In my humble opinion it was Big Daddy( real name Shirley Crabtree ) & his mates on a Saturday afternoon on I.T.V (U.K. COMMERCIAL TELLY) maybe 30 or 35 years back . Paved the way for all those type of heads then the Americans just threw more $$$$$ into it to make it what it became . 
Yep Saturday was the day I looked forward to, Shopping in the morning get home in time for world of sport, Then A team and Knightrider and Streethalk.
yes of course Knightrider with the talking dashboard & then came along satnavs there was another tomorrows world type future predictor .