[jccc]

That would be an excellent point for a headline that says, “This Never-Sold Concept Car Had The Wildest Dashboard You’ve Never Seen.”

Obviously, such a truthful headline would get much fewer clicks.

The actual headline intentionally wants us to think they’re going to show us the “Wildest” Knight Rider car that people were driving in the 80s. (Maybe they were rare, maybe you were too young to have seen them, but we have pics! Click here!)

[kube-system]

Nothing about the headline stated or even implied it was a production vehicle. It literally does say, "You’ve Never Seen" it.

I immediately presumed it was a concept car from the headline. If you presumed otherwise, that just might be your unfamiliarity with the subject matter.

[jccc]

Of course a clickbait headline does not literally lie.

A clickbait headline elides, omits key information strategically, deliberately creating a far juicier story in the minds of readers than is justified by the actual post-click article.

Key information like the fact that no one ever bought and drove this car on the road.

I don’t think a headline gets immunity from being called clickbait if it successfully dupes only those people insufficiently familiar with its particular subject matter.

Clickbait gets under the noses of such people by design.