“Furious 7” director James Wan is gearing up another car-centric property, a new report says.
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The Wrap reports that Wan is working on a new version of the classic TV series “Knight Rider.”
The original show ran from 1982 to 1986 on NBC. It featured David Hasselhoff as an ex-cop who becomes a private crimefighter under the secret identity of Michael Knight, pursuing his cases with the help of an artificially intelligent self-driving Pontiac Firebird Trans Am named KITT.
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The iconic property has been rebooted several times on TV, most notably in 2008, when NBC tried it with an entirely new cast and (gasp!) a Ford Mustang as KITT. It failed miserably, and the season was cut short after just 17 episodes.
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Details on the new film, which is being scripted by “Ratchet & Clank” video game writer TJ Fixman, are unknown, but sources say it will be set in the present day. That being the case, what car will be Knight’s sidekick this time around?
Fox News Autos has a few ideas:
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Chevrolet Camaro
Since Pontiac went out of business in 2010, its traditional sister car is the most obvious choice. From 1967 to 2002 the two sports cars shared a platform and were distinguished mostly by their bodywork. However, rumor has it that Chevrolet is planning to discontinue the Camaro in 2022, which wouldn’t make for the best product placement in a big budget blockbuster that will probably debut after that.
Trucks are the new sports cars, and GMC is calling its upcoming 1,000 hp electric pickup and SUV the first “Supertruck.” Along with the parallel of HUMMER being another blast from the past, the battery-powered HUMMER EV will feature GM’s semi-autonomous Super Cruise driver aid system and comes standard with an illuminated grille. Unfortunately, due to regulations, it can’t be red like the original KITT’s, at least not in the real world.
Trans Am Depot Trans Am
Florida-based Trans Am Depot has taken GM’s old business plan and run with it, converting current Camaros into Firebird Trans Am lookalikes. The cars have more of a 1970s “Smoky and the Bandit” vibe, and are missing the all-important pop-up headlights, but it probably wouldn’t be too hard to do a Go-Go Eighties version.
Buick Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
GM is already bringing back HUMMER under the GMC brand, so it’s not a stretch that it could do the same for Pontiac in Buick showrooms with a futuristic twist. The automaker’s new electric skateboard chassis can accommodate a wide variety of body types, so slipping a new Firebird Trans Am body on one would be a snap. In fact, an animation demonstrating its flexibility depicts it with a Camaro-type body that would look great with pop-up headlights and a red light bouncing back and forth across the front of it.
TESLA CYBERTRUCK
Blasphemy? Absolutely. But like Greg Brady playing Johnny Bravo on “The Brady Bunch,” the pointy, allegedly-autonomous, stainless steel pickup with a light bar across the front sure fits the suit. That suit, of course, being a black vinyl wrap fitted over its difficult-to-paint stainless steel body.