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The question every "Knight Rider" fan wants to know is whether K.I.T.T. is for real? The answer to that is partly so, and whatever you want to believe is real. Actor David Hasselhoff, who plays Michael Knight, says: "Once you start believing in K.I.T.T. then anything is possible and you can accept it. Already there are cars in existence with up to thirty spoken phrases that they can instruct a driver with. But obviously there is nothing on the market with the kind of range that K.I.T.T. has."

However, this does not make it an impossible idea as our advanced computer technology could probably devise a far more complicated system if they wanted to.

The show's producer says: "There are cars available which really are bullet proof, bomb proof, and even which have a variety of tricks up their sleeves to throw off any pursuers. So K.I.T.T. is only taking everything a stage further."

The major selling factor of Michael Knight's car is obviously its very human voice. The man responsible for it is an actor named William Daniels. It is he who has made K.I.T.T. seem so human. In fact the car is now so famous that it is acquiring a fan club of its own. "Mail is pouring in from all over the world with people wanting to know how much work goes into the stunts and how we achieve them," says the producer. "Well they are dangerous and couldn't be achieved without some highly experienced drivers who do them for real.

"Perhaps one of the most beautiful pieces of perfection was during an episode which was filmed in a small town [A NICE, INDECENT LITTLE TOWN]. The streets were very narrow and we did a chase sequence through them. This involved doing a lot of precarious stuff like driving on two wheels down alleyways. The drivers who did it are quite remarkable and highly trained. It's one thing just doing a stunt like that in a field, but to do it in a built up area you really have to be something."

There are quite a few stunt men involved in preparing and setting up the various scenes and a lot of work has to go into the safety aspects. David does some of the driving but it's only natural that he isn't allowed to do the really dangerous stuff because an accident would mean stopping the series whilst he mended.

What the fans really love is when K.I.T.T. turbo boosts over rivers, cars and other hazards. "There's no trickery involved in those stunts," he says. "What happens is that we set up a ramp to give the car some lift. But from the moment K.I.T.T. takes off into the air it's completely in the hands of the driver. Luckily, we've never had any accidents.

"The most complicated stunt to date involving the turbo boost was when Michael was driving K.I.T.T. behind a long truck with a trailer [HEARTS OF STONE]. He had to jump the car onto the back of the truck. It involved precise timing and speed because it was done for real and if anything had gone wrong then there would have been quite a mess. Everything went just like clockwork.

"In another stunt, K.I.T.T. had to chase a light aircraft along a runway in an attempt to stop it taking off [WHITE BIRD]. This meant that the stunt man had to drive into the path of the 'plane and slice the tail off it. Again, timing was crucial, but the thing went perfect on take."

To enhance the effect of some scenes like this, the film crew use as many as five different cameras placed at strategic angles to capture the most dramatic film of K.I.T.T.'s stunts. These are occasionally shown in slow motion to accentuate the feat. Fans of the show probably remember a scene where Michael Knight is driving at high speed down a highway and is confronted with a huge articulated truck across the road [KNIGHT OF THE PHOENIX]. He doesn't bother with stopping or trying to go around it, he just turbo boosts through it.

"There are a couple of ways that this is done. It's possible to use a real truck and build a kind of balsa wood framework onto it. K.I.T.T. would then drive up a ramp out of camera view and through the light wood. But to highlight the effect we might build a replica of just the side of the truck top. K.I.T.T. would be seen travelling towards the real truck and then we would shoot another sequence with him crashing through the frame we had built. Cameras positioned on either side of the frame would film the stunt and after editing the whole thing put together would create the impression that Michael Knight had driven straight through the truck!"

As for all of the onboard computer technology on K.I.T.T., a mock dashboard has been created, as well as recreating a similar impression in car itself. But curiously, the one feature which it does seem to have been possible to achieve, the ejector seat, is not for real. The roof might open, but the seat is all down to some trick photography hoping that because fans believe in K.I.T.T., they can accept this idea.

What is incredible is that there are few scratches sustained by the car used in the show, despite all of those marvellous stunts. "We do keep a number of similar cars to K.I.T.T. in case of problems," he says. "Also, we might be filming a couple of different scenes on a particular day in various locations, so we'll use two cars. They are being constantly serviced and repaired."

And as for those beautiful 180 turns on the highway... that's for real. Every one of the drivers involved in the show is capable of doing it!

Just in case you are wondering how much it would cost to buy a car like K.I.T.T. if it ever should become possible to buy it... the answer is a cool one million dollars!