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Child of the 80s? Want your own Knight Rider car? No problem -- just 3D print the right parts and you can turn your Pontiac into a replica of David Hasselhoff's best friend KITT. You do have a Pontiac, right?


A trio of French designers did, and used their own custom-built large-scale 3D printers to remodel the base vehicle into the iconic AI-controlled supercar. And yes -- the finished version even has most of the tricks and hidden components of its televisual inspiration, including fold-out spoilers, extending motor detail, and rotating number plates. The only thing that seems to be missing is Turbo Boost mode.

The final build is the end project of a decade-long labour of love by Nicolas Rambaud, Clément Bonfils, and Patrick Masson. Having gone through two test builds where they used traditional manufacturing methods and recycled materials in their quest to create a Knight Industries Two Thousand, the three changed tactics for the third attempt.

Using a Pontiac Firebird owned by Rambaud's cousin Sebastian, they began designing and 3D printing the components they'd need, rather than trying to repurpose existing parts and resources. The shift had another benefit, in that using a mix of thermoplastics -- mainly ABS and PLA -- drastically reduced the weight of the car.


While plastics of any kind and the heat generated by a combustion engine may seem a poor match, printed parts were sealed with acetone, before being painted and varnished, giving them a protective coating. In total, more than twenty parts of the kit-bashed KITT were 3D printed, from the retro-futuristic facade for the dashboard and the mechanised supports for the moving parts, to smaller components such as custom cable ties and the button on the gearstick.

The makers did have a bit of an advantage over the average car modification enthusiast though -- Rambaud, Bonfils, and Masson are the owners of 3D Modular Systems, a business specialising in 3D printing and design. They also launched their own scalable 3D printers, the Scalar M and XL, which allow for customisable configurations and printing of components at various sizes.

For Francophones (or those willing to rely on Google Translate), an exhaustive step-by-step guide to building your own KITT can be found here. Now, about that Turbo Boost mode....