Cheetah

"Forget the last 50 years of technological advancement and hark back to the golden age of driving before seatbelts, DUI laws, anti-lock brakes and emasculating GPS systems with nagging female voices. A prototype sports car manufactured by Grotti in the early 1970s, this marvel of Italian engineering will over-compensate for just about anything. Just like the Italians."

- Legendary Motorsport webpage.

The Cheetah is a luxury sports car featured in both 3D Universe and HD Universe. It is manufactured by Grotti in the HD Universe.

3D Universe
In all its iterations the vehicle closely resembles a 1984-1996 Ferrari Testarossa, with each game's version following the design of the corresponding era:


 * In Grand Theft Auto III and GTA Liberty City Stories, it looks like a slightly genericized and modernized Ferrari Testarossa F512 M.
 * In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Vice City Stories, it resembles a mid-80s Testarossa.
 * In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the Cheetah resembles a Ferrari 512 TR Testarossa, albeit without the hidden headlamps, and with the rear lights of an Ferrari Testarossa F512 M.

Looking at the shape of the car, its clear to see that it is mid-engine, however when the hood is removed, in Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City, the engine appears to be at the front, possibly due to programming limitations. This is in stark contrast to the design of the Testarossa in general, which has the engine placed behind the passenger compartment, just in front of the rear axle (mid-engine). However, in GTA San Andreas, the design is more faithful to the real-life counterpart, with the engine being evidently placed at the rear of the chassis, while the front is empty. The engine of the Cheetah sounds and looks like a V10.

The Ferrari Testarossa started being sold in 1984 (The year when Vice City Stories is set). The first "red head" didn't sell enough until late 1985, and therefore, for the sake of having no irregularities about the comparison of the two cars, the developers of the game made the Cheetah scarce in Vice City Stories, spawning only in parking lots.

During one point of game development of GTA III, the Cheetah was known as the Rocket. In an earlier version of the beta it was known as the Testarossa.

HD Universe
The Cheetah is reintroduced in Grand Theft Auto V. Unlike in previous games, the Cheetah is now based on the Ferrari Enzo with the front of the Enzo, Ferrari FXX, the Pagani Zonda and the SSC Tuatara. It also has a body of a Ferrari Enzo or FXX. It has the rear of a GTA Spano. The rear hood is inspired by the Mercedes CLK GTR as both of them have big engines and rear hoods. The Carbon Fibre stripe on the bonnet resembles that of the Pagani Zonda Tricolore. It can be bought for $650,000 from Legendarymotorsport.net. It is stated to be a 1970s prototype, put out by Grotti for limited production, and has a top speed of 220 mph.

3D Universe
The Cheetah's acceleration is slightly inferior to other sports cars in the game, but handling, speed and braking are far superior to all others. Due to its low suspension, it hugs the road and is not prone to rolling over or spinning out of control when cornering at high speeds. However, GTA III's Cheetah has stiffer suspensions than those of the Banshee, Stinger and Infernus, making it incapable of handling bumps and curbs without compromising stability. For most of the 3D Universe it was the fastest car, but its top speed was a bit lower in GTA San Andreas.

GTA V
The Cheetah is one of the best performing cars in GTA V, being able to compete with the Adder, the Entity XF, the Turismo R and the Zentorno. Having a great speed and acceleration makes it useful for most situations, like robberies and police chases, and like its previous 3D universe rendition it also has extremely responsive handling and braking, making it much more agile than other super cars in the game. This makes it particularly useful in Online urban races where, in the hands of a considerably skilled driver, can easily turn through a street corner without having to decelerate much.

GTA San Andreas
The Cheetah can be modified at TransFender:
 * The Transfender in Las Venturas has charges 20% more for each modification except colors.

Variants

 * VCPD Cheetah: The police version of the normal Cheetah, meant to be a reference to the Ferrari Testarossa's appearance on the 1980s detective show Miami Vice. You can steal it from the two police officers after you get a 3 star wanted level.
 * During Grand Theft Auto in GTA III, the player can obtain a unique candy red Cheetah.
 * In the GTA Liberty City Stories race Wi-Cheetah Run, you race against three Cheetahs, two of which have special colors (brilliant red and sky blue), fireproofing and also tip-proofing. They can be obtained by remaining in the starting line until the end of the race and waiting for the other racers to cross the finish line. Then it has to be blown up using the players car and pushed with the firetruck or the tank into one of the safe houses garage. Oddly, if the player touches its wheels while performing the glitch, the vehicle will loose its unique traits.

Notable owners

 * Lance Vance
 * Ricardo Diaz
 * Henry
 * Devin Weston

GTA III

 * Cartel Mansion in Cedar Grove, Shoreside Vale, Liberty City.
 * In the Francis International Airport parking lot across the fire station.
 * Can be seen during the mission Chaperone.
 * Used as a trap for Claude in the mission Last Requests.
 * Used as the opponents' cars during the missions Turismo and Bling-bling Scramble.

GTA Vice City

 * Parking area near Colonel Cortez' yacht in Ocean Beach.
 * North of Ricardo Diaz' Mansion, Starfish Island.
 * One of the competitors for the Sunshine Autos races.

GTA San Andreas

 * Spawns in Rodeo, Market, Los Santos; The Strip and Old Venturas Strip in Las Venturas.
 * Sometimes spawns in Doherty (very rare).
 * Found parked in front of a house in Prickle Pine, Las Venturas (only when wanted for export).
 * Importable from Easter Basin, San Fierro after completing export lists. Import cost: $84,000 (Thursday only).

GTA Liberty City Stories

 * In the Francis International Airport parking lot across the fire station.
 * Cartel Mansion, Cedar Grove, Shoreside Vale (may not always spawn).

GTA Vice City Stories

 * Northernmost road on Starfish Island.
 * A randomly colored Cheetah is in front of Diaz's Mansion on Starfish Island.
 * In front of Lance's hotel in Downtown.
 * In the parking lot behind the hospital in Downtown.
 * Can be obtained by failing the mission Fear The Repo.

GTA V

 * Can be bought for $650,000 from Legendarymotorsport.net.
 * Can be obtained by failing the mission I Fought The Law by killing Henry.

GTA Online

 * Can be bought for $650,000 from Legendarymotorsport.net.

General

 * The Cheetah is named after an animal with the same name, which is a type of leopard capable of running at high speeds. This is possibly referring to this car's superior performance in its class
 * There is an actual real life car made by Lamborghini called the Cheetah but it is a variant of the HMMWV Military Vehicle.
 * The Cheetah plays these radio stations by default when entered:
 * GTA San Andreas: SF-UR
 * GTA V: Non Stop Pop FM

​3D Universe

 * The GTA Vice City Stories and GTA San Andreas renditions feature variations of wing mirrors, either featuring two on both sides, one on the driver's side or none. Unusually, for some Cheetahs without rear mirrors in GTA Vice City, a blacked-out dashboard strobe light used in the police Cheetah may be seen.
 * These mirror and strobe configurations further emphasizes the relation to the Ferrari Testarossa. The car was uniquely available in the single driver-side mirror setup early in its production period due to legislations in Italy. The car featured on Miami Vice also has the same setup.
 * If the player bought it on Easter Basin Docks, it may have a vanity plate reading "IMY AK". This plate also appears on the Feltzer used in End of the Line and the BF-400 in Just Business.
 * The Cheetah shares a similar engine and horn sound with the Turismo in GTA San Andreas.
 * Among all other supercars and sports cars, the Cheetah owns the widest range of modifications in GTA San Andreas.
 * When respraying a Cheetah in Vice City Stories, the paintjobs will cycle through either of two sequences. The first one is dark blue -> dark gray -> dark red -> cherry red, and the other is green -> silver -> gold -> white. If you want, per example, a cherry-red Cheetah, don't bother respraying a white one. No matter how many times you respray it, it will never turn out to be red.

HD Universe

 * In GTA V, the Cheetah is considered the 3rd fastest car in the game, with a top speed of 220 mph (355 km/h). It is beaten only by the Entity XF at 2nd (with a top speed of 240 mph\386 km/h) and the Adder at first (with a top speed of 250 mph\402 km/h).
 * In GTA V, if the suspension is lowered to the maximum through Los Santos Customs, the Cheetah is able to drive right under high-suspension vehicles, such as the Sandking XL, at high speed and sometimes some low-suspension vehicles if driving head-on against them. This can also be done with the Turismo R.
 * The price of the car in GTA V is an evidence of its similarity with its inspiration car, the Ferrari Enzo as the Enzo costs €655,000 ($687,520).
 * Like the Turismo R, you can't pick prostitutes with this car, due to its tiny interior space.
 * This and the Entity are the only cars in GTA V to feature only one windscreen wiper.
 * The Cheetah on the car carrier in the mission Pack Man has a glass roof suggesting it could have originally had a glass roof rather than a carbon fiber one.
 * In the enhanced, version, the speedometer only reads up to 200 mph, despite claiming it can reach up to 221 mph, the same mistake is also on the Adder and Entity XF.

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