A SUPERFAN has added to his impressive fleet of popular 1980s TV and movie vehicles with the Knight Rider car after meeting its original star.

Mike Hutchinson has built a replica of the KITT car from popular 80s TV show Knight Rider. KITT, which stood for Knight Industries Two Thousand. It was a talking car that drove itself, had an arsenal of weapons and was voiced in the original series by actor William Daniels

Mr Hutchinson bought a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am from a friend two years ago and went to work on completing the transformation.

This followed meeting David Hasselhoff, who starred as Michael Knight in the original Knight Rider series.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Inside Mike Hutchinson's KITT car replica Inside Mike Hutchinson's KITT car replica

Some of the work on the vehicle had already began when Mr Hutchinson, originally from Bingley, bought it, but he has added new electronics into the inside of the car to complete the authentic makeover.

It now also features a replica of the vehicle's original gullwing steering wheel.

He owns the Back to the 1980s Event & Prop Hire business and now hopes to show the KITT off at future events, adding the build was a real labour of love.

He said: "It's two years in the making.

"I built the KITT car while I was working on the Time Travel Train from Back to the Future.

"I was a fan of Knight Rider growing up. I was lucky enough to meet David Hasselhoff. He was a nice fella.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: The outside of the Knight Rider-inspired replica The outside of the Knight Rider-inspired replica

"I then thought how cool it would be to build a replica of it.

"The KITT car is an iconic vehicle that I can now add to my fleet."

He already has eyes on a future 80s-inspired film or TV vehicle project.

He would love to own the Ectomobile car from the Ghostbusters movies, but he says this may currently has a drawback.

Mr Hutchinson added: "I would love to own it but the car is so long that I have nowhere to put it."

The KITT car adds to his fleet of vehicles, with two replica builds inspired by the Back To The Future movies from the 80s.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight in the original Knight Rider TV seriesDavid Hasselhoff as Michael Knight in the original Knight Rider TV series

He teamed up with Ian Robinson, who works as a props maker at Harrogate Theatre, on the third movie instalment's Time Travel Train, who himself has seen his day job curtailed by the pandemic. He also built the brain analyser for the film's musical.

He now plans to display it at sci-fi shows and events across the country.

Meanwhile, Mr Hutchison has also added a vehicle featured in the Harry Potter films to his collection.

The blue Ford Anglia, which is included in the huge franchise, now takes pride of place alongside others in Mr Hutchinson's collections.

Mr Hutchinson's also spent about £20,000 turning his car into a replica of the DeLorean used by Marty McFly in the 1985 cult classic.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Mike Hutchinson, left, and Back to the Future star Christopher Lloyd Mike Hutchinson, left, and Back to the Future star Christopher Lloyd

The work, completed in 2015, took him two years to complete and the conversion work includes castings from the original car which is in Universal Studios in Hollywood.

Meanwhile, the time travel train is also Mr Hutchinson's second big build of the pandemic era after he made a replica of Del Boy's flat from Only Fools and Horses.

He decided to make Del Boy's pukka home for his enterprising schemes earlier this year after always being a fan of the much-loved sitcom.

Go to backtothe1980s.co.uk for more information.