Knight Rider: KITT

KITT was designed by customizer Michael Scheffe. The convertible and super-pursuit KITTs were designed and built by George Barris.

KITT (an acronym for Knight Industries Two Thousand) is the name of a fictional computer that controls the high-tech Knight 2000, a black Pontiac Trans Am T-top automobile in the science fiction television series Knight Rider. The voice for KITT was provided by St. Elsewhere and 1776 star William Daniels, who requested that he not be credited for his work.

In the television show's fictional history, KITT was said to have been designed by the late Wilton Knight, a brilliant but eccentric billionaire and founder of the Foundation for Law and Government, (commonly shortened to "FLAG"), and its parent the Knight Foundation.

KITT's main cybernetic processor was first installed in a mainframe computer used by the United States government in Washington D.C.However, Wilton saw better use for "him" in the Foundation's crime-fighting crusade and eventually the system was installed in the vehicle. KITT was in fact the second vehicle built by Knight Industries with artificial intelligence. His predecessor was KARR, the Knight Automated Roving Robot. KARR was programmed for self-preservation, but this proved to be dangerous to the Foundation's interests. KARR was later deactivated and placed in storage while KITT was given to his new operator, Michael Knight (the new identity of Michael Long).

Unlike KARR, KITT is programmed primarily to protect Michael at all cost as well as all human life (referring to Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics). This is made clear in the pilot episode where Michael asks Devon Miles if KITT will protect anyone driving it. Devon's answer is that KITT's primary function is the preservation of human life, and Michael's in particular.

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Custom Car: George Barris, Part 6

Contrary to rumor, Barris had nothing to do with the De Lorean time machine from the Back to the Future movie series. There had been such speculation over the years, especially since a couple of De Loreans actually were customized by Barris' workshop. In 2004, though, Bob Gale at the De Lorean Car Show went on record and said that George Barris had no part in the design of the De Lorean in Back to the Future. Barris has also claimed to have built, or had a large hand in designing and customising Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters, the Monkeemobile (in truth, designed by Dean Jeffries), the Black Beauty (also built by Jeffries) from The Green Hornet, the Munster Koach and Dragula from The Munsters (both were designed by Tom Daniels).

Barris still works out of his shop, assisted by his son and daughter. The firm remains busy with 'kustom' creation, charitable functions, and even a Barris clothing line. The founder himself is still in the public eye, receiving awards, appearing at auto-related events, and recently being featured on ABC TV's popular show Extreme Makeover.

Custom Car: George Barris, Part 5,The Munster Koach & Dragula

George Barris built two automobiles for the show: "The Munster Koach", a hot rod built on a lengthened 1923 Ford Model T chassis with a custom hearse body, and Dragula (which inspired a Rob Zombie song by the same name), which was a drag car built from a coffin, which Grandpa used to win back "The Munster Koach" after Herman lost it in a race. (According to Barris, a real coffin was, in fact, purchased for the car.) In real life Yvonne de Carlo drove a Jaguar sedan fitted with custom-made "spooky" ornaments, for example spider webs on the rims. She had to give up on it, as the car was repeatedly vandalized by "fans" hunting for souvenirs.

Or did he?
I've seen conflicting reports that the Munster Koach and Dragula from The Munsters were designed by Tom Daniel.

So I think designed by Tom Daniel and built by George Barris is more acurate.

"Coach and Dragula, the cars were actually created by Tom Daniel from specifications given to him by George Barris in 1964"
http://www.showrods.com/acrobat_articles/tdaniell.pdf

Also see: http://www.munsterkoach.com/dean1.htm

Custom Car: George Barris, Part 4, The Clampett Family Truck

The Clampett Family Truck - The 1921 flatbed Oldsmobile four-cylinder truck with roped-down hood and glass-less headlights seen at the beginning of each episode of the sitcom THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES/CBS/1962-71. When the poor mountaineer, Jed Clampett, (Buddy Ebsen) discovered oil on his Ozark property "he loaded up his truck and he moved to Beverly. Hills, that is, swimming' pools, movie stars." As to the ownership of the truck, according to Jed "Strictly speaking, it belongs to my cousin Pearl. But I can keep it as long as I keep cousin Jethro."

When the series ended, the truck used to transport Jed, Granny (Irene Ryan), Jethro and Elly May (Donna Douglas) to Beverly Hills was donated by "Hillbillies" producer Paul Henning and placed on permanent display at the Ralph Foster Museum on the campus of the College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout near Branson, Missouri. There is also a replica of the truck and all of the Clampett family on display at the Movieland Wax Museum exhibit in Buena Park, California.

Custom Car: George Barris, Part 3, The Batmobile

Designed exclusively for the hit 1966 "Batman" TV show starring Adam West and Burt Ward. This automotive wonder was styled and engineered with the many different special effects innovations by Barris Kustom Industries. Originally it started off as a $250,000 1955 Ford Lincoln Futura concept car. With a deadline of 3 weeks this Lincoln was transformed into the world's most famous car.

Weight is 5500 pounds and it has completely hand formed steel body. Wheel base is 129 inches; overall length is 206 inches and the top height is 48 inches.Powered by a 429 Ford Full Race engine, Moon equipped, NitroOxide Thrust Front end design characteristic is the face of a bat with the hood scoop extending down into the frontal area accentuating the nose. Right and left eyes extend into the ears with dual 450 watt laser beams installed in amber reflective lenses. Hood scoop follows the front area with a hydraulically operated steel chain and cable cutter blade.

Hidden behind the ears are functional headlights for normal street driving. The grille cavity is the mouth of the bat with the internal mounted rockets. Dual 84 inch rear bat fins are in line with bullet proof steel as added protection for Batman and Robin. Operable red reflective taillights are mounted in the rear of the bat fins. Four 6 inch flared eyebrow bullet proof wheels wells are formed and used as tire protectors. Ten inch wide Rader wheels made of steel and power thrust alloy use traction grip Oval Firestone tires. The rear upper panel has triple rocket tubes and are on an automatic theft control system with shooting colored fire rockets. 360 degree turning is made possible by pulling the emergency bat turn lever that releases and billows the bat impression twin parachutes on a 25 foot nylon cord. Turbine exhaust finned air cooling rear tube is mounted on the V cavity rear grille section with both parachutes installed on each side. Twin aircraft streamlined plexi-glass bubble windshields and top section are made bullet proof and matching in design.

The center safety roll bar arch is made of alloy steel and equipped with operable flashing lights, right and left trouble shooters and miscellaneous warning lights, and then attached to the double bubble top. Twin body contoured air foam bucket seats are formed into the cab compartment of Scottish grain black naugahyde in horseshoe designs, pleats and rolls, black nylon shoulder body and safety belts are fitted for Batman and Robin. The center consul incorporates the power accelerator T arm and the Batman fire extinguisher. Steering wheel incorporates right and left turn indicator buttons made in half aircraft design with all the dials, gauges and speedo installed in center hub.

The dash is equipped with many different Batman innovations such as the Batscope that is hooked up with a revolving closed circuit antenna to bring the Batman full vision plus the Bateye switch for anti-theft control, the antenna is for an information radio wave pickup of messages and computering from the Batcave with an electronic unit installed in trunk. A Detect-a-scope is used to determine the area in which Batman or Robin are in, also the Batray reactors and laser beam button controls, plus many flashing warning lights and directional electronic systems.

Attached to the anti-fire theft control systems are swivel 5-way nozzles that eliminate any fire throughout the vehicle. Ad double cable control exhaust cutout system are used for sound volume. To finish off this different one of a kind vehicle are 40 coats of super gloss black and then is trimmed in an outline of fluorescent cerise.

Custom Car: George Barris, Part 2

Sam decided to leave the business in the '50s, but George had married and he credited his wife Shirley with major assistance in promoting the company, which eventually became Barris Kustom Industries. It began to license its designs to model car manufacturers such as Revell and AMT, which spread the Barris name into every hobby, department, and discount store in the country and also into the minds of millions of eager model builders.

Barris is the subject of the title story in author Tom Wolfe's first collection of essays "The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby."

The 1960s would see the firm become heavily involved in vehicle design for television production. At the beginning of the decade, Barris, who loved extravagant design whether his or someone else's, had purchased the Lincoln Futura, a concept car of the mid-'50s which had been built by Ghia of Italy. It remained in his collection for several years, until he was rather unexpectedly asked by ABC Television to create a signature vehicle for their new Batman television series. Time was very short as filming would begin in a few weeks, and creation of a new design from scratch was scarcely possible. Instead, he remembered the Futura, which had been designed by the original Lincoln stylists to resemble a shark, with a menacing, aggressive front and high tailfins. Barris decided it was a perfect base on which to create the Batmobile. In three weeks the car was ready and the show was immediately a hit, the car becoming one of the most recognizable icons of the 1960s and possibly Barris' most famous work. Barris designs have also been featured in commercials. Barris' company often builds replicas of (but did not design) vehicles from other TV series, including The Beverly Hillbillies, The Munsters (Munster Koach, Drag-u-la), The Monkees (Monkeemobile), The Dukes of Hazzard (General Lee), Mannix (Roadster), Starsky and Hutch (Ford Torino), Power Rangers (Rad-Bug, Turbo Vehicles, and SPD Cars), Knight Rider (KITT), as well as Banacek (AMX-400). Barris Kustom Industries often sells these cars at auction for high sums, though they often lack in accuracy. There are rumored to be several lawsuits for misrepresented cars, many of which are currently displayed in museums as authentic cars.

Custom Car: George Barris, Part 1

George Barris is one of the best-known designers of custom cars in the world. With some justification, he styles himself King of the Kustomizers.

George and his brother Sam were born in Chicago in the 1920s. Due to the deaths of their parents, they moved to Roseville, California as children to live with relatives. Both were good students, interested in drama, music, and design. George was fascinated with model aircraft, and pursed the hobby seriously in his teenage years, winning competitions for his models.

The brothers worked at a restaurant owned by their family, and one day were given a 1925 Buick for their help. Although it was not in good shape, they swiftly restored it to running condition, and began to experiment with changing its appearance. This became the first Barris Brothers custom car. They sold it at a profit to buy another project vehicle, and their career was born. Before George had graduated from high school, demand for their work was growing, and they had created a club for owners of custom vehicles, called the Kustoms Car Club. This was the first use of the spelling "kustom," which would become associated with Barris.

Sam entered the Navy during World War II, while George moved to Los Angeles. Sam joined him there after being discharged. The two built their "kustom" designs for private buyers, and George also built and raced his own cars briefly. These activities brought them to the attention of the movie industry, and they were soon asked to create cars both for personal use by the studio executives and stars and as props for films, their first being used in 1958's 'High School Confidential'. They also made the acquaintance of Robert E. Petersen, founder of Hot Rod and Motor Trend magazines and, much later, of the Petersen Auto Museum. His publications and car shows further publicized the Barris style, George himself writing how-to articles for would be customizers.

In 1951, Sam had customized a new Mercury coupe for himself, and a customer who saw it ordered a similar car. This vehicle, known as the Hirohata Merc for its owner, was shown at the 1952 Motorama auto show and was so popular it overshadowed the best work of Detroit's top designers, on display at the major manufacturer's exhibits. It also established the early '50s Mercury as possibly the classic base for custom car design, a status it retains today.

Darryl Starbird's National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame Museum

Darryl Starbird's National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame Museum

The National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame Museum is a nationally recognized tribute to the leading street rod and custom car builders throughout the country. The 40,000 Sq. Ft. facility houses over 40 custom built exotic vehicles by world renowned custom car builder and designer Darryl Starbird as well as many other famous hot rod and custom car builders. Every square inch of the wall and space is full of photos and memorabilia of famous custom built vehicles including street rods, nostalgic custom cars, vans, pickups, sports cars and experimental bubble topped concept looking vehicles of the future. Many of the vehicles priceless in value having a historic significance as well as demonstrating thousands of hours of labor and ingenuity of design and workmanship.


$6 adults; $3 age 8 to 12; under 7 free
Groups of 10+ receive $1 off adult admission

Open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm
Open by appointment on off-day hours

Hwy 85-A, Bernice (Afton exit on I-44)

918-257-4234