Knight Rider Original KITT Voicebox Prop Working After 34 Years!

[@akinoffury2332]

The fact that the entire display still functions, despite all the wear it's clearly seen over the years, is astounding

[@soulmn76]

That is a testament to how well it was built originally.

[@0623kaboom]

LEDS are robust ... it takes a lot to blow them ...

[@smokeonthewater5287]

well it's a part of KITT, it has a special molecular superstructure.

[@smokeonthewater5287]

@@CosmicConnection968 Are you blind or what?

[@abstractheory1]

Cosmic Connection - He’s the one that sounds “silly”? Too funny 😂.

[@RetroRecipes]

INCREDIBLE. To me that _is_ KITT. You have KITT right there.

[@allaboutroofing2]

I hate to be the one that breaks this to you, but automobiles are not human, there is no lineage or personality. Same is true for voice generators. 😂

[@marcoparada6652]

@@allaboutroofing2 .........shut up!

[@allaboutroofing2]

@@marcoparada6652 sorry you missed the reference

[@dafoex]

Oh, fancy seeing you here! But I totally agree, this is the closest KITT has to a face, and they have it.

[@RetroRecipes]

@@dafoex Small world! One day I will own a KITT. 🙏

[@NoelBarlau]

The internal 10 Year Old me is flabbergasted that he's seeing this same display working 36 years later.

[@ront0803]

right with ya baby!

[@darkshadowsx5949]

electronics dont degrade like fruit. but its nice that it hasn't been completely scrapped for parts or lost in a landfill. just thank every soul who saved it from such fate.

[@kasuraga]

@@darkshadowsx5949 but they can wear out and die. It's amazing to see this thing working after all these years.

[@suitandtieguy]

Scott Rise is awesome. He builds modular synthesizers (so do I) and at Moogfest 2017 he had a module in his system running that was the voicebox. Really glad to see a direct connection between that and the original prop, but in reverse!

[@suitandtieguy]

His brand is Division 6, mine is STG Soundlabs. BTW I didn't know he would pop up in this video, U-Toob just suggested it to me lol.

[@TheMalfestor]

The adult in me thinks, "It's just talking a car." But the kid in me thinks, "It's THE talking car." Thank you for sharing this bit of TV history with us.

[@spannaspinna]

Not just any talking car it’s kitt lol

[@SonOfTheDevil666]

I love KITT in Holland it’s no easy to get a Pontiac Firebird I found 1 for 3000 euros most are going for at least 8 to 17,000 euros it Needed some work exhaust was crap and 1 of the headers was missing most bolts I have a Pontiac Firebird U9 1990 V6 3,1L injection same model only some parts are different the hood bumper and spoiler and of course the modifications I love de car and it’s going nowhere I know the KITT version was a trans am but that is expensive in Holland I don’t care more like 20,000 euro I am one of the 91 owners in Holland and I am proud of it

[@The07gt]

God I love KITT! You guys are honestly living my childhood dream to own and interact with the actors and stuntmen who made this show the hit that it will always be. One day I honestly hope to drive a KITT replica one day!

[@eligebrown8998]

This national treasure should never be out of a car or just laying around.

[@Pressbutan]

Oh my god, this is incredible. Thank you for sharing this!

[@MrJeep75]

That is so cool, I feel 10yrs old again

[@nbrowser]

Beautiful, just beautiful...transported right back to my childhood with Knight Rider was NEW episodes on TV...the memories!

[@Scripture-Man]

Absolutely amazing. This isn't even a replica, this IS KITT! YOU OWN KITT! Wow!

[@MetsaMan]

Incredible and great work, as a super fan, seeing this brings cool colors to your skin.

[@gutz1981]

I honestly liked the square voice box. Don't know why, but it seemed like to me, it keeps the show more connected to its original darker style, both in filming and concepts.

[@willitmakeit]

Very nice to see that working again thanks so much

[@riggoe]

I would be happier if the real voicebox behaviour had been matched. It looks like the outer bargraph's motion is quite similar to the one in the middle, but the in the real thing they acted differently. The outer bargraphs also were slightly darker, but I never saw such an original replica circuit. 😜

[@QF_Dan72]

This is awesome. Well done ,Scott

[@waycool1969]

I'm 12 years old again. Thank you . I will be watching my Knight Rider dvd set again . I want to se that changing . Thanks

[@countryboy197]

Just.... beautiful.

[@baukevanderkooi8712]

This is so awesome to see this working. Thank you for sharing.

[@Losttoanyreason]

Brings back some memories.

[@litewatefitr]

This is amazing. Such excellent display of community

[@MrSFSTUDIOS]

Hey! That's great! Good job guys! Amazing all the LEDs still work! Very fun to see the hero dash voice box alive again. Please don't put it in a blue '57 Chevy!

[@haroldalexis4200]

I remember this in the 3rd season. I still remember the original one. It was a red L.E.D. light. At that time it was a dead ringer to my stereo receiver. 😀 Great show & history of Knight Rider!👏👏👏👍👍

[@andrewolson5471]

The original was indeed a flashing red square. The change was made in the middle of season 1, after the episode with KARR.

[@JeremyCobb]

Nice one Scott, great work

[@finaloption...]

Scott gets coolest tech man of the year award!

[@stopglobalswarming]

I sat in the car when I was 6. I thought it was a real robot. I didn’t know that there was a microphone and voice actors in a booth at the car show. Haha

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

Do you have any pics? We would love to see them! [e-mail]

[@JRJohnson1701]

All I want from a voicebox, honestly, is the ability to hook it up with a stereo headphone jack to my phone or MP3 player, and have it react to the podcast voices. I wish someone made it that way.

[@bandittweintraub]

not a KR fan, but.. I love seeing the Screen Used cars and props of TV and Movies.

[@saulamaral574]

KITT has a voice box from the beginning of the first season which is squared and then the latter. KARR has kept his the same but different from KITT.

[@leoncordes6809]

I will build this. More Pictures please😁

[@johncassity3661]

KITT voice box was just a solid red box before the lines

[@andrewolson5471]

Yep. This one was introduced about half way through season 1, after the battle against KARR.

[@danielstorm281]

That’s like movie magic reborn. Very much, the Phoenix rising 🎞🎉🎉🎉

[@YourLocalIceMan]

Scotts the man.

[@Scioneer]

Anyone else think having KITT and Cortana( Halo version, not the Windows one) bicker back and forth would be a hoot?

[@eligebrown8998]

😂😂😂

[@miafillene4396]

Dude, within five minutes they'd be in a virtual bar having drinks and laughing.

[@PhoneSpecificationsUSA]

That is really cool.

[@Nintendofan2024-e7y]

Why are the lights sort of a reddish pink color? I remember in the show that they were always read whenever he spoke.

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

Its just the lighting, plus the red lens isn't in place. They are very red in person!

[@simonriddick]

That is too cool. Wow.

[@uainthacking_shit8362]

Yea you HAVE the box you have KNIGHT RIDER

[@trekinseattle]

Holy moly there's more hardware there, then what sent the First man to the moon !!

[@Prinnyblackbeard]

Omg I love this

[@petelattimer6808]

didnt season 1 have the SQUARE light in the voicebox, not the multiple light unit seen here?

[@ScottKirk-Notredcrew]

Mr Feeny has never sounded so cool .

[@skorpiolovesmith]

So cool

[@Timetonut]

Wonderful!

[@txgunguy2766]

KITT sounds a lot like Mr Feeny.

[@JavierGarcia-MT07]

😱😱😱 amazing!!!!

[@robinpascall5911]

omg incredible

[@Jordi7174]

Ironically, it looks just like it did in Knight Rider 2000.

[@indigomontari9022]

Just pondering what would conversation between 2 of the most famous embedded A.I. would be like K.I.T.T. and JARVIS

[@neophytealpha]

Interesting that it is just 6 standard LED bar displays.

[@josephsheranda]

Too bad the red plastic overlay is broken off, but it still looks good!

[@coniow]

Hmmm. Just what I needed: Reminding me how OLD I am :-).

[@shanethrelfall416]

KITT Or as today he likes to be called Alexa

[@stopglobalswarming]

Hahahha

[@brianbarringer7968]

I'm curious to know where the pure, isolated voice track came from.

[@willer3399]

William Daniels.

[@Mr.Death101]

That sounds like the principal from a Boy Meets World mr. Feeny not kit

[@katweasel4996]

i made one of the LED kits on a breadboard back in high school , the one that kit has on the front of the car . Never worked exactly as it should , had a sort of glitch in the way certain LED's lit up . Should have worked on it more then made the full version up and put it on my car when i got my licence .

[@AtmxDawg24]

KITT, KIT.

[@AtmxDawg24]

Not KIT.

[@Monni95]

Current leakages are pretty common with multiple-LED configurations... Essentially when you try to light up single LED, surrounding LEDs also light up.

[@nelsonminator]

Back then, everything was made to last....

[@MagentaRV]

Where can we find the schematic for that?

[@playuk-tiktok]

if only u could hack a alexa or a nest and change the voice to kitt ect or maybe make a knightrider mod that would change the voice to kitt would be amazing

[@theultimatehunt]

Wish I had an A.I that could vocally tell me my viitals.

[@andrewolson5471]

I think the technology exists. And of not, it will soon.

[@williamsteele]

Curious... what is the little red triangle for in the bottom right of the bar graph? It looks like it was intentionally cut out and inserted.

[@williamsteele]

Ah, looking at it closer... Is that just a piece of the original overlay?

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

Yes it is!

[@sokolum]

ok... have to get such into my car

[@dutchtekradio]

awesome

[@uliwitness]

Any chance of getting a more in-depth technical description of how the board works from Scott or who it was that made it?

[@geoffallan3804]

Search LM3915 - lots of projects on youtube showing how

[@geraldeh7291]

Now we just need a computer AI to talk like William Daniels instead of Alexa or Siri.

[@zeldatrek]

Agreed and with half of the US against big tech with few viable options, I think the time has come for a Knight Industries Operation System or KIOS for short.

[@brendethedev2858]

Get in contact with the creator of 15.ai he'll do it if you provide a dataset for him to train his AI on

[@neophytealpha]

There was a GPS that had KITT voice built in. You could also get the voice for some other GPS

[@crackseller321]

That would be dope

[@cincomithell]

That would rock! Siri and Alexa are soooo boring

[@IloveElsaofArendelle]

"I'm the voice of Knight Industries 2000's microprocessor..." It's the first time shown with this bar graph voice box! It looks cooler than the flashing square

[@probably_afk]

That this still exists and works makes me irrationally happy. Ah the 80s.....

[@Andy-From-England]

I think wo should all say thanks to Scott who made the circuit board for making the world's well known car come alive again cheers scot And great video guys

[@0623kaboom]

I wonder why he went the hard way instead of just making a 3 channel vu meter and a usb to phone connector running a basic equalizer and voice recognition software ... would have been a lot smaller and other than the actual led display it would be plug and play literally or hack siri up and use that for the voice recognition and prerecorded kitt options

[@MartyM.]

​ @0623kaboom It's because that's often signiificantly more difficult in terms of both hardware and getting firmware functionality sorted out. USB means there will have to be a host (master) device and are the issues that come with the USB protocol, packet failures, device handshaking, and so on. Any time you add more variables the probability of failure & complications, complexity, and cost go up nearly exponentially. In the end, often the simplest solution is the best one. SIRI is proprietary and as far as I'm aware not open-source, meaning that's not a viable option.

[@sabersword_58]

Yes. Love you KITT!

[@DRATproductions1]

A BIG Thank you to Scott for keeping KITT alive!!

[@PhoneSpecificationsUSA]

Now, you need the voice box for KARR.

[@KarstenJohansson]

Hmm, I might be named after that car. :/

[@IMDARKFIRE007]

YES! I loved Kitt and all...but Karr was WAY cooler sound wise in my opinion.

[@moejoe5762]

Foolish Boy

[@angusmcdeath8403]

@@IMDARKFIRE007 and looked better too

[@arthurspontiacfieroblog]

Peter Cullen. Who also does the voice for Optimus Prime. Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

[@ecohitman111]

"Being a collector's item means being part of history", You dam right you are KITT, and always will be.

[@knightnorma08]

We need a real knight museum of technology a have these pieces on display for the fans to see.

[@JustinMacri007]

I know

[@caglarsingletary8420]

I am working on a Gynoid Parody,CALLED Bike Rider reason-be it was my favorite childhood Television Program .

[@simongame3301]

How about this dunno if it's true but found the link. David is selling his personal KITT car but to rich for me. www.liveauctioneers.com/item/95041485_davids-personal-kitt-knight-rider-car

[@greenlawnfarm5827]

That is probubly worth like $2 milion dolars or even more maybe.

[@dreamingone615]

Need?

[@KombatWarehouse]

This made me cry 😭 The fact that you’re seeing the original season 3/4 KITT’s voice box talking!! It’s amazing 🤩 The nostalgia is 💯 I’m looking forward to see it installed in the screen used KITT

[@Nothing-qq4hd]

Those were the great seasons. That's the same box that faced down goliath. I think its fate kitt is somehow alive here in 2021

[@Petroschka1979]

All screen used Kitts are destroyed..... Sadly

[@KombatWarehouse]

@@Petroschka1979 actually only 5 screen used KITT cars survived. The man that’s showing KITT’s original voicebox has one of the screen used KITT cars. 😎

[@CrystalMcNair]

Accidentally stumbled onto this video, and I can see why it was suggested to me. After binge watching a bunch of computer and pinball repair videos, it makes sense this would pop up. But I'm even more astonished to see KITTs original voice module! Holy crap! My dad managed to sit in the original KITT car as it was being toured around the country, and I sat on his lap in the drivers seat as a baby. Nostalgia hits real hard here. Thanks so much for the video!

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

Thank you! Please check out our other videos on the reconstruction of this original dashboard! Much more to come. Do you have any photos of your dad sitting in the car on tour? We would love to see them! [e-mail]

[@Angela-jc8bk]

I am so jealous.

[@will_it_work]

On the first season, KITT didn't have bars in his voice box. It was just one red square that lit up.

[@asht1657]

Only up until episode 13 i think from episode 14 he had the bars

[@confuseatronica]

am i the only one that likes them both equally? I can't decide.

[@asht1657]

@@confuseatronica I don't mind either as well but I think I remember reading somewhere that they changed it to the bars because people liked the look of KARR's voice modulator from episode 9

[@GESSO217]

"Where is my Random Access? Or my Graphic's Board? I can't even play a round of Pac Man in here."

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

You're dating yourself. Pac-Man is in the Smithsonian.

[@GESSO217]

@@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial "Probably in an exhibit or two away from you,"

[@andrismajors8171]

I know about this movie and tv series from german language channel RTL Plus or simply RTL +. This channel made one of the longest action tv series from 1996, are Alarm für Cobra 11 or Alarm for Cobra 11. In one of episodes was real replica of KITT(kitt.de) filmed,but are destroyed normal car with cheap scanner and KNIGHT plate. This site about cars in tv and movies www.imcdb.org for help.

[@GMLSX]

@@andrismajors8171 This show is know to have wrecked a few 3rd gen Firebirds. Non KITT replicas mind you. One of them a Formula model. Formula hood goes for about 1200+ € over here. The normal one for about 70€

[@theannoyedmrfloyd3998]

*graphics

[@albert_vds]

Watching the voice box light up for the first time in 34 years made me tear up. It's beautiful!

[@jsting23]

First time I saw Boy Meets World and listen to the voice of mr.Feeny,I was, wait a minute mr. Feeny is Kitt!!!

[@MrMegaManFan]

“Michael, I was not designed to be a.. tow truck.” 😂

[@seebaastian]

youtube algorithm takes you places you never dream about!

[@markrude9489]

"In 100 feet, turn left, Michael."

[@shifty2755]

Next time. David hasselhoffs original chest hair.

[@youthteenager2407]

And they're still on him!

[@bennaambo2716]

What kind of stupid rubbish is this comment

[@bletheringfool]

I know the truth. Scott is the son of Bonnie

[@andrewdrabble8939]

Shame you couldn't have had the cruise light on too while K.I.T.T was talking then it would have been like old times but it was brilliant to see his voice box working again

KITT: Michael, I was not designed to be a... tow truck.

[@shoestringscifi]

What is the paper affixed to the LED bars, and how is it attached? Was it applied to diffuse the light from the individual LEDs? Ingenious. It really feels like you have restored KITT to life!

[@MartyM.]

Looks to be the default plastic some LED or display components have from the factory to protect their finish. It's a very thin layer of plastic that you pull off. I've had to remove it before from parts like that.

[@suitandtieguy]

Scott Rise is awesome. He builds modular synthesizers (so do I) and at Moogfest 2017 he had a module in his system running that was the voicebox. Really glad to see a direct connection between that and the original prop, but in reverse!

[@Ruben_ACE_]

I want a kitt voicebox 😮 is it posble to make me one?

[@suitandtieguy]

@@Ruben_ACE_ do you mean as a eurorack modules or just something to sit on your desk?

[@Ruben_ACE_]

@@suitandtieguy sitting on my desk i have made an led version of the scanner with my arduino nano😍 but voice box i cant find nothing 😵

[@suitandtieguy]

@@Ruben_ACE_ his brand name is Division 6 so look that up. I can't help you beyond that. Good luck!

[@digitalmagicAR]

Pretty cool that the 1st thing you had it say after all these years was the 1st thing we ever heard KITT say back in the show "I am the voice of the ..."

[@lilbluecar89]

Now if you could find the KARR voicebox too

[@junaidgt90]

Aghhh 😭..i wanna replace SIRI with KITT.

[@geoffallan3804]

Ah yes, the ubiquitous LM3914 (linear) and LM3915 (logarithmic) chips and those Radio Shack 10 segment LEDs. I built a similar circuit before that show was around. People were using them for VU meters for their home and/or car stereos.

[@kelli217]

Thinking about the kind of electronics work that went into the hero dash... it was about as sophisticated as any car out there. I'd like to think that Buick's Graphic Control and Oldsmobile's Visual Information Center CRT-based proto-infotainment systems, and the 1984 Corvette's bar-graph dashboard were heavily influenced by KITT, as much as KITT's dash design was influenced by the 1976 Aston Martin Lagonda Series 2 and the 1978 Cadillac Seville.

[@mahmoodabdurahman2189]

Looks like 6 led panels that makes up the voice box.. Those guys were really clever in the 80s. Well done on getting the original working.

[@dogwalker666]

They are standard led bar graph modules they were very common I have a box of red a few green and yellow to, blue LED had not been invented then.

[@therestorationofdrwho1865]

Firstly where did you get this? And secondly why was it removed from the car?

[@andrewolson5471]

I have a feeling this was installed in a mock up dash used for closeup shots, and wasn't ever actually in a car.

[@TStheBaja272]

This is awesome! It's amazing what you guys can do to get all these original props!

[@matthewhegarty729]

Any spare chips found fit for use in a human brain??

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

Why? Know any injured cops that could use one?

[@michaelking3327]

@@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial dang! somebody actually watched the show!

[@AtmxDawg24]

The screen used care for Knight Rider 2000, is being sold. They made the movie here in my hometown of San Antonio, Texas. And yes, I did watch the movie too.

[@TdawggLA]

That is absolutely awesome. Just the fact that you are holding kitt is incredible

[@smokeonthewater5287]

It's a downright crime that a sequel with the original hoff never happened. I'd seriously watch it with the original KITT and the aged down Hoff.

[@2Hard2Core]

Did KARR also had a voicebox? Would be fun to have both!

[@PhantomOfTheMall]

Yep, K.A.R.R. was voiced by legendary Peter Cullen! The same guy that voices Optimus Prime!

[@FirstDan2000]

Oh my god, just look at the attention to detail on that circuit board. Besides the name and date of its creator, the words 'KITT Voice Box Controller' are printed at one end - and it's written in Knight Font. ! This deserves to be visible somehow on the restored dash.

[@tsrgoinc]

I thought in the first series it was just a flashing red block, not individually leds

[@vuway-]

Backward engineer it and post the schematic so we can all have one

[@richwojehowski1123]

Granted a lot of engineers are backwards, but I you meant reverse engineer.

[@Zardox-The-Heretic-Slayer]

it would be easy enough to make your own using the bargraphs and 2 LM3914's (one for the centre and 1 for the 2 outer bars) with a standard voice level circuit, then you could have 2 pots to alter the sensitivity of the bars - I imagine thats probably similar to what they did originally