Volo Museum near Chicago says it is still trying to understand how a replica of the black Trans Am from the 1980s TV series “Knight Rider” ended up associated with a New York City speeding ticket, even though the museum says the car has not gone anywhere in years. The ticket, for $50, cites an April 22 speed allegation in Brooklyn and includes photos captured by traffic cameras.
Museum marketing director Jim Wojdyla said the case is “interesting” because, as he put it, the museum is “legally tied to a movie prop.” Wojdyla said the museum is known for having Hollywood cars from television and movies, but he said he had “no idea how we got registered from a ticket in New York to the plates in California to the Volo Museum in Illinois,” adding that the museum is still trying to figure out the registration connection.
The Volo Museum has requested a hearing to challenge the ticket. Wojdyla called the situation “really amusing,” and he said the museum wants to identify whoever is associated with the “Knight Rider guy” behind the ticket and determine whether the vehicle is connected to a museum or built as a hobby.
The AP report said New York ticket records alleged the replica car was doing 36 mph in a 25 mph zone on April 22. The ticket included camera photos showing a black Trans Am with a California license plate reading “KNIGHT,” a plate Wojdyla said matches the novelty plate associated with the museum’s unregistered car and the plate linked to the car on the show.
According to the report, the “KNIGHT” plate is connected to other unpaid New York City traffic violations as well. The ticketing materials and city records described in the report said the license plate is tied to five other unpaid New York City violations dating to late 2024.
Part of the confusion, the report said, is that officials could not immediately explain how the city linked the plate to the museum. The report also said city officials did not immediately respond to email and phone messages made Wednesday.
Wojdyla said the museum is hoping the hearing can answer practical questions about identity and ownership behind the plate. He 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.”
The “Knight Rider” franchise starred David Hasselhoff as a crime fighter and ran on NBC from 1982 to 1986. The show featured KITT, the black Trans Am with a talking computer, with KITT standing for Knight Industries Two Thousand, and the report noted that multiple KITTs were built for the series but only a small number of originals remained.
The museum has also leaned into the situation on social media. The report said the Volo Museum changed a Facebook header to say it is “Home of the Knight Rider KITT that famously got a speeding ticket in New York City without ever leaving its exhibit in Illinois!” and included a post asking for “Hasselhoff’s number” because, in the museum’s words, the person would “owe us $50!!!!”
The AP report said the California Department of Motor Vehicles indicates that a person with the last name Knight renewed their registration for the state plate “KNIGHT” in March. It also said New York City is authorized by state law to use up to 750 cameras with speed detectors and that, when a camera catches a speeder, the system records photos of the vehicle and license plate; New York Department of Transportation staff then review violations and mail tickets to vehicle owners when vehicles are more than 10 mph over the speed limit.
For now, the Volo Museum says its next step is procedural: a hearing to challenge how its plate got tied to a New York ticket for a car the museum says has stayed put.