FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by Sue » Sat Aug 23, 2008 11:15 am

neps wrote:I'm in line waiting to get in. Bout a twenty min wait to get in to see Barris cars. General custom cars in the lot with now wait outside. Wearing a black knight rider shirt, and it's hot. :)
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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by TurbomanKnight » Sat Aug 23, 2008 11:31 am

neps wrote:I'm in line waiting to get in. Bout a twenty min wait to get in to see Barris cars. General custom cars in the lot with now wait outside. Wearing a black knight rider shirt, and it's hot. :)
Damn, I haven't left yet. Time to go "motivate" my dad. :lol:
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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by neps » Sat Aug 23, 2008 12:34 pm

still here. Just met Barris, very cordial. Met with mickey who's car is here (and his cousins) very nice guy. He has a maniqune of michael and Devon setup that is pretty funny. He was also kind to let my son sit inside. My son is having a better time than me. :d

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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by JJSoCrazy » Sat Aug 23, 2008 12:47 pm

neps wrote:still here. Just met Barris, very cordial. Met with mickey who's car is here (and his cousins) very nice guy. He has a maniqune of michael and Devon setup that is pretty funny. He was also kind to let my son sit inside. My son is having a better time than me. :d
Good to hear neil, take plenty of pics! I wanted to go to meet up but I had work. :x

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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by neps » Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:38 pm

here are some quick images for those curious - will post more later

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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by FuzzieDice » Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:42 pm

Awesome Neil! KARR is there! YAY! :) Of course you KNEW I'd want to see that, didn't you? :P
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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by Sue » Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:54 pm

Looking sharp!
Thanks for taking the pics!
That’s quite the high powered scanner on KARR there. :karr:
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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by Lost Knight » Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:57 pm

Well, just made it back from the event a couple of hours ago. While I have about 80 or so pictures of all the different vehicles, for right now I've uploaded only my K.I.T.T. pictures and scaled them down. (I'm going to a block party soon and it'll take way too much time to upload and scale down all the pictures of the other cars right now, but in the next few days I'll either put them in this thread or make another topic.)

I also met Mickey, who brought his own K.A.R.R. replica and he was nice enough to let me in a bit closer to get some better shots since I am a member of this site. We had a pretty lengthy conversation. I also met his cousin, Chris, who brought his K.I.T.T. replica and had it on display in the front alongside George Barris' other cars. Chris and I had quite a lengthy conversation ourselves about the new series, other replica owners, where he got his parts, and so on. He was gracious enough to let me sit inside his replica, turn on the electronics and snap a picture for me. (No one was supposed to originally be allowed past the barriers, let alone sit inside the car, but he made an exception for me.)

While I missed Neil by a few hours apparently, I did get the chance to meet Samir (TurbomanKnight) and we also had a nice chat. :)

I saw Barris there walking around and signing autographs along with the actor who played Eddie Munster (name escapes me at the moment), but believe it or not I actually wasn't much interested in meeting him or waiting in line. After 5 P.M. there was a tailgate party with a $65 charge, but I decided it wasn't worth it especially with our contacts in California who can stop by Barris' shop at any time and ask him questions.

And yes, Chris' interior is indeed gray, which he made the choice to do in order to keep his car more unique than most other replicas. He also has a red, yellow and green light-up pedal and light-up door handles in his replica. Unfortunately I had already paid $10 for the hired photographer to snap a picture of me next to K.I.T.T. when I first arrived before I met Mickey and Chris. At that point I still thought it was a Barris-made replica.

I also spoke to some of the freelance models there who were telling me that they lived here on Long Island and were hired for the event as one of their gigs. There was a $100 charge to have pictures taken with them. :shock: Even they themselves told me they thought it was ridiculous and that nobody had actually bought that particular package. All in all, I had a great time and everybody was extremely nice and cordial.

Here all all of the K.I.T.T. and K.A.R.R. pictures. Enjoy!

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And here is the K.A.R.R. replica, which Mickey chose to keep black instead of two-tone so that he can switch it back and forth from K.I.T.T. to K.A.R.R. by just swapping the scanner lens, voice modulator and license plate:

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And for now, here's an extra one of me standing next to a modern Eleanor replica inspired from the Gone In 60 Seconds movie 8) :

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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by Sue » Sat Aug 23, 2008 7:27 pm

These are some great pictures too Chris!
Lost Knight wrote: I saw Barris there walking around and signing autographs along with the actor who played Eddie Munster (name escapes me at the moment), but believe it or not I actually wasn't much interested in meeting him or waiting in line. After 5 P.M. there was a tailgate party with a $65 charge, but I decided it wasn't worth it especially with our contacts in California who can stop by Barris' shop at any time and ask him questions.
Lol, I’ll give him some time off before I give it a try. But are there any questions you want answered?
Lost Knight wrote: And yes, Chris' interior is indeed gray, which he made the choice to do in order to keep his car more unique than most other replicas. He also has a red, yellow and green light-up pedal and light-up door handles in his replica. Unfortunately I had already paid $10 for the hired photographer to snap a picture of me next to K.I.T.T. when I first arrived before I met Mickey and Chris. At that point I still thought it was a Barris-made replica.
I noticed it was gray; I kinda like it though even if it is inaccurate.

This gives me an idea, I’m gonna start a thread just for pictures of ourselves in or near KITT. We all must have one. It will be neat to see what everyone looks like.
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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by FuzzieDice » Sat Aug 23, 2008 8:44 pm

Sue wrote:Looking sharp!
Thanks for taking the pics!
That’s quite the high powered scanner on KARR there. :karr:
Or KARR is just glad to see everyone! :twisted:

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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by TurbomanKnight » Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:01 pm

Lost Knight wrote:Image
Hey that's me with my Dad and sister. It was nice meeting you Chris. I had a feeling you were from KRO before you realized it was me. You knew more Knight Rider than some other guys that came up to Mickey. (poor Mickey with the same questions over and over again) 8)

Got there an hour late than expected due to my sisters taking forever to get ready. :roll: When I got there bought my ticket and went right into the museum... well right after I looked at the 89 Camaro they're raffling off. :wink: I walked into the museum through the front door. (apparently there was a line, but no one stopped me when I walked in...) Found KITT a second later and went to observe him. Realized it had NY Registration stickers on the windshield so I knew it wasn't a Barris car. That and then I realized Sue posted a picture of KITT in Barris' place. So it made sense then. After looking at KITT, I went in search of the BTTF DeLorean. Upon walking, I ran into KARR. Checked it out, and thought the car looked familiar. Then I saw the registration sticker and realized I knew this car. Walked back around and saw Mickey, who surprisingly remembered me from last summer. 8) We spoke for 45 minutes or so. And he allowed me to check out his car up close and even allowed my dad to check it out. Thanks buddy! It was nice finally showing my dad what I rambled about since I was 13. :lol: :good: My dad seemed to like it and asked a lot of questions. Funny, because a lot of the questions he asked were things I told him about for 4 years. :P Mickey then introduced me to his cousin Chris who owns the KITT On display we spoke briefly. He also allowed me to take an up close peek of his car. Thanks bro!

That was the highlight for me. I was very disappointed about the DeLorean not being there. :( I also missed Neil by a few hours. SORRY DUDE! Will def try to schedule something. :)

I have lots of pics to upload but the Photobucket bulk uploader isn't working for some reason. So I'll upload the pics tonight when I go to sleep. Pics arent too hot, my camera was acting up for some reason. Have to double check the settings.
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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by neps » Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:07 pm

Glad you guys made it - even if we didn't catch up. I got there before 11, and my son was going a bit batty late for his nap by 1:30, so I needed to jet.

Thanks for the detailed recap guys! Saves me from having to do the same :D Mickey and Chris were very kind, and awesome of them to treat many people with the same respect.

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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by Lost Knight » Sun Aug 24, 2008 1:39 am

TurbomanKnight wrote:Hey that's me with my Dad and sister. It was nice meeting you Chris. I had a feeling you were from KRO before you realized it was me. You knew more Knight Rider than some other guys that came up to Mickey. (poor Mickey with the same questions over and over again) 8)
Ha! I didn't even realize I caught you in there before we met. :) And likewise, it was nice meeting you, too.
Sue wrote:Lol, I’ll give him some time off before I give it a try. But are there any questions you want answered?


:D I didn't want to put pressure on you. I had two major questions that I more of less discovered the answers to. One was why he still features a K.I.T.T. on his tour (and I was under the impression that a Back To the Future DeLorean would be there as well, but it wasn't). Of course I later realized that it was a fan-made K.I.T.T. replica, so that kind of answered itself.

The second question was regarding the half-completed Super Pursuit Mode K.I.T.T. and why the hell he chose to put a spoiler on his nose. But ULTRASUBS who is now the owner of the car has provided more insight into the history of the car. However, that story of how it was constructed during the series and meant to be an SPM "transition" car isn't quite sitting well with me based on what I've known (not to say it's inaccurate or a lie, but I'm just not sure it's true). So, if you could, Sue, even though we'll likely get the same story, maybe you can ask him more about the history of the car and see if he has any more insight about it?

Also, I noticed that the K.I.T.T. in his shop has the Seasons 3-4 dashboard, which would be around the time he got involved with the show. I've heard stories that he made a K.I.T.T. in normal mode for Season 3. (But it also looks like a leather interior with cloth doeskin PMD seats.) I am not sure if there's truth to that, but his Season 3 replica seems to back it up. Of course, it's not definite proof. I do know that he designed and built the Super Pursuit Mode and Convertible Mode cars in Season 4, though.
Sue wrote:I noticed it was gray; I kinda like it though even if it is inaccurate.


Yeah, it took a few double takes to realize it was actually gray. At first I couldn't tell if it was the lighting in the place or not. When you just glance at it you really don't notice the difference. I also didn't realize just how expensive those PMD seats are, and that's not even mentioning the restoration which is typically needed. I respect Chris' choice to be unique knowing that he'd be dealing with criticism from others in the community for his choice not to go for complete accuracy. But hey, he won an award for best interior at a different event, nonetheless, so good for him. :)
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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by GarthKnight08 » Sun Aug 24, 2008 7:50 am

It says in the article on the front page news that Barris only created the SPM mode for the 4th season, i always thought he had a hand in making the original KITT form the start. Is that article right?
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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by TurbomanKnight » Sun Aug 24, 2008 3:48 pm

Time for my really bad photos... :|

Right click and hit view image to see it in full size.
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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by corlando52 » Sun Aug 24, 2008 5:57 pm

Did anybody else feel ripped off by this? I'm handicapped in that I can't make long trips because of a medication that burnt out my inner ear, so I get dizzy and sick if I travel too far. I traveled 40 miles, which is right at the end of my limit (actually a little past) because I thought I was seeing the real cars. Obviously, KITT and KARR were fakes, but so was the Batmobile! Where there any REAL TV/Movie cars there? Yes, we had a good time, everyone was extremely nice, and the antique and custom car show was cool, but I went specifically to see KITT and the Batmobile, and was extremely disappointed. There were people all GA-Ga saying "Wow, this is the Real deal" and I didn't have the heart to burst their bubble. I could go locally to Bald Hill and see Scot's (KnightNY) KITT and it's more to the real KITT than any other I've seen.
Seeing George Barris was a bonus. I just wish I had my Elite with me for him to autograph. It would have been worth the $20. I could have taken any of my KITT models, but I don't associate him with KITT...he only did the SPM version, which, just personally, I never liked.

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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by DeeKnight » Sun Aug 24, 2008 6:58 pm

Wow some really cool pics there,your all so lucky!

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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by Lost Knight » Sun Aug 24, 2008 8:24 pm

corlando52 wrote:Did anybody else feel ripped off by this? I'm handicapped in that I can't make long trips because of a medication that burnt out my inner ear, so I get dizzy and sick if I travel too far. I traveled 40 miles, which is right at the end of my limit (actually a little past) because I thought I was seeing the real cars. Obviously, KITT and KARR were fakes, but so was the Batmobile! Where there any REAL TV/Movie cars there? Yes, we had a good time, everyone was extremely nice, and the antique and custom car show was cool, but I went specifically to see KITT and the Batmobile, and was extremely disappointed. There were people all GA-Ga saying "Wow, this is the Real deal" and I didn't have the heart to burst their bubble. I could go locally to Bald Hill and see Scot's (KnightNY) KITT and it's more to the real KITT than any other I've seen.
Seeing George Barris was a bonus. I just wish I had my Elite with me for him to autograph. It would have been worth the $20. I could have taken any of my KITT models, but I don't associate him with KITT...he only did the SPM version, which, just personally, I never liked.

Chris
Not me. These so-called "star cars" have hundreds (perhaps thousands) of replicas built of them. The likelihood of these being actual screen cars was always very low to begin with. And that's not to mention the fact that it wouldn't be so logical to take the actual hero cars out on tour across the country and risk damaging them and having fans all over touching them. No, the real hero cars are either in musems or sitting out to rot or be cannibalized in Universal Studios' back lots. The only thing I didn't expect was seeing fan-made replicas sitting on display with George Barris' cars. And we all know the history of some of Barris' claims about the history of some of these cars. So with knowing all that, I expected all of the cars to be replicas all along. And considering it was only a $7 entry fee, I thought that was a great price. It's just that they start nailing you when you want to get autographs or pictures past the barriers next to the cars, but even those weren't all too bad, cost-wise (depending on what you wanted, of course).

It's one thing to see an inaccurate fan-made replica (I cut fans slack because they either choose on purpose to make their cars unique, or they simply can't afford the full cost of a turnkey, etc.); it's another to see an inaccurate car from Barris himself, who works in the industry and builds the cars for a living. And I am not saying he had any inaccurate cars because the only one I can consider myself an expert on is K.I.T.T., and he did not build the two that were there. I did have one disappointment with the 1966 Batmobile when I saw that its red striping was actually tape and not painted. It felt a little cheap-looking to me when you really get to examine these cars up-close.

On a side note, I also just realized that the David Hasselhoff mannequin I posted earlier is wearing the Michael Knight halloween costume. :lol:

Anyway, here are most of the rest of the pictures I got of the other vehicles. I'll put the star cars first and the rest will be of privately owned hot rods that people were allowed to register for the show (my apologies if there are too many pictures; the moderators are free to turn them into links to cut them down a little bit):

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Privately-owned hot rods:

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Ugh...these are not even all of them. I'll get a few more in there in the next few days.
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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by FuzzieDice » Sun Aug 24, 2008 10:25 pm

I'm very much enjoying the pictures in this thread! Nice catch, LostKnight! :)

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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by Shadowy Flight » Mon Aug 25, 2008 9:12 am

Just wanted to thank everyone at Knight Rider Online for coming to the Cradle of Aviation this past weekend and saying hi to me and Chris. It was great meeting Neil, Chris, Sam and Rich. Thank you for all your kind words Neil. It was a pleasure to meet you and your son. He makes a great Michael Knight Jr. Your pictures came out great! Looks like magazine quality and that photo of Barris looked so good I thought it was an archive photo but then I recognized his shirt and background and realized you took that photo. Amazing job! I like your artistic use of rack focusing.

Chris Lost Knight, thank you for posting your photos. I'm sorry you had to pay to take a picture with Chris' car. Just for the record, Chris and I did not receive any monetary compensation, trophies or awards for having our cars there. We did not make money from the photographs either. We actually had to pay to have our pictures taken with our cars to these "professional" photographers. And as you all can see, Neil, Chris and Sam's photographs came out better than the "professionals". Take a look at Lost Knight's first photograph done with a "professional" camera and compare it to the 2nd photograph he took with his camera. The "professional" shoot looks a bit purply doesn't it? What gives? You think if you're paying for the photograph I would expect nothing less of the picture quality of Neil's camera. I just wanted to address this before anyone felt ripped off. But I found out I was too late.

I'm sorry to corlando52 for you having to go through your ordeal of feeling dizzy. Chris and I had no intentions of fooling you or anyone else to believe these cars were "real" and not "fake". Barris had contacted us because he was lacking the Knight Rider cars. Andy (Barris' partner) had told us that the original was "touring with Hasselhoff". Whether or not this is true, you'll have to ask him yourself.

There are some parts of the car that are "real". They were given to me by certain members of BBD. I was on their record label a few years ago. Let's play a Knight Rider trivia game. Does anybody know the former name of the musical group BBD and what their association with Knight Rider is? There are 2 items I have in my car that I received from them that makes my car not a complete "fake". There is without a doubt imperfections to not only our cars, BUT everyone's cars. No car is a PERFECT replica. Does it make it official if Hasselhoff's butt touched the seats? Or cameras were rolling while the car was being filmed? If that's the criteria for making the Knight Rider cars "real", then the two Trans Ams that were draped over(underneath car covers) in the new Knight Rider pilot are "real" Knight Rider cars even though the interior and exterior were stock. Or the stock Trans Ams that have no interior/exterior conversion that they used in the old Knight Rider show that would crash/burn/roll down a gravel hill are "official" Kitt cars, then people who expect to see the "real" kitt would be quite content in seeing those cars... imperfections and all.

I whole heartedly agree that the flyers should've stated which cars were replicas because there were MORE than JUST two. But please know that we do what we do as a Labor of Love. Studio cars do what they do as a Labor of Money. So studios don't care if the car gets torched, wrecked or burnt up (and they'll still take that car to display to the public without bothering to wash or wax it first). That's the difference. They're not getting stitches on their chin like turbomanknight from their car and continuing to work on it (I hope you feel better man). Turboman introduced me to his father (who knows alot about cars) and his sisters. Lost Knight defended us against nay sayers time and time again. Neps was a true gentleman like Michael Knight and in my eyes a better person than I am [he knows what I mean]. But that's what this whole event was all about...making friends and sharing memories.

I'm sorry for those of you who felt you were ripped off by this. If anyone should feel ripped off, it should be me and my cousin. We invested so much in these vehicles a rep of Universal once told us, "Wow, you guys invested more money than we would even want to put in these vehicles." So that's what sets us apart from them. They show you a mock up that they quickly slap together. Most buttons don't work. And just to think, they have a budget and we don't. We bring the cars on OUR time OUR money OUR blood, sweat and tears. Our gauges are fully functional. Our paintjobs and bodywork are definitely better than the screen used...excuse me...I mean screen abused vehicles...yet we get chastised for making people feel ripped off...when we don't make a dime from the car shows (most of the times, we have to pay).

Well, that's ok. Because like Kitt, our hearts are indestructible...almost. Corlando52 please don't use your handicap as a crutch...because I don't and I'm more handicapped than you. My entire right side suffers from paralysis. Neil, Sam and Chris may have noticed when they shook my hand. I was born with two much oxygen in my left brain that affects the entire right side of my body. I have endured this pain for 31 years. So that means I start the car with my left hand, step on the gas pedal with my left foot but this handicap has inspired me to build my lifelong dream of building a Knight Rider car. It was a goal I set out like running a marathon. We all have our reasons for doing things and I built this car to represent me; not to show off.

I'm a computer teacher in an elementary school but also work in television production. So what represents gadgetry more than Knight Rider? I lost my girlfriend on Sept. 11th and my skyline were the towers. So every morning I get up, its a constant reminder of what I and others have lost. I felt so "vulnerable". I remember the first time I heard that word was on Knight Rider as a kid and I asked my mother what that word meant and she said "weak; helpless" That's how I felt on Sept. 11. I'm sure many of us have. I never wanted to feel that way again. So Knight Rider was the image in my head that was invulnerable and so began the labor of love. My parents fully supported me taking me state to state getting each piece to put this dream together so the car has become a family heirloom. $80,000 later the car is far from perfect as you can see, there are many flaws. It may never be as nice as Scott or Chris' car but so what? It's me! Thank you Lost Knight for defending us and saying it's unique. But to call our cars fake corlando52? Damn right it is, and we're proud of it!
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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by corlando52 » Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:05 pm

Well, thanks for that reply. I am sorry about your girlfriend. I was there and saw the whole thing on 9/11, and that's responsible for my disability. I only mentioned my disability to stress that it was so important for me to see the "real" cars that I was willing to risk getting extrememly sick.
My point about the repli-cars is this...a Museum is supposed to show historically significant items. Wouldn't you feel slighted if you went to the Louvre to see DiVinci's Mona Lisa, and not only found out it was a reproduction, but she had Blonde hair? That's kind of how I felt when I saw KITT, with a gray interior. Yes, I understand about Chris' unique vision, and had I known about it, and still went to see it, then I would have felt better about it. Heck, I know Scott and his KITT could at least pass for a "real" car. There were people there paying $20 to have their picture taken with or in the cars, and swearing they were real. One poor guy behind me was telling me that the Batmobile was "one of a kind. It's the real one used in the TV series. It's definately worth the $20 to sit in it!" I didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't the one Adam West's butt was in.
All that being said, it was a FUN show. I brought my entire family and friends there and we all had a blast. I know how much money, blood, sweat and tears it takes to make repli-cars. I appreciate that, I really do. You guys are keeping the faith. I wish I had the money and know-how to build my own KITT. You built yours the way YOU wanted it...I applaud that. I don't want to come off as someone who just likes to complain. I was just really disappointed and wanted to share that feeling. I really hope this was a huge success, and there is a permanent auto-museum built. But there should be signs to distinguish between the real and the repli-cars. Heck, you guys who have built these should get credit for your hard work, and the public needs to know. I know you're proud of your work...Heck I'M proud of your work!

Chris

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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by Lost Knight » Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:47 pm

Shadowy Flight wrote:Just wanted to thank everyone at Knight Rider Online for coming to the Cradle of Aviation this past weekend and saying hi to me and Chris. It was great meeting Neil, Chris, Sam and Rich.


Likewise!
Shadowy Flight wrote:Chris Lost Knight, thank you for posting your photos. I'm sorry you had to pay to take a picture with Chris' car. Just for the record, Chris and I did not receive any monetary compensation, trophies or awards for having our cars there. We did not make money from the photographs either. We actually had to pay to have our pictures taken with our cars to these "professional" photographers. And as you all can see, Neil, Chris and Sam's photographs came out better than the "professionals". Take a look at Lost Knight's first photograph done with a "professional" camera and compare it to the 2nd photograph he took with his camera. The "professional" shoot looks a bit purply doesn't it? What gives? You think if you're paying for the photograph I would expect nothing less of the picture quality of Neil's camera. I just wanted to address this before anyone felt ripped off. But I found out I was too late.


The $10 fee didn't matter; I actually ended up getting 2 pictures for it by accident. It's just that the way the event was organized in the front made things a bit confusing to a lot of the people in line. They were under the impression that they'd be getting a larger sized photograph when in reality there were actually 2 photography companies there, with different sized photos for each. There were no signs or any way to know the difference and even the models there didn't know at first that there was going to be a rival company. People were just told to wait in line after they paid. No big deal for me, but some of the families were getting upset. As for the pictures, yeah, I do like ours better for the quality. :)
Shadowy Flight wrote:Barris had contacted us because he was lacking the Knight Rider cars. Andy (Barris' partner) had told us that the original was "touring with Hasselhoff". Whether or not this is true, you'll have to ask him yourself.
That "original" is probably not an original, but more likely the car that Hasselhoff took on his Night Rocker tour in the '80s, which was 1 of 2 built. I can't confirm that, though.
Shadowy Flight wrote:I'm sorry for those of you who felt you were ripped off by this. If anyone should feel ripped off, it should be me and my cousin. We invested so much in these vehicles a rep of Universal once told us, "Wow, you guys invested more money than we would even want to put in these vehicles." So that's what sets us apart from them. They show you a mock up that they quickly slap together. Most buttons don't work. And just to think, they have a budget and we don't. We bring the cars on OUR time OUR money OUR blood, sweat and tears. Our gauges are fully functional. Our paintjobs and bodywork are definitely better than the screen used...excuse me...I mean screen abused vehicles...yet we get chastised for making people feel ripped off...when we don't make a dime from the car shows (most of the times, we have to pay).


In my opinion things should have been the other way around, meaning you should have been paid, especially since he contacted YOU guys, but I digress. It's all about the love for the show and the pride in sharing your replica with others. What truly matters is that you guys had a great time and got some gratification from the experience. I don't think a price can be put on happiness, and if anything for that reason, the effort is fully worth it. For me, the main interest was yours and Chris' cars, which like I said I thought were built by George Barris at first.
Shadowy Flight wrote:Well, that's ok. Because like Kitt, our hearts are indestructible...almost. Corlando52 please don't use your handicap as a crutch...because I don't and I'm more handicapped than you. My entire right side suffers from paralysis. Neil, Sam and Chris may have noticed when they shook my hand. I was born with two much oxygen in my left brain that affects the entire right side of my body. I have endured this pain for 31 years. So that means I start the car with my left hand, step on the gas pedal with my left foot but this handicap has inspired me to build my lifelong dream of building a Knight Rider car. It was a goal I set out like running a marathon. We all have our reasons for doing things and I built this car to represent me; not to show off.

I'm a computer teacher in an elementary school but also work in television production. So what represents gadgetry more than Knight Rider? I lost my girlfriend on Sept. 11th and my skyline were the towers. So every morning I get up, its a constant reminder of what I and others have lost. I felt so "vulnerable". I remember the first time I heard that word was on Knight Rider as a kid and I asked my mother what that word meant and she said "weak; helpless" That's how I felt on Sept. 11. I'm sure many of us have. I never wanted to feel that way again. So Knight Rider was the image in my head that was invulnerable and so began the labor of love. My parents fully supported me taking me state to state getting each piece to put this dream together so the car has become a family heirloom. $80,000 later the car is far from perfect as you can see, there are many flaws. It may never be as nice as Scott or Chris' car but so what? It's me! Thank you Lost Knight for defending us and saying it's unique. But to call our cars fake corlando52? Damn right it is, and we're proud of it!
That's really quite a story. I'm very sorry for your loss. I had family members in the city at the time, too, and thankfully they turned out to be OK. In fact, I have an uncle who worked in one of the neighboring Trade Center buildings but did not go in that morning because of a migraine. Talk about lucky. And by the way, I did not notice your handicap and never would have known about it had you not said anything; that's how well you get by with it.

And now, I've finally uploaded the last of my pictures from the event. Enjoy.

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And some more classic cars/hot rods:

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“Gimme maximum turbo thrust and blast me outta here, will ya!?”
:kitt: :dash4:

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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by corlando52 » Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:24 pm

Does anybody know if George Barris brought that Batmobile or does it belong to another Long Islander? Chris and Mickey, I really didn't mean to sound as though I was belittling your cars. Quite the contrary. You guys have done a remarkable job. Again, I wish I had that kind of talent. I envy you, really I do. I actually think you guys should have been given the credit you deserve for these incredible machines. I'm really sorry if it sounded like I didn't like seeing your cars, because, believe me, I did. I just wish they would have told me ahead of time, that's all. Let me say right here and now, beautiful job(s).

Chris

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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by Lost Knight » Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:43 pm

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corlando52 wrote:Does anybody know if George Barris brought that Batmobile or does it belong to another Long Islander?
I'd opt to say that the Batmobile was a replica owned by someone in New York for a couple of reasons. One reason is of course the New York license plate. The car was also at the museum since at least July 18th to coincide with The Dark Knight premiere when I went there on opening night (didn't expect it to be there, but I caught the plate in my top cell phone picture showing that it is the same vehicle as in the car show). And I also know George Barris has a '66 Batmobile in his shop in Hollywood, which is not the same car, obviously.
“Gimme maximum turbo thrust and blast me outta here, will ya!?”
:kitt: :dash4:

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Re: FYI George Barris Tribute NYC/Long Island Area.

Post by corlando52 » Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:40 pm

Great picture, thanks! Good catch with the License plate. I wrote to the Museum to tell them that I was disappointed that the cars weren't the original screen cars, and that the real owners should have been credited for their exceptional work. They are maintaining that they WERE the real cars. Here's their reply:

"For your information, the cars displayed are original George Barris licensed vehicles, obviously because George himself was present."

!!!!!!!
Chris

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