Don't Hassel the Hoff: Big in Germany

Yesterday we gave you a sober-minded patriotic message from an American with Austrian connections. Today, we maintain part of that theme. It ain't the sober-minded element.

As you well know, David Hasselhoff is a major rock star in Germany. You may be less familiar with the story of his rise to musical fame. Turns out that Austria plays an important role, as this excerpt from a 2019 NPR story reveals:

"It all started with a girl named Nikki," Hasselhoff said during a recent interview with NPR in Berlin, where he was on a concert tour of Germany.

It was 1985. Hasselhoff's agent told him that Nikki had won a contest in a magazine and her prize was lunch with Hasselhoff at his home in Southern California. He remembers groaning, not wanting to go through with it. "I said [to the agent], 'I'm going through my Ernest Hemingway period.' Knight Rider was canceled; I lost my marriage. I'm sitting here staring out the window going, 'What am I going to do next?' " he said.

Darkening his Hemingway period were tepid U.S. sales of his debut rock album earlier that year. Hasselhoff needed a pick-me-up. So when Nikki ultimately came knocking, he reluctantly let her in. "And she went, 'Oh, it's very nice to meet you. Your album, Night Rocker, is No. 1 in my country,' " Hasselhoff recalled her saying. "I went, 'Where's your country?' And she said, 'Austria.' I said, 'Oh wow! Where is Austria?' "

The rest, as they say, is history. The Hoff's 1987 album, Looking for Freedom, went platinum in Germany and Austria, and Triple Platinum in Switzerland. He played a concert on New Year's Eve 1989 at the Berlin Wall that a generation of Germans still connect with the dismantling of that barrier. He still sells out shows in that part of Europe, though most are now a mix of covers and reminisces about all things Hoff.

This is all an elaborate setup for the actual point of this mostly pointless post. For the next 12 days, you - yes, mere mortal you - can bid on memorabilia that spans The Hoff's career in film and music. $60 right now will get you The Hoff's personalized bathrobe. Various Baywatch scripts are yours for the taking for around $200 each, as is a signed pair of the swim trunks Hasselfhoff wore in the Spongebob movie.

And for around $900,000, KITT can be yours. Per the description at liveauctioneers.com, FULLY FUNCTIONAL K.I.T.T. CAR WITH FULL CONVERSION CAR LOCATED IN U.K. LOT WINNER RESPONSIBLE FOR DELIVERY EXPENSE,  IF HAMMER PRICE EXCEEDS 25% ABOVE RESERVE PRICE, THE HOFF WILL PERSONALLY DELIVER THE CAR TO THE NEW OWNER.

The Hoff. Will. Personally. Deliver. You get the point. And the HAMMER PRICE has well exceeded the reserve price.

There's a ton of other great stuff on offer. I daresay many of you will spend more time today than you should perusing it. I look forward to hearing about your finds in the comments below. 

Let's hope our return to dipshittery is sustainable, just like The Hoff's music career in Germany.