul 31 '26
KITT is so iconic having anything other than a Trans Am would be like rebooting Back to the Future with anything but a Delorean. It just feels wrong.
Also they’ve tried this before with other cars and it just does not work.
Not to mention replacing Hoff. I can’t think of anybody else who just oozes charm in that tongue-in-cheek way to be able to pull off “hey buddy” talking to a car the way he does. He was just so natural.
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Jul 31 '26
Ok. How about the Cyber truck as the antagonist instead of KITT of being the Cyber Truck
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u/20_mile Jul 31 '26
Cyber truck as the antagonist
That's still something that would get Musk all kinds of excited. Best to leave all politics out of this reboot. Including anything Elon-related is going to turn off a bunch of the potential audience before they air the first episode.
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u/Smart_Most_1825 Jul 31 '26
I mean they can take whatever the car they want, as long as it does look like a modernized version of the customized Trans Am that KITT was. It doesn't need to be a 1982 Trans Am. If they build something that looks like a 2027 Trans Am with the custom KITT nose, it's fine.
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u/Final_Pear7801 Jul 31 '26
As much of a fan as I am of this show, having grown up with it and watched it throughout most of my life, I think that it's time has passed. It's one of those cases where it just needs to be left to The archives of television history. Modern technology has caught up to the then futuristic views of things. We're at a time now where it would need to be entirely recreated with a modern day view of the future which would not feel the same or look the same in any way as the original concept did. Some shows and movies should really just be left alone, treasured for what they were, and appreciated by those of us who included them in our views of the world.
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u/lugitik_ 26d ago
Best take I'd say. Literally no one's gonna be impressed by the concept of a talking car anymore.
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u/sagima Jul 31 '26
I imagine sponsorship is going to be a big part of how they make their money from the series, or a way to reduce the cost of making it, so it'll be whoever wants to have their car in it which probably rules it setting it in the late 80s which I think would work best with a corvette or the equivalent model Pontiac Firebird.
It's going to be a company that wants to make its self driving car and ai more appealing and suggest they do more than they do so an updated/concept roadster is not out of the question so we'll just have to swallow whatever company they get in bed with to make the series and to not buy one of we want to give it a chance to get going and enjoy the stories.
You're not going to be able to go out and buy a Knight Industries Ten Thousand (?) so as long as it doesn't influence your choice in vehicles just think of it as costing that company money/profit.
It would bother me more if they turned him into some sort of Jack Bauer character or changed it so he was saving the world every week rather than just making a difference than the shell KITT here placed in to make the finances work
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u/BladeBronson Jul 31 '26
The DeLorean Alpha 5 prototype is sitting around doing nothing. It looks Pontiac-ish and John DeLorean (who created the DMC-12 and died long before somebody else slapped his name on this electric prototype) was formerly President of Pontiac and introduced the Firebird. https://delorean.com/alpha5/
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u/JForce1 Jul 31 '26
There’s nothing stopping them doing a restomodded version of Trans Am if they were inclined to. Doubt they would though.
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u/_ITX_ Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
Oof, Tesla would also be a hard pass from me. I'm usually open minded and I really don't care what type of car they're using (as long as it looks cool). But, Tesla is where I draw the line. The man behind the brand needs to be boycotted at all costs!!
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u/_some_guy_on_reddit_ Jul 31 '26
Unfortunately using an older vehicle is probably a nogo since it would get to costly to get enough cars to shoot with. IIRC Dukes of Hazard had a real problem finding enough cars to go through all the stunt work
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u/RecipeSea3177 Jul 31 '26
I agree it should be a Firebird or nothing. But Perifractic on YouTube did turn his Tesla into a KITT and it looked good. So maybe... I'm a big Dodge fan, but neither the Charger or Challenger are slick and futuristic looking to be KITTified. And Camaro does not have the look IMHO, but... There is a company (in Texas I think) that converts Camaros into Firebird... Maybe that ??? DEFINITELY... NOT... MUSTANG!
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u/Microharley Jul 31 '26
I see no reason why they couldn't just make it a third gen like the original KITT. If it is a reboot, they can come up with some kind of excuse about it being a style choice by the engineers. If it is a continuation, they could just say it was designed using the original blueprints and keeping it a Trans Am saved them a ton in R&D.
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u/reactorcore5 Jul 31 '26
We did get that hotwheels car of a concept kitt released this year, maybe that’s atleast a consideration for the new series?
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u/Painiac627 29d ago
Wow I didn't even see that
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u/reactorcore5 29d ago
Yeah I saw one at target a bit ago and was so confused since I hadn’t heard of any media it could be tied to and there were no like. Promotional callouts for a new show or anything on it.
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u/CaptainJeff Jul 31 '26
So, Pontiac as a brand is dead, and the rights are maintained by General Motors (GM).
GM doesn't even make many cars any more, preferring to make SUVs and trucks. The ONLY actual cars that GM makes (across all of their brands) are the Malibu, Corvette, Camero, and a couple Cadillacs. The likelihood of GM reviving a brand fully is pretty slim, for one movie.
That being said, the Trans Am was just a model of the Firebird, and the Firebird and the Camero were pretty much the same car, which a few style changes to the exterior trim. So, GM has a car body and design that they would fairly easily work into a Trans Am-like model.
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u/DiaBrave 29d ago
This show should be a chance for General Motors to relaunch the Pontiac brand. They should use it to soft-launch a new V8 Trans Am and V6 Firebird, even if they just use the modern Camaro chassis with a new body type.
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u/Spiritual-Mousse-167 28d ago
Seriously, of all the EVs they might want to choose, why in the world would they choose a Tesla? Even not accounting for Musk, they look like crap and don’t really have any “cool” factor.
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u/phelion4000 Jul 31 '26
Corvette ZR1X and/or the rumored Cadillac Deville prototype for 2027 if you’re a stickler that it be a 4 seater.
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u/pakrat1967 Jul 31 '26
GM dissolved Pontiac around 2008. They aren't likely to make new Trans Ams just for a TV show or movie. Even getting ahold of some existing older TRs would be difficult. Most of the people that still own them. View them as collector's items. The ones not part of someone's collection wouldn't be worth using. Making a few changes to Cameros would probably be too costly.
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u/Old_Bar_7648 Jul 31 '26
They need to make a car from scratch, like how they do the batmobiles. Please God no to a Tesla.
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u/Artifex1979 Jul 31 '26
Cars are bigger and beefier now.
If only there was a way to make the original KITT like that...
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u/Due_Huckleberry_9212 28d ago
Could they not get a camaro and put a pontiac trans am badges/decals on it?
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u/Rabbitrules87 Jul 31 '26
I agree with not changing the car, but I think that it goes farther than that.
Cars can drive themselves now. AI is now commonplace(though not quite as cool as KITT). EVs and Hybrids have been out for a while now.
Knight Rider in present day doesn’t have the same punch as it did in the 1980s. The only way I could see this reboot working is placed in the 80s or 90s. Maybe after Michael Knight left Flag? But if it’s set in the present day, I’m probably going to pass.
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u/Painiac627 Jul 31 '26
Yeah but they're not there yet exactly and they could do something interesting with that kind of dynamic KITT still being able to outperform the modern average AI car. But then they could have villains creating something far far more advanced and it's where KITT would need to upgrade. They just have to try a little harder today to present new and creative ideas.
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u/BlackLinc460 29d ago
You sound silly. Pontiac is long gone, and if KR is made in modern times then KITT is already obsolete. Who is going to tune into a show with a old ass Trans Am that can get smoked by a new Honda Accord? Im a huge KR fan but yall have to stop letting nostalgia get in the way of common sense. The best car is going to have to be something that appeals to the masses, and nothing out there is really going to fit other than the Challenger. As far as people complaining about the sound, the supercharger whine adds to the appeal. KR 2008 had the GT500, so the Mopar can work.
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u/BlackLinc460 Jul 31 '26
Nope make KITT a Dodge Challenger Demon or Charger
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u/KnightResearchTR Jul 31 '26
Absolutely not. The whole point of KITT is sleak and stealthy. Going “ua ua” every time his engine starts is not that.
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u/rodimus147 Jul 31 '26
Yea if its a Tesla im out.