2008 Knight Industries Three Thousand (KITT) car

Richard Morey

I started by building plastic model kits of ships when I was 8 years old, as detailed in paint as I could, up to a very detailed Millenium Falcon when I was 17. I grew up in Portugal where I didn't have access to American toys, so I just started making them. I made a Star Trek phaser and communicator out of wood and metal from tin cans with moving parts when I was 12. I just sketched what I saw on TV and carved it out with as much detail as I could, then painted to look correct. I also made a laser pistol and commlock from Space 1999 out of wood, with glass screen for sliding in pictures of characters and working number pad with spring-activated buttons. I built catapults, rockets (with solid rocket fuel I made from scratch), clothing, tanks and cars out of wood, miniature swords, furniture, fortresses, all for my 12" GI Joe. Later on I used various found parts to build cool Space-Age laser weapons, sometimes with real tube lasers inside. My making slowed down with my Packaging Engineering work, but I continue gathering "interesting" materials to build things once in a while. I started collecting movie props in the 1980s and that brought me to buying KITT at an NBC/Universal charity auction in 2010, and that's what I'm showing at this show.