Speeding ticket leaves Illinois museum stumped – it’s for a legendary car that hasn’t budged from its exhibit for years

The Volo Museum in Illinois just received a surprise from New York City in the form of a $50 speeding ticket. Except, it’s for a black Pontiac Trans Am that hasn’t budged from its exhibit in years. Per AP News, the car in question is a replica of the iconic car from the 1980s television series Knight Rider, complete with the famous KNIGHT license plate.

The museum, located near Chicago, was shocked to learn that their supposedly stationary exhibit was allegedly clocked doing 36 mph in a 25 mph zone in Brooklyn. The staff just couldn’t understand how their facility was linked to a traffic violation occurring hundreds of miles away. The ticket even included photos of the offending car, which features the same California plate as the museum’s novelty item.

According to city records, this specific license plate has been linked to five other unpaid traffic violations in New York City since late 2024. While the city uses a massive network of speed cameras to issue tickets, the process of connecting this plate to the Illinois museum remains a total mystery.

A California plate, a New York violation, and an Illinois building. It’s a setup for one hell of a joke 

Jim Wojdyla, the marketing director for the Volo Museum, is clearly bemused by the entire ordeal. “The fact that we’re legally tied to a movie prop is interesting,” Wojdyla said. 

“We’re known for having our Hollywood cars from TV and movies, but I have no idea how we got registered from a ticket in New York to the plates in California to the Volo Museum in Illinois. We’re still trying to figure it out.”

The museum is currently challenging the ticket and has requested a formal hearing to clear things up. Beyond just getting the fine dismissed, the team seems genuinely curious about the identity of the person driving the lookalike car. 

“It’s really amusing,” Wojdyla 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.”

For those who need a refresher, Knight Rider aired on NBC from 1982 to 1986. It featured a crime fighter played by David Hasselhoff. The real star, of course, was KITT, a black Trans Am equipped with a snarky computer. 

Only five of the original show cars are known to exist today. However, there are many high-quality replicas out there, and the Knight Rider KITT Car Club on Facebook boasts nearly 19,000 members.

It turns out that the California Department of Motor Vehicles has records showing a person with the last name Knight renewed the registration for the plate in March. The museum is currently having a bit of fun with the situation on social media. They even updated their Facebook header to read, “Home of the Knight Rider KITT that famously got a speeding ticket in New York City without ever leaving its exhibit in Illinois!” 

While people usually use humorous techniques to avoid a ticket, it is hilarious that this museum is using humor to understand how they got the ticket. They also posted a humorous plea for help, asking, “Does anyone have Hasselhoff’s number? He owes us $50!!!!”