A sleek black sports car with a red light sweeping back and forth across its nose, purring one-liners in a dry British accent while a guy in a leather jacket and a perm leaned on the hood. Knight Rider took the oldest fantasy a kid can have — a car that’s your best friend — and built a whole primetime hit on it.

Knight Rider premiered on NBC on September 26, 1982, and ran for four seasons until 1986. It starred David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight, a crime-fighter paired with KITT — the Knight Industries Two Thousand — an artificially intelligent, nearly indestructible Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Created by Glen A. Larson, it turned a talking car into one of the decade’s most beloved TV icons.

The car was the real star

Let’s be honest about who the audience tuned in for. KITT — voiced by William Daniels in that unflappable, faintly superior tone — was the coolest character on the show. He could drive himself, talk back, scan for danger, deploy gadgets, and hit “Turbo Boost” to leap over obstacles. That scanning red light on the front grille and the digital voice modulator became instantly iconic. Kids didn’t want to be Michael Knight so much as they wanted to ride shotgun with his car.

Hasselhoff before he was The Hoff

Knight Rider made David Hasselhoff a household name years before Baywatch and his oddly enormous music career in Germany. As Michael Knight — a former cop given a new face and a new identity after being left for dead — he was the human anchor the show needed: earnest, good-looking, and happy to let a car steal every scene. It was the role that launched one of the most improbable celebrity runs of the era.

Remember when KITT would hit Turbo Boost and launch the Trans Am off a ramp, soaring over a wall or a river or a line of bad guys in slow motion? It happened constantly, it looked amazing, and no kid watching ever once questioned the physics of it.

A hero on the side of the little guy

The show’s mission statement was pure comic-book morality. Michael and KITT worked for the Foundation for Law and Government (FLAG), backed by the wealthy Wilton Knight’s dying wish: “one man can make a difference.” Each week they’d roll into some town, help ordinary people being pushed around by crooks the law couldn’t touch, and roll out again. It was a Western with a supercar instead of a horse — a lone hero and his impossibly loyal ride.

Why Knight Rider still cruises

Strip it down and Knight Rider is a perfect little 80s machine: one great gimmick, executed with total conviction, wrapped around a hero, a mission, and the coolest car on television. The scanning red light and KITT’s voice are permanent pop-culture shorthand, and the show has been revived and rebooted more than once. Some ideas are just too fun to leave parked.

FAQ

When did Knight Rider air?
It premiered September 26, 1982, on NBC and ran for four seasons, ending in 1986.

What kind of car was KITT?
KITT was a modified 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, presented as the artificially intelligent “Knight Industries Two Thousand.”

Who voiced KITT?
Actor William Daniels provided KITT’s calm, dry voice — though he went uncredited during the original run at his own request.

Who played Michael Knight?
David Hasselhoff, in the role that made him a star before Baywatch.

Who created Knight Rider?
Prolific TV producer Glen A. Larson, who was also behind shows like Magnum, P.I. and Battlestar Galactica.

What was Turbo Boost?
KITT’s signature gadget — a rocket-assisted jump that let the car leap over walls, ravines, and obstacles, one of the show’s most repeated visual thrills.

Knight Rider was one gear in the machine of 80s TV — see the whole lineup in our 80s pop culture icons guide, or roll out with The A-Team next.