Bar under KITT's nose

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aussieknight
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Bar under KITT's nose

Post by aussieknight » Wed Jul 14, 2004 8:14 am

I just bought myself a small present, a two DVD set called The Best of Knight Rider. It has Knight of the Phoenix, Trust Doesn't Rust, Soul Survivor, Knightmares and A Good Knights Work on it. No extra features unfortunately :-( However, not ever being able to watch any KR episodes in such great detail previously, I paid great attention to small things that showed up with great clarity. ( I like little details :-) ) The bar arrangement under KITT's nose was interesting. It seems to possibly be an A-frame towing bar or maybe even a camera mount. Anyone seen it in use in a how-to or bloopers movie?
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Post by Skav » Wed Jul 14, 2004 8:22 am

The bar has been spotted many times before, but I've never seen it in a bloopers video. It's certainly not used in the infamous bloopers dvd that's out there.

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Post by aussieknight » Wed Jul 14, 2004 8:23 am

I have to add that after watching KOTP for the umpteenth time, I STILL wanna know what damaged KITT at the end? He drives off to take Micheal to the hospital, and then is being towed? Huh?
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Post by FuzzieDice » Wed Jul 14, 2004 10:05 am

He said "Acute Exhaustion" I think... I guess he just got tired out? ;)

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Re: Bar under KITT's nose

Post by TurbomanKnight » Wed Jul 14, 2004 12:00 pm

aussieknight wrote:The bar arrangement under KITT's nose was interesting. It seems to possibly be an A-frame towing bar or maybe even a camera mount. Anyone seen it in use in a how-to or bloopers movie?
:kittspin:

Thats the bar for the Leaf Springs. You can see that bar in KvsK when KITT and KARR are battling.
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Post by aussieknight » Thu Jul 15, 2004 4:42 am

What leaf springs? For connecting to what? :-|
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Post by TurbomanKnight » Thu Jul 15, 2004 3:36 pm

Thats for the suspension.
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Post by aussieknight » Thu Jul 15, 2004 4:57 pm

No, actually it's not. Trans Am's do not have leaf spring suspension, they have coil springs. They're not trucks, you know. The frame I am talking about is an addition fitted for the series. I originally thought it was just to keep the nose from scraping, but now I see it is a little more specific than that. Anyone else?
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Post by Jonathan » Thu Jul 15, 2004 5:13 pm

Are you talking about this bars:

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Post by TurbomanKnight » Thu Jul 15, 2004 5:24 pm

Probably something for the skid plate. Do you have any screen shots of KITT Vs KARR?
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Post by aussieknight » Fri Jul 16, 2004 7:43 am

Don't need em. Here's a shot from KOTP, with the bar arrangement fairly visible under the nose:
Image

As is here, in TDR:
Image

Oh, and while we're at it, have a look here and see what sort of running gear a Trans Am has. Dented sump & all. Oh, sans bars though.
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Post by FuzzieDice » Fri Jul 16, 2004 9:33 am

I thought maybe you guys were talking about an air dam, which is needed on some cars (especially V8 engines which some Trans Ams had) to help deflect the air upwards in an effort to provide extra cooling for the engine. However, my car also has an air dam and it's only a 4 cyl. oddly enough. But in the picture above, KITT doesn't seem to have an air dam where would one expect one to be.

I also noticed something else. They do shots like these and then they put out the K.I.T.T. KITT - which shows diagrams of the underside to have things like an electromagentic field generator (large tourus coil object), rocket launchers, etc. and obviously the actual cars in the shows didn't have such things shown on the bottoms of them. Not even a skit plate to protect the gas tank and exhaust system! Looks like your normal stock T/A underneath. ;)

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Post by Jonathan » Fri Jul 16, 2004 11:53 am

Maybe the place where you put a hook to tow the car ?
I just checked and we can see those bars in Chariot Of Gold too.

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Post by TurbomanKnight » Fri Jul 16, 2004 2:18 pm

It can be a platform to connect the car to some lines to tow the car or an tow bar can be used. Also, do think it was probably used for Auto Cruising?
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Post by 86chvs10 » Fri Jul 16, 2004 2:33 pm

You can also see it very well in whiteBird when michael stops at stevie's apartment .I always thought it's was for when K.I.T.T turbo boost and the bar was suppost to protect the landing and not mess andthing up under the car so i thought the Bar was suppost to do that.

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Post by SwEeTiNsAnItY » Fri Jul 16, 2004 6:20 pm

Actually AussieKnight, cars can have leaf springs too, I think it just depends on the age though. My friend's '72 Charger has 'em in the back instead of coil springs, they're just not as large as a truck's would be.

And my little Pontiac Sunbird 4 cylinder has an airdam too :lol: I thought all cars had one though, weird, well, ya learn somethin' new everyday eh? :P

Has anyone compared this bar to an original Trans Ams or are we just assuming it was only on KITT? 'Cuz if was only on KITT I'd say it was a camera mount or a way of supporting the custom nose but if it was on all Trans Ams, then I'd suggest towing or something more functional like that.

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Post by aussieknight » Fri Jul 16, 2004 7:21 pm

Thank you 'Cheryl' :-) I am more than aware that some old clunkers had rear leaf springs :-P Been a LOOOONG time since any had FRONT leaf springs but :-) Yeah, I've wondered if it was a camera mount or towing mount for something like an A-frame. With that sort of setup you can pull any car just like a trailer. Oh, hang on, you guys call caravans trailers, don't cha? Hmmmm. Here, this is a trailer down here, being towed by the ubiquitous ute:
Image
But anyway, does anyone here have some pics of production with a camera mounted on top of KITT? I've seen them before, but I'm buggered if I can remember where.
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Post by TurbomanKnight » Fri Jul 16, 2004 9:34 pm

Hey! Thats half a pickup truck! I seen this guy in New York who had a old Volkswagen Beetle as a trailer. It was hilarious. Yeah, old cars do have leaf springs! Now they have coil overs and dampers on the new cars. Im pretty old school with cars. I'll prefer to drive a 1985-1989 Toyota 4Runner than to drive a new car. The 1986.5-1993.5 Toyota Supra was a great car. If you would like to know how one looks check out my avatar. That was my old man's. Them Australians have some pretty bad ass cars down there. Do they still make Holden's and Oxfords?
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Post by FuzzieDice » Sat Jul 17, 2004 1:05 am

aussieknight - That looks like an El Camino pulling that trailer?

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Post by TurbomanKnight » Sat Jul 17, 2004 1:13 am

FuzzieDice wrote:aussieknight - That looks like an El Camino pulling that trailer?


To my knowledge I think the red car is a Vauxhaul.
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Post by aussieknight » Sat Jul 17, 2004 4:47 am

Sorry guys. Ford Falcon ute. 4.1 litre 6 cyl, most likely an auto. Good for towing nearly 2 tons. Good fun to throw around, too. Yes, we still have Holdens, in fact you guys have been getting one of our cars called a Monaro here, but apparently a GTO over there. Can't you guys remember how to build fast cars over there? ;-)
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Post by Landotheman » Sat Jul 17, 2004 5:38 am

Hi guys,

I read somewhere that the bar is fitted to KITT to help prevent damage to the car when performing certain stunt manoeuvres. I'm not sure if this is true.

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Post by knightman » Sat Jul 17, 2004 6:11 am

that'd be an xd falcon ute if i am not mistaken??














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Post by aussieknight » Sat Jul 17, 2004 7:08 am

Nup! Either an XF or XG. The XD/XE was the predecessor to the XF, and was a lot squarer. The rear bumpers indicate to me it's an XG. Same engine as the EF Falcon.
It's quite possible that the bars were indeed used to tow the car while filming so that the actors could concentrate on acting. Hope someone comes up with some pics soon, Joe or Ritchie! ;-P
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Post by TurbomanKnight » Sat Jul 17, 2004 4:01 pm

Yo Aussieknight,

Pontiac is a division of General Motors. WHich came out of the good ol' U.S. of A. So you've been getting one of our cars. Those Morris Oxfords are bad ass! 8)
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