Autoblog

Back in May, it was reported that 2000-2003 Volkswagen Passats were currently under investigation by NHTSA due to 19 reports of engine fires supposedly caused by a failure in the coil pack. That number has since swelled to 78 over the last few months, and now includes two reported injuries as a result of the Passat's penchant for self-immolation.

Of the 345,000 Passat affected by the issue, Volkswagen has received over 14,000 warranty claims. NHTSA has received three different engine and ignition systems from the automaker, which is also in the process of investigating the cause. Only four- and six-cylinder models seem to be affected, so those of you who plunked down the extra cash for the W8 can rest easy.

[Source: Detroit News]

This is a picture-perfect reproduction of the Knight Industries 2000. Unfortunately, after all that money and man-hours, the gooey center is still an '80s F-Body. Canadian seller zapper80 has done an awesome job putting this car together, and claims a cost of over $40,000 CDN. Zapper80 cites original molds as the source for some of the body parts, which leads us to believe that the car was put together from the wealth of parts and information available from the enthusiastic Knight Rider fans on the web. The amount of information, and lines of communication back to KITT designer Michael Scheffe are truly astounding. No matter where everything came from, it's a hoot to see it all lit up, and even better, it all works. Well, maybe not the "Turbo Boost" function that'd send 3000 pounds of Trans-Am hurtling over bad guys. This car probably has more mojo under its hood than the original KITT the Hoff tooled around in while doing good for FLAG.

Still, even with all the effort expended, we think the reserve of $19,000 and the buy it now of $30,000 are kind of loony, even in Canadian dollars. Original fans of the series (some of us Autobloggers included) don't have the deep pockets boomers are using to push vintage musclecar prices sky-high; and perhaps our memories of Michael, Devon, and the gang aren't fond enough that we'd want to be extremely conspicuous. Perhaps the value of these cars will rise to meet zapper's hopes when the Weinsteins debut their Knight Rider movie. For the ulitmate 1984 smackdown, we envision a drag race between one of these, and a Delorean that's been defiled with all the time-machine crap. KITT would so totally kick McFly's ass.

More pictures after the jump