If OpenOtto could have a demo car, what should it be?

We’ve been watching Knight Rider. (Actually, we have been since the 80s, so that probably dates us.) We’ve recently been having some fun debates about a dream demo car for OpenOtto. Of course, we’re just scraping by now and absconding with junk parts from cast-offs and running OpenOtto on a 2003 Land Rover, but if a dream could come true, what would be the coolest car OpenOtto’s software and hardware could control? Would it be an off-roading SUV, a sports car, or a muscle car?

Because Knight Rider was an inspiration, one of the demos has to be an American muscle car. There will always be some who believe the original Knight Rider¸ a 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, will be the only true KITT. If you ever wondered if KITT really had a blood analyzer, Ski Mode, or an electromagnetic field generator, here are all of the technical specs for KITT from the 1980s series. We should have attended the Knight Rider Festival last week in Las Vegas. Both the new and old KITTs were demoed along with hobbyists displaying their tribute cars.

The new Knight Rider series features a Ford Shelby GT 500 KR Mustang. With Val Kilmer as the new KITT voice, the car sounds and looks HOT. If you want to keep watching the new Knight Rider TV series, you must be proactive and sign a petition to keep the show going. Why not? It’s cooler, hacker-ish, and more techie than the dozens of boring doctor and lawyer shows now on prime time TV.

But one thing is for sure, when we do professionally demo a car controlled by OpenOtto, the developers must wear their Michael Knight costumes. (Sorry, these hokie things are part of what start-ups make their employees do). But I think I’ll opt for Daisy Duke’s outfit even though the 1969 Dodge Charger General Lee always seemed to be broken down, didn’t it? KITT would leave General Lee in the dust and then go on to hack some wicked encrypted world computer networks any day! Hack on, KITT!