Museum's 'Knight Rider' replica car got a speeding ticket. It hasn't
gone anywhere in years
[May 14, 2026]
By DAVE COLLINS
It's a mystery on the streets of New York City. What traffic law
violator with unpaid fines is driving a black Pontiac Trans Am that
looks like the car with the talking computer from the 1980s TV series
“Knight Rider," and even has the same license plate?
Officials at an Illinois museum are among the people who would like to
know. The Volo Museum near Chicago, which has a replica of the show's
Trans Am that hasn't moved from its exhibit in years, recently received
a $50 traffic ticket from the Big Apple, alleging its car was doing 36
mph (59 kph) in a 25 mph (40 kph) zone in Brooklyn on April 22.
The ticket came complete with traffic camera photos showing a black
Trans Am with the California license plate KNIGHT, the same plate as the
car on the show and the novelty one on the museum's unregistered car.
The license plate is also connected to five other unpaid traffic
violations in New York City since late 2024, city records show.
How the city linked the plate to the museum was not immediately clear.
City officials did not immediately respond to email and phone messages
Wednesday.
“The fact that we’re legally tied to a movie prop is interesting,” said
Jim Wojdyla, the museum's marketing director. “We’re known for having
our Hollywood cars from TV and movies, but I have no idea how we got
registered from a ticket in New York to the plates in California to the
Volo Museum in Illinois. We’re still trying to figure it out.”
The museum has requested a hearing challenging the ticket.
“It’s really amusing,” Wojdyla said. "We want to find out who this
Knight Rider guy is because, birds of a feather. We just want to know is
this from a museum, is this just a guy that built this car as a hobby?
And it looks pretty damn accurate. We’d like to meet those guys.”
“Knight Rider” starring David Hasselhoff as a crime fighter aired on NBC
from 1982 to 1986 and featured KITT, the black Trans Am with a snarky
talking computer. (KITT stands for Knight Industries Two Thousand).
Around 20 KITTS were built for the show but only five of the originals
remain, Road & Track magazine has reported.
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This image provided by the New York Department of Finance shows a
black Pontiac Trans Am with the same license plate as the Pontiac
Trans Am from the 1980s TV series, “Knight Rider," speeding in a
school zone, April 22, 2026, in New York. (New York Department of
Finance via AP)
 There are also numerous replicas
around, including the museum's. The Facebook group Knight Rider KITT
Car Club for people who own replicas has nearly 19,000 members.
According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, a person
with the last name Knight renewed their registration for the state
plate KNIGHT in March.
New York City is authorized by state law to operate up to 750
cameras with speed detectors. When a camera catches a speeder, it
records photos of the vehicle and its license plate. Staff at the
city's Department of Transportation review the violations and mail
tickets to the vehicle owners if the vehicles were going more than
10 mph (16 kph) over the speed limit, the city's website says.
The Volo Museum is having fun with the ticket trouble on its social
media sites. It recently changed its header on its Facebook page to
“Home of the Knight Rider KITT that famously got a speeding ticket
in New York City without ever leaving its exhibit in Illinois!”
“Does anyone have Hasselhoff's number? He owes us $50!!!!” one of
its posts says.
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