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Andreas Rentz\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Nothing defined the era of ’80s television<\/a> quite like the cool cars that were seemingly in every show, from the Ferraris used on “Miami Vice” and “Magnum, P.I.,”<\/a>\u00a0and even the black and gray van used by “The A-Team.” But at the top of the list sits KITT, the Pontiac Firebird Grand Am driven by David Hasselhoff on “Knight Rider.” However, KITT was nearly a very different car \u2014 it was originally supposed to be a Datsun.<\/p>\n When creator Glen Larson and producer Harker Wade were developing “Knight Rider,”\u00a0Larson\u00a0originally envisioned the Datsun 280zx as the technology-enhanced super car that would help Michael Knight fight injustice. The 280zx had been a popular car in America among sports car drivers so it would make sense to use it, but Wade wanted to know if any new cars were coming out that might be even more sporty.<\/p>\n In the book “Hollywood TV and Movie Cars,” author William Krause revealed Wade was interested in GM’s new Pontiac Grand Am but there were issues. For starters, there was a chance the car wouldn’t be available in time to be used for filming the first season. Second, and perhaps most importantly, a lot of Pontiac executives thought the show sounded too silly for a car like the Grand Am. Some even compared the “Knight Rider” concept to one of the biggest TV bombs of all time, “My Mother the Car.”<\/a>\u00a0Eventually, Wade and GM come to an agreement, and the show was able to snag the first four 1982 black Grand Ams that were produced just in time to start shooting the show.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n KITT’s design was first presented on a paper napkin<\/p>\n