In a world where evil never rests, initiate turbo boost.
Agent Knight is the perfect partner to help protect the innocent, helpless, and powerless from lawless criminals.
We've had the DeLorean, Ecto-1, the Party Wagon, and now up next in Hasbro's quest to do official versions of all those "If They Could Transform" fan-art pieces is KITT, the star car of Knight Rider. Okay, technically the Knight Industries Two Thousand isn't the car itself, but rather the computer module inside the car, but how many people actually make that distinction?
There have been several KITTs over the years, as there have been several Knight Rider shows and continuities, but this is "the" KITT, the classic one that everybody thinks of when they think of him, a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. The Trans Am was just one of three Firebirds
sold in 1982, the high-end "performance" version (as distinct from the base model and the luxury S/E). A long, sleek car, the Firebird already had one brush with pop culture fame thanks to Smokey and the Bandit, but this is what truly made it. This is a fully licensed version, which may have something to do with why the Thunder Machine could have its real front end - it would make sense if Hasbro were already working with General Motors for one version, they could get approval for another at the same time.
There are a few differences between
this toy and the car as seen on TV - there are Pontiac logos on the hubcaps, it has red tail lights instead of being solid black back there, and of course the real version didn't have an Autobot logo in the front. The toy does feature flip-up headlights, which is a neat touch, and the rear license plate is the Knight Industries chess piece logo.
The main feature of KITT was the oscillating red Cylon light in the hood, and this toy has electronics so it can be complete.
Unfortunately, even at $50 Hasbro couldn't see its way clear to including three little batteries, so you'll need to provide them yourself. Press the square button on the hood and the car plays a series of beeps (KITT turning his systems on) and the engine starting, then begins the familiar back-and-forth scanning noise. Press it again, and it plays one of several sounds:
- "I am the voice of Knight Industry Two Thousand's micro-processor: 'K-I-T-T'. 'KITT' if you prefer."
- *scanning sound* "Hold on, this could be a bit bumpy." *whoosh*
- *scanning sound looping*
- *turbo boost woosh*
- "Are you sure this is the right way?" *turbo boost* "Very well."
- *scanning sound* "Thank you, sir."
The sounds play in the same order every time, and if you don't press anything for 30 seconds, it turns off with a "KITT signing off" clip. The voice lines aren't actually by William Daniels, sadly, but they sound close enough, and the moving light in the center is nice and bright.
Converting the car to a robot is just complex enough to be fun, and just simple enough to get the hang of right away. Arms out from underneath, open the doors, bend the hood and roof forward, open the
panels underneath the back so you can unfold the legs, close the panels and flip out the feet and toes, spin the waist, push a panel from the hood down into the body, lift the head out of the chest, and push the hood/chest down into place on the shoulders. Straightforward!
Agent Knight is a very "Transformer-y" Transformer, with the car's hood sticking directly forward on his chest, and doors acting as wings behind his shoulders. Jazz, Prowl, Smokescreen, and and so many others would all be proud! There have been Transformers before who changed into a Pontiac Firebird (most famously Windcharger), but none of their robot modes looked like this. The electronics can still be used in this mode, though the turbo noises won't make much sense.
In the fan art we mentioned before, Darren Rawlings leaned into
the Cylon-ness of KITT's scanner by making that the robot's face. Agent Knight, sadly, doesn't do that. Doesn't really do anything to make this look like a Knight Rider robot. Just like Gigawatt should have had Doc Brown hair, Agent Knight should have Hasselhoff's perm. All we get here is a silver face with a black helmet and translucent red goggles covering the eyes. At least he has blue legs to simulate Hoff's jeans?
The figure moves at the ankles, knees, thighs, hips, waist, wrists, elbows, biceps, shoulders, and head. The crotchplate is also hinged where it joins the body; usually that would be so it would move out of the way of rising legs, but it was never in the way to begin with,
so what's the point? The accessories include two guns that can be stored on the door wings (in robot mode) or under the car (in car mode) when not in use, and a "wrist watch" piece that fits onto the robot's arm to simulate the communicator Michael Knight used to get in touch with KITT from a distance. It really seems like they could have just sculpted his arm to look like that and been fine, and then there'd be one less piece to potentially lose. The guns are fine, I guess, but wasn't Knight Rider one of those "I don't use guns" heroes of the '80s? Like MacGuyver. Of course, it's easy to be anti-gun when your car does all your fighting for you.
We used to have a community member here who was so into Knight Rider he actually built his own KITT, which is just about the coolest thing ever. I hope he got this figure, and I hope he's loving it. The car mode has the features you'd want it to, the robot's pretty good, and changing between them is fun. And now it's possible to have one of the coolest cars of '80s pop culture without needing to go back to the '80s to get one.
-- 02/18/25
What Collaborative vehicle would you like next? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.
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