The Full Story of The Knight Rider Train Wreck in Selma, CA - Part 1

[@robsharpe3236]

I must say that your video was absolutely brilliant to watch. I'm in the UK and have owned an early, June 82, black Trans Am, black California car, for a long time now and love to hear anything related to Knight rider Trans Am's so keep up the great work!

[@KRHExclusives]

Hey, thanks! Appreciate the comment, and sharing your car story! We, of course, LOVE the 82 California TAs... Would you mind emailing us at [e-mail] please about your car? We would love to request a pic of your trim tag, if you are willing to share...much appreciated!!!

[@KRHExclusives]

Hey, thanks! Appreciate the comment, and sharing your car story! We, of course, LOVE the 82 California TAs... Would you mind emailing us please? To our Address at 57:01 We would love to request a pic of your trim tag, if you are willing to share...much appreciated!!!

[@tex1138]

Thank you guys so much. I’m laid up with pneumonia and been binging your channel to keep me going. Your work is nothing short of incredible.

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

We’re so sorry to hear that, hope you feel better soon!

[@SCREENUSEDKEITH]

Love the "Knight Rider Historians". You guys really doing a great job of documenting the history of this great show.

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

Thanks for the kind words!

[@chosenman08]

Now THAT is one of the things that make you the Historians! Excellent research, logical and clever thinking, endless enthusiasm and more. And obviousely one of those big IFs concerning the KR series: what if there was no derailment of Firebirds? Oh my, this is exciting and you are the best!

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

Thanks so much!

[@MrSFSTUDIOS]

Great bit of KR History. Keep it up guys!

[@PetesGuide]

We have been waiting for this *_FOREVER_* !!!

[@dukenukem8381]

Train wreck was caused by Garthe

[@makavelidadon77777]

😂😂

[@SCREENUSEDKEITH]

Lol!!

[@Red_Lanterns_Rage]

you can't win Garthe! you can derail this train and they'll use these cars....

[@charlesalmada4486]

Goliath 😅😅

[@HazelKitching]

KARR destroyed the train on Garthe's orders.

[@rickcook22]

I normally don’t interact, but I loved this vid. Thanks AJ

[@KRHExclusives]

Glad you came out of the woodwork to speak up on this one...Thank you, and YOU are most welcome!

[@billcotter5262]

Well, this was a real trip down memory lane. I'm glad my Starlog article helped start you on your search. It was a fun project, and I later did a follow-up on KITT on display at the Universal theme park. I never realized the train wreck was such a mystery. I knew it was up in the Fresno area. Funny the things that stick in your mind. I wish I had been able to save you some time, but you did a great job tracking it down! I look forward to Part 2.

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

Bill! Wonderful to see you here. We will be following up with you via email. Would love to have you included in Part 2!

[@rivitedrailfan]

Been wanting to find out more about this as both a Knight Rider fan and a Railfan!

[@benj.kerman609]

Me too, I was wondering what railroad was transporting the cars.

[@MichaelSuperbacker]

Today is November 11th and also Veterans Day!

[@TheDrumLife2]

It happened at 1825 W Front Street in Selma. The palm trees which look like sticks in the aerial photo on Facebook are still there.

[@KRHExclusives]

Indeed, we've studied those palm trees a LOT as reference points, plus you can see them in my video at 59:14

[@MikeyRB77]

Thanks SO MUCH for all of your work!

[@deansmith6924]

Great video Gentleman, can’t wait for part 2

[@gfhoff1]

Just awesome research. Thanks for your hard work! Great video!

[@digitalmagicAR]

This was another excellent video! Great to see color photos turn up even! Busy and didn't have time to watch but somehow I watched the entire video anyway

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

We're glad you enjoyed it!

[@KITT-K2000]

wow that was an awesome video, super grateful for all your work and dedication we gladly appreciate it. Thank you, can't wait for part 2

[@KRHfan]

Thank you mentioning Veterans Day!!! I’m at proud veteran of the US Air Force, two of my main interests are coming together, trains and Knight Rider

[@KRHExclusives]

Thank you sir, and thank you also for serving!

[@KRHfan]

@ is this AJ? If it is, did you think of asking the photographer from Trains magazine if they did an article in one of their past issues from late 1982 about the derailment?

[@KRHExclusives]

@@KRHfan Yes, I am AJ! You mean David Lassen? The Selma Enterprise photographer who later worked at Trains magazine now? I'm quite certain he would have brought that up immediately if he had, given the context of my email to him. But good question. To me, it was obvious that they hadn't, if so, he would have said that first. Instead, he only mentions his recollection that one of these train wreck cars ended up at the Selma high school shop... Good question, though! That, and he hasn't responded to my latest emails, so he has gone MIA or off the radar or something...

[@kareemrichards8635]

Great detective work ( Rockford files), lol. It is very interesting to see how the mystery unfolds. Thanks for sharing, captain.

[@knight2000-NC]

fun quest and a happy ending

[@larrypaul8657]

Great sleuthing...Love the methodology in searching for this "lost" history.

[@davidjames1389]

What a great journey. Thanks for walking us through how you found all this out!

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

You're welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@unclegsworkshop9270]

Nice work guys! Nice to see you in a video again AJ.

[@KRHExclusives]

Thanks! Good to be back in the videos!

[@Rawsolo]

Absolutely incredible. You guys have outdone yourselves!

[@Pk991_Justwatchingstuff]

Im glad that I was able to see one your KITT's at Petersen Automotive Museum :)

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@Pk991_Justwatchingstuff]

@@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial My dad likes Knight Rider so I was exited to see it (I took a video of the light bar Xd)

[@knightmedia1]

So many videos have been put out by you guys, but only one or two previous have featured AJ Palmgren, such a legend, as are you all, thanks for sharing

[@KRHExclusives]

Well, thank you, but let's face it, our Patreon supporters like yourself are the legends to us! You help us make it happen! For that, we thank you!

[@Ronaldl2350]

Very cool! I really like deep dives like this!

[@nscalefun]

AWESOME!!!!! Thank you for sharing.

[@brentboswell1294]

Weird, train wreck protocol is to immediately declare all cargo in derailed cars as "lost", and the cargo is scrapped/disposed of as required. It becomes the property of the insurers

[@KRHExclusives]

Thanks for your comment, and Great point, I plan to address this in Part 2...and why that was exactly what happened! Do you/ have you worked for any railroad in any capacity? You sound quite knowledgeable!

[@brentboswell1294]

@KRHExclusives I'm not personally a railroader, but I grew up in a railroad family. I was advised by my late dad to stay clear of train wrecks, unless you wanted to be arrested by the railroad police (who have Federal jurisdiction!). I also grew up hearing about things that went to waste after train wrecks, including a box car full of a new shipment of RCA color TV's, when a color TV set was a luxury that only doctors and lawyers could afford...my late grandfather, although he was a freight railroad conductor by day, ran a TV repair business out of his garage 😅

[@KRHExclusives]

@@brentboswell1294 I've heard similar tales discussing this train wreck on railfan forums, so the corroborate your stories for sure! Thanks for sharing this!

[@mikekozi-lester3887]

Hi Joe and Kitt and guest nice video 📹 and workmanship and train and parts and world 🌎 workmanship

[@marktaylor9975]

Mmmmmm… AJ and a Joe way of videos. Intresting. As a railroader, Now that you got the date and stuff. Someone could get the ICC accident report on this. Although it probably not net you VIN numbers, but direction, car numbers-RR, and what happened with it. Would shed a clear light on what happened logistically on moving these. I had copies (of my accidents.) of where I worked and what happened, which may be of interest in a story, history and perhaps find a nugget of truth somewhere in it. And found no where else. I think you got mostly of what is needed. Great job.

[@KRHExclusives]

Great suggestion! Actually, we plan to cover that in the next video! (I think). Thank you so much for sharing, and for your kind words!

[@GregAtlas]

Have you tried visiting the local shops, police department, hospital, and maybe even Burlington Northern's office? If any of the staff might have been around back then or know someone who were around. They might have additional pictures and reports in their records both public and personal.

[@KRHExclusives]

Oh, yes, I visited a dozen local shops, most people don't remember it, but a few do! But sadly, none of them took any pics, or saved the pics that they took back then. But the search continues! The hope is that THIS video reaches individuals that my personal visits, calls, emails and Facebook posts have not. Now, you mention "Burlington Northern's office?" The railroad was Southern Pacific, is that what you meant? Or are you thinking there's a connection between BN and SP? Anyway, in part 2 I'll cover the half-dozen or so Southern Pacific archival and fan-based resources that I've literally trolled over the last 7 years to find answers. This search produced some VERY interesting dialog, but sadly, nothing that could lead to actual additional pictures or cargo records, and certainly not vehicle VINs, which is our ultimate goal! Stay tuned for Part II!

[@GregAtlas]

@@KRHExclusives No, I was mistaken. I'm mostly familiar with BN and really meant whatever rail company runs that area. Sorry. Thanks for the reply. Looking forward to part 2.

[@erictenbensel6590]

Thanks guys for this awesome video 👍

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

Our pleasure!

[@dangerousandy]

A fantastic video! RIP to all who lost their lives in battle over the years. Knight Rider and trains are two of my favourite things from my childhood. I was born in 1982, so it is of great interest to me that this wreck happened back then.

[@heidihobear]

I live a hour from Selma now i am going to have to see the wreck site.

[@DrummingWriterTrekfan84]

Hey AJ glad to see you get a whole video! At 13:13 glen and David are sitting in a KITT with the top and passenger side of the dash covered in autographs. I've never heard of that particular kitt car autographed. What's the story on it? Was it a screen used car or a mock up for a big Knight Rider event? Bet it's worth a lot!

[@murrayrasmussen-mo1nw]

Great work AJ

[@jonathanfactor6688]

Great video thanks Great job

[@athlonen]

Here's something for a Part 2.. See if there is any sort of NTSB report or something similar at the time for the accident, as well as the reporter for Trains, since he worked at the Selma newspaper. Perhaps they can research and tell you the exact location of the derailment, so you'd have the exact place all of this happened. What bugs me more is that over the past few years I've driven through Selma, and never knew that this event happened or how it affected the entire course of the Knight Rider series! another case of unknown infamous history right under my nose!

[@KRHExclusives]

Hi, thanks for the comment! Yes Indeed, we shall show the NTSB report in Part 2, we looked it up years ago. And if you recall, at 0:25 at the beginning (and the end) of this video, I'm standing right in the EXACT location of the derailment, so we do know exactly where it happened. I'm glad to know you visit Selma frequently...and NOW you know the history that was always there! So few people know, which is why it was SO important that we finally make this video! The next time you cross the tracks at 2nd st, you can look to the south and say "it happened right there, 100 feet from me"!

[@HazelKitching]

Thankyou for the video.Nice to se AJ again,we don't see enough of him.The train wreck story is interesting.Thankyou. Love the t shirt Joe.Where can i get one of those from? Thanking You Hazel in the UK

[@KRHExclusives]

I just asked Joe to add it to our online store! Hopefully it will be there soon... knightriderhistorians.com/collections/shirts

[@Zelaznogsiul-63]

I had no idea that happened on my birthdayI turned 19 back in 82, I am old.

[@SCREENUSEDKEITH]

So u are a few years younger than "John Schneider", of Dukes Of Hazzard. He was 18 when auditioned for Dukes in 1978.

[@KRHExclusives]

Happy Birthday!

[@Zelaznogsiul-63]

@@KRHExclusives thank you.

[@redfire2987]

Hope u can find more photos, 1st time I've seen those color photos of the train wreck. As a long time Firebird owner & Knight Rider fan, I've always been interested in this story.

[@jimibaboza]

Goes to show how unreliable memories can be sometimes.

[@Commodore128Mode3]

This is easily one of my favorite KRH videos so far! Thanks AJ and Joe! Nice to spend some time with AJ (not that it isn't nice spending time with Joe)!

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@mrjsv4935]

Very impressive video, definetely very throrough and detailed detective work. 👍 What an amazing incident, another piece among other things that came perfectly together to help making Knight Rider a hit TV-show 🙂

[@johnreissiger4043]

I'm impressed lot knowledge I was 10 years old in August and 14 then 42+ years is incredible and I'm now 52 Knight Rider Historians A+ nice job could not have done any better. Keep it going also can't wait for the full interior of the semi Sincerely JOHN REISSIGER KR HISTORIANS FOLLOWER +❤!

[@KRHExclusives]

I also was 10 years old then, thanks for sharing this!

[@billbaker2725]

Starrlog was one of the best magazines back in the day...some of the early issues can be very valuable

[@jasonaugort7351]

AJ & Joe…true detectives!

[@albertvonschultz9137]

In 1985, my high school received a Ford Thunderbird. That was the flood damage in the car was in perfect condition.

[@KRHExclusives]

I LOVE this story!

[@digitalmagicAR]

Interesting that Pontiac said no more cars after the first 3 or 4 free ones considering the immense profit Smokey & the Bandit had made them. Different execs and short memories I guess. An insane car stunt show like Knight Rider couldn't last long with only 4 cars. If not for the train wreck cars, I guess we would have had a lot more flivver and miniature jumps. The studio could afford to buy more Trans Ams but Hollywood operates like most big businesses and they try to spend as little as they can possibly get away with, and then make as much as massive wealth as they possibly can. Just like GM, actually.

[@briank.8925]

FLIPPIN THOROUGH!

[@Jamespennington71]

I grew up in Folsom California in the 80’s and I heard about this train wreck from my auto shop teacher! My school (and several other schools in the district) had been donated brand new Nissan “Hardbody” pickups with zero miles on them. The ship carrying them had encounter a storm or something and several trucks had broken free and gotten slammed around like bumper cars. All dented up and some broken windows, but in perfect running condition. When my auto shop was talking with me about it. He told me how they couldn’t be sold or registered because of the damage and then mentioned kind of offhand the train wreck and how “that Knight Rider show got em all”. I never knew it was any kind of secret 🤷🏻

[@KRHExclusives]

@Jamespennington71 THANK YOU for sharing a detailed story like this! There are a several comments on this video that indicate that local people DID know about this...but perhaps that's the key! If you were LOCAL (or at least regional) to the area! That train wreck happened about halfway between Los Angeles and you, could it be that your shop teacher knew about it because the train wreck happened closer to you? Maybe, I don't know, but it's a question worth asking. What I CAN tell you, is, in the MidWest where I grew up, no such knowledge existed anywhere, so while it may have never intended to be any kind of secret, the Starlog article was really the first (and for decades the only) way to know about it! I guess you were just "close enough to the action" where the story spread to you, but not much outside of California perhaps? Just a theory. Regardless, your question is so good, I'd like to choose it as one of several that I will address and respond to in Part 2 of this series, so again, thanks for sharing!

[@Jamespennington71]

⁠@@KRHExclusives just now coming to the end of your video, (I first commented this near the beginning of it.) Maybe if one of those cars did make it into Selma high school AS that’s how my auto shop teacher heard about it? Don’t really know I’m sure the guys’s long dead and I can’t ask him. Teachers talk to other teachers and things get around I suppose. Great video and I love and appreciate all the work you guys put into this channel.😎👍

[@KRHExclusives]

@@Jamespennington71 Thank you! And we really appreciate your comments, too!

[@pt008]

I can't help but wonder, if they had to purchase more cars, would that have been a (literal) showstopper? How would the cost of 10 cars compare to the production/salary costs of a few seasons? But what an amazing sequence of events and timing. I'm also wondering if it was truly prohibitive, might they have opened it up to new sponsorship/placement and all of a sudden KITT became a 300ZX, or a Mustang, or even a Dodge Daytona of the day... and they could still call it KITT, the Knight Industries THREE thousand :)

[@chris-townson]

Great video! Really fascinating stuff. Also, being married to a librarian, I feel it's a good opportunity give libraries a shout out for curating the archives that make discoveries like this possible.

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

I totally agree!

[@PaulsYouTube]

I actually moved to Selma, CA in early October 1982. I recall a train incident shortly after arriving. The sound of a train was new to me. I remember the cooler weather at night and falling asleep to the sound of the train's horn. Good times. I wasn't a fan of Knight Rider because "The Greatest American Hero" (TGAH) was more my show. The boys at school seemed split between Knight Rider and TGAH. I tried watching Knight Rider a bit after TGAH was cancelled, but still couldn't get into it. I think we watched syndication shows on the independent channels. I had two sisters in the house the were fussy about everything.

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

That's a great story - thanks for sharing!

[@themobseat]

@35:58 you should block the librarian's email and phone#, great video! See is Selma has the paste ups of the article. It would be a black and white photo placed onto a physical mock up of the page of the paper.

[@KRHExclusives]

I thought about that, but intentionally left them in. The listed email and phone number are to the library, not her personally, so we intentionally left it in. As per some comments here, maybe some fans would like to personally thank her at the library for these efforts?

[@TruittFilmCo]

Yes! Finally!

[@Johnmartel1989]

Remember I ordered that kit kit probably still have it!!

[@Johnmartel1989]

Did not get free giveaway model of kitt missed it

[@macloonan23]

Bloody hell! I have that issue of Starlog! Probably the one and only issue I have, bought in the 90s specifically for the Knight Rider article.

[@mk-jf1ux]

this is Fantastic!

[@donaldwiller9238]

Great job 👏

[@Chicagoguy1984]

Hey AJ it’s dave in Oklahoma Yes, you could order PMD seats and 15” Turbo cast in 83 👍😎🤘🏻 Have evidence some 84's got the 15" Turbo cast also but still need PHS invoice on a 84 S/E to verify

[@KRHExclusives]

Hi, Dave! Thanks for that confirmation!

[@Lewythelip66]

Who knows if Knight Rider would have continued without the train wreck cars 😮

[@heidihobear]

Also it rained heavily today in fact

[@KRHExclusives]

Are you in Selma CA?

[@heidihobear]

@ I live only a hour from Selma. It’s not that far from me. So if I can help in any way please let me know

[@lowrivera]

Not for nothing but 15 years to think to hit up the local library? 😟 Love the discovery either way!

[@KRHExclusives]

Thank you! 15 years to figure out WHICH local library to contact! AND the DATE to look for! Contacting every local library in the country without knowing those details seemed a bit ridiculous, even to us!

[@MichaelSuperbacker]

Hello 👋

[@Steven_Duering]

Holy crap! It’s AJ!😂😂

[@KRHExclusives]

Indeed, it is me!

[@Theratron]

Thanks for taking us with you on this journey! I find it interesting the book by mr. Newhardt mentions 4 Trans Ams were promised to the production instead of the 3 they initially picked up at Van Nuys. Is the fourth one the Michael Long "regular black and gold Trans Am" we see in the pilot, which is suspected to have been converted into a stuntcar somewhat later? It has to be, right? The article mentions 2 beauty cars, which are the hero car and the back-up hero car/insert car, and 2 stunt cars. Might be an interesting story on how they managed to get this fourth car... We never heard how they acquired it as far as I know.

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

They were only given 3 originally to film the pilot presentation, but obtained a fourth before they finished filming the pilot

[@Theratron]

@@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial ah thanks! I guess the people at Pontiac were less hush-hush about the fourth one then 😅

[@KRHExclusives]

@@Theratron That, or it's one they had to buy! We'll be doing follow-up videos on each of the cars used, especially the early ones! BUT, Did you watch the linked video "Every. Single. KITT." yet? It answers your questions here in great detail! Here's a direct link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3XZdqCMZrKZi7s

[@Theratron]

@@KRHExclusives ah thanks! I did watch it at the time, but my memory isn't the best so I'm going to watch it again!

[@Theratron]

@@KRHExclusives watched the video again! 🤗 It doesn't really mention the fourth car that was obtained during the filming of the pilot, but I did count the number of cars from the train derailment mentioned in that video. Including the final jump car (which is confirmed to be one of the train derailment cars) and not including the car that was brought in just to be destroyed in 'Knight of the Juggernaut' (as I'm not sure if that was one of the trainwreck cars or not) the total number of cars mentioned to have been obtained through the train derailment is 16. Joe mentioned that the car in the museum in Florida is the only train derailment car that survived, so I guess that would make it 17. Not bad, I can see how the production must have been very happy with that "incident" 😆

[@VictorMaza]

Amazing !!

[@matthewhegarty729]

Ah the good old days when everything sent away for required a “SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope)”

[@Red_Lanterns_Rage]

I always called em sassies! lolz

[@MrJeep75]

Great story

[@JohnALong-nl2hj]

So, Pontiac gave the show some Transams. And some were from a train wreck? Fascinating. Did Ford give Mustangs to Universal for the 2009 version of Knight Rider?

[@KRHExclusives]

Well, that story is likely far less interesting. All of those cars have survived, and have been sold to different collectors. We follow those when they pop up online, at a car show, or on ebay from time to time. No such "they must be destroyed" story seems to go with those cars, like it does with the true 83 Fire birds from The Train Wreck

[@Scorp308]

I want my KITT kit!

[@natewhite714]

Great work team here’s a question I wondered who did the intro voice of knight rider????

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

Richard Basehart

[@natewhite714]

@@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficialcool thanks I never knew that.

[@timothyzehner2592]

After seeing this video I do remember seeing a black trans am at De Anza College in the 80’s I don’t know weather it was one of those involved in that train accident it was in the auto shop. The college got it as a donation by GM whole the roof was messed up and missing the back glass. They removed the back portion of the car keeping only the front portion and front seats. Today don’t know what the college did with it when they upgrade the shop with newer models but could you check to see if GM donated one of those cars to De Anza College in Cupertino California thanks Timothy Zehner

[@KRHExclusives]

Thanks, Timothy, this is worth following up on, we appreciate the tip!

[@ThomasHooker-z3b]

Great video. Thanks for all you do, KR historians. Also, I think the first part of the Description is a Ghostbusters quote. If so, nice callback.

[@KRHExclusives]

Indeed, you are correct! kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHPEeJuLbLtmoMU It's also a song buy The Strokes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iqnRZmCagLF5fsk

[@kerrykilrow1498]

My dad served desert storm army national guard he would watch knight rider with me ❤

[@justinbaverstock9869]

Maybe KARR was injured in the train wreck and that's why he turned bad. He literally went off the rails.

[@Galaxxi]

Where did y'all get the scans of Starlog #79?

[@KRHExclusives]

Joe had them from somewhere. Before producing this video, I bought one on eBay, but it has not yet arrived, unfortunately, and I like to have the physical book/magazine when I do video features on them, so I was at a loss to just have these few page low-quality scans in my collection. We'll get upgraded scans of the entire magazine soon, just because it's so significant to this Train Wreck story!

[@billcotter5262]

I have most of my Starlog stuff online. This one is at www.billcotter.com/projects/images/magazines/starlog-79.pdf

[@shadowstate552]

I knew Starlog, bought several issues as a kid. It was always for sale on the rack next to Fangoria and MAD Magazine at the corner convenience store.

[@Red_Lanterns_Rage]

I've known of Starlog since the 90's, them and SW Insider and various games magazines

[@garysprandel1817]

Oh yes Starlog forgot where it was carried here in the Chicago burbs but was picking it up regularly from issue 2 or 3. First I ever heard of this little space opera coming out called Star Wars was a little blurb with a couple Ralph McQuarrie production art pieces in Starlog.

[@tatocorvette]

Great investigation work! I am not going to watch an hour long video... An hour and 3 minutes later... Wait! Where is Part 2? 🙂 I have always heard about the train wreck story since the late 80's early 90s in College. However, I thought it was the deciding factor in using the Trans Am. Now I know they had started production already with 4 cars and this incident helped secure additional cars. If it hadn't been for this, how long can the original 4 be mended? I think the overall production would have been far more restrained if it wasn't for this. Nobody got hurt (but the insurance company most likely) and the production ended up with a lot more cars. This can be classified as a "Happy Accident".

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

Glad you enjoyed it!!

[@patrickbreese9133]

Will you guys ever, ever(please??) make a video episode about the mystery computer that needed special programming written, to be able to access show production details?

[@KRHExclusives]

Possibly! Are you one of our Patreon supporters? They will always be shown more of the inside of this than the general public will...

[@patrickbreese9133]

@KRHExclusives I'm considering joining..

[@Mike-wl5xy]

Nice

[@MrGoesBoom]

13:50 so first he says that it wasn't true that they were told the cars had to be crushed after the show was ended....then he goes on to explain that the cars couldn't be licensed to be used on the road ( which sounds weird, cars that have been in accidents get repaired and sold all the time, but hey, early 80s ) and that when the studio was done with them they had to be crushed....so....yes, it was true they had to be crushed? Guy contradicts himself here, though to be fair it was 40ish years ago

[@KRHExclusives]

Thanks for the question! Interestingly, I thought the way the question was asked was clear, but perhaps not To US the question / answer was clear: Joe: Is it true that ALL the Knight Rider cars had to be destroyed after production? GLEN: No, ONLY The Train Wreck Cars must be destroyed after production, we had no conditions attached any of the other cars they gave us. Since you're the 3rd person who said this, perhaps I'll clarify this point in Part 2.

[@MrGoesBoom]

@@KRHExclusives Ah gotcha, my brain skipped over the distinction between ALL the cars and just the trainwreck ones. Thanks for answering!

[@markthintie5132]

It still makes me Happy to this day that Knight Rider has not been forgotten ( i am 52yo ). If there was ever a Reboot in 2024/5 my car of choice would be a Lamborghini Aventador.

[@basshead2003]

Interesting that you should mention that your choice for KITT in a reboot of Knight Rider would be a Lamborghini. The TV show Viper used a Lamborghini/Chrysler concept car as one of the main cars alongside the Viper, obviously (the Lamborghini Portofino).

[@markthintie5132]

@@basshead2003 The Lamborghini Aventador is a Beautiful car still to this day and KITT would love to have that shell too.

[@IowaBudgetRCBashers]

Don’t forget about Jay ohrberg. He actually did the work that Barris got credit for. Barris never did anything to it actually

[@KRHExclusives]

@IowaBudgetRCBashers oh, I promise you, we NEVER forget about Jay Ohrberg and the contributions that he made...yes...which Barris always took credit for! BTW, where are you in Iowa? Wait...just found your website: www.iowabudgetrcbashers.com/

[@ClarkeMarek]

Oh, btw, are there community colleges or trade schools nearby?

[@pl5624]

Never knew of the Gong show connection to kitt....lol

[@KRHExclusives]

🤣

[@knight2000ct]

a long time ago before i sent it back and got the car i have now as kitt, we bought a 83 trans am that had 2 miles on it after it was donated to an la school. we sent back because it was wrecked and had an assigned id. wondering if this was a train derailment car.

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

We think we know that car well, and if it's the same car, it was not from the train wreck. Email us at [e-mail] and we can confirm for sure!

[@KRHExclusives]

Do you still have the VIN of that car? We can tell you for sure if you do... send us an email to [e-mail] with that, and we shall tell you for certain

[@matthewholzinger1042]

You might get some info from NHTSA. They should have records of the accident. I don't know how much information they would have about the cars, but I think they should have photos as part of their records. Does the Town of Selma have a Facebook account? You could inquire there for pictures from locals.

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

Already went down all these paths!

[@KRHExclusives]

Yes, @matthewholzinger1042 , thanks for your comment!!!. We shall be focusing much more heavily on exactly these topics in Part 2! I wanted to get this into Part 1, but there JUST wasn't enough time...

[@ProMontreal]

General Motors should have requested that they get the touring licensing so that they could be reimbursed. That way the cars would have survived and wouldn’t have been crushed.

[@MarkVersion1]

Was it really Pontiac's unfortunate experience? Universal Studios and the producers should've been investigated for the so called accident 😆🤣

[@murrayrasmussen-mo1nw]

I just looked up the 1825 Front Street address on Google maps. Very interesting.

[@paulfrench7222]

Have you checked with the Selma PD, Fresno County Sheriff, or NTSB? If they still have photos from the scene, you might be able to get them via a public records request.

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

Yes we have, no luck

[@KRHExclusives]

We will also cover that in more detail in Part 2!

[@paulfrench7222]

@@KRHExclusives That explains why there was no mention of it in this video. I'm looking forward to Part 2!

[@tonystanco7315]

Maybe some of the students at the Selma High School, let's say the '64 or '65 Class, those t that were going to graduate in '83 or '84, or even the Mechanic class teacher(s) might remember if they actually received a Bird or a Camaro to work on.

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

We've been working that angle for a long time, nothing so far!

[@dbmabe]

Am I the only one who noticed that the interview segment with Glen Larson went kinda like this(paraphrase): "Is it true that because the cars had been damaged in the train derailment that they had to be crushed when filming was over." Glen: "No, that story has been misinterpreted over time. What happened is...the cars had been damaged in the train derailment so they had to be crushed when filming was over..."

[@KRHExclusives]

The question Joe asked, was: Did [ALL] of the Knight Rider cars have to be crushed at the end of production? To which Glen replied, No, JUST the Train Wreck Cars had to be crushed...there were NO stipulations on any of the other cars. I had hoped that was more clear, but it was crystal clear to us at the time!

[@dbmabe]

@ gotcha. I misinterpreted the question. When Joe said “all the cars…” I assumed he meant all the train wreck cars. I didn’t realize he was including the entirety of the cars they got from Pontiac.

[@KRHExclusives]

@@dbmabe Yes, thank you so much for the reply again! and you got it! ...that was the most fun point...we didn't ask Glen about the Train Wreck, He TOLD us about it!

[@Holanduzo]

I heard about the real reason why DMC went bankrupcy was because a heavy storm that caused issues to a certain train transpoting DeLoreans... could that be the very same storm? I have no more info about it.

[@KRHExclusives]

Interesting question, thanks for asking it! If you had a date and location for this train issue, then we could cross-check, but without that, we would have to find THAT train wreck, just like we had to find THIS train wreck to put the timeframe and pieces together. But it IS an interesting thought! NOW we're curious...

[@banditone7896]

Wasn't Chuck Barris the guy that hosted the Gong Show?

[@KRHExclusives]

🤣

[@billcotter5262]

That was a "helpful" editor, not me. The magazine was in such a rush to get the article out that they didn't send me a proof sheet to check. He also changed one sentence that really annoyed me back then and he agreed to not repeat that again. We ended up working together for years but those two things grated on me when the article came out.

[@banditone7896]

@@billcotter5262 😄It happens to all of us! We always have to remind ourselves that this was a time before the internet and those kinds of things weren't as easy to check. I feel like we just "knew" more back then. Ahhh the memories...

[@KRHExclusives]

@@billcotter5262 I hope you can tell me more about that sentence when we follow up, Bill!

[@dukenukem8381]

Funny how Hower driver of the The Juggernaut , investigated who smashed KITT cars.... It was clearly him.

[@Cycle.every.day.]

It saved us from more miniatures....probably much more.

[@KnightRiderHistoriansOfficial]

That it did!!