Butler County man owns one of the few surviving KITT cars from 'Knight Rider'

A Pittsburgh area man owns one of the few surviving cars that were used as KITT in filming the 1980s television show, " Knight Rider ."

Joe Huth, of Clay Township in Butler County, and his car are featured on an after-show segment of " Jay Leno's Garage " that was posted to YouTube on Sunday.

Huth, 37, is something of a Knight Rider historian, having written a book on the show, " Knight Rider: 30 Years of a Lone Crusader and His Talking Car ." He runs a website, " Knight Rider Historians ," with fellow fan AJ Palmgren, of Las Vegas.

They also have a community page on Facebook and a YouTube channel .

Huth and Palmgren each own one of the five remaining cars out of 20 or so that were used on the show, starring David Hasselhoff .

On Tuesday, Huth said he went to Burbank to film the episode with Leno in February. He said his car will appear in the televised show on CNBC in May.

In the YouTube segment, Huth said he and Palmgren worked together to secure the car, a stunt car which had been on display at Universal Studios from 1988 to 1993.

Huth said the car had been sitting, unused, behind a maintenance building for 15 years until 2008, when it was sent to a junk yard in Los Angeles. They found out about it, and bought it after it had been there only a couple of days.

Huth's KITT was the one of the last two made for the show, and was featured in the final two seasons before the series ended in 1986 after four seasons.

The car was authenticated through studio modifications, body and frame damage consistent with heavy stunt use, and hidden studio markings in multiple locations, Huth said.

The car is a 1984 Pontiac Firebird dressed up as a Trans Am. As Palmgren and Huth inform Leno, the Knight Industries Two Thousand — KITT, if you prefer — was either a 1982, 1983 or 1984 Firebird or Trans Am.

Knight Rider began airing in 1982, a year after Huth was born. Huth said he has loved the show since he was 5 and first saw it in reruns — the talking, indestructible car that could jump over things with its "turbo boost" captured his imagination.

"There was something about the car, you know, doing all these fantastic stunts and never getting damaged. It just struck a chord with me," he said.

Leno was driving KITT as he and Huth talked about the show and its iconic vehicle. Leno, known for his personal car collection , said he was a bit too old to get interested in the show when it aired, but was interested in the car.

"I have learned more about Knight Rider than I ever wanted to know," Leno said. "This is a car that is so much a part of a certain generation's childhood.

"It's just fun to get a chance to drive a car like this that you've seen on TV," Leno said.

Huth told Leno his wife, Sarah, at first tolerated, and over 12 years has come to accept, her husband's Knight Rider interest.

"I'd love to see this car end up in a museum that will take care of it one day," Huth said.

Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-226-4701, brittmeyer@tribweb.com or on Twitter @BCRittmeyer.