A Trans Am once toured Europe with David Hasselhoff — years later, Interpol helped track it down. Now it could sell for up to $600K

Then it vanished in the 1990s and was recovered with Interpol’s help, though it came back missing some custom dashboard electronics that have since been replaced. Top Gear reported that the car was reportedly stolen in Italy and that a group called Knight Rider Historians inspected it and verified it as Hasselhoff’s.

Don’t picture a showroom piece, though. Top Gear called it “slightly battle-scarred” and said it isn’t road legal, though it comes with a trunk full of memorabilia, including photos of Hasselhoff with the car. Carscoops noted the stock V8 made just 165 horsepower in 1982.

So, bidders are paying for the story.

Why a worn replica carries a six-figure estimate

Hagerty, which sells specialty vehicle insurance and publishes car valuation data, found that celebrity ownership can lift a car’s price sometimes “as much as 16,000 percent.” In its 2023 Power List, the “Bullitt” Mustang showed a “nearly 16,000 percent increase over a standard Mustang.” Hagerty credited its “watertight provenance” and “awesome lost-and-then-found story.”

There’s also a recent comparison. A KITT replica that belonged to Hasselhoff sold for $300,000 in 2021, after about 30 bids, Asharq Al-Awsat reported. That’s close to the low end of this car’s estimate.

Check the story before you buy it

A good tale only helps if it’s true. As Dave Kinney of Hagerty put it, “First and foremost, don’t overpay because of an unverified story. Ever.” He says to check whether a car’s build date fits the events attributed to it, and that claims can be verified with “research and/or consulting with experts,” since word of mouth or hearsay isn’t enough.

Interpol shows why a car’s paper trail matters. Its stolen motor vehicle database holds more than 12 million records, and police in member countries can use it to see whether a vehicle “has been reported as stolen.” About 226,000 vehicles were identified as stolen through it in 2023.

What the winning bidder would actually pay

The hammer price won’t be the final bill. Broad Arrow Auctions charges a buyer’s premium of 15% on the first CHF 250,000 of the hammer price and 12.5% above that, plus VAT on the premium. By that math, a winning bid of CHF 500,000 would add CHF 68,750 before VAT on the premium.

And for Americans, selling at a profit has its own cost. The IRS’s 2025 Schedule D instructions define collectibles to include antiques and “certain other tangible property,” and its tax worksheet applies a 28% rate to collectibles gains. Since cars aren’t named in that definition, a tax professional could advise how a sale like this would be treated.