Flatbed

The MTL Flatbed is a commonly recurring heavy truck first introduced in Grand Theft Auto: London, 1969. The second incarnation of the vehicle, debuting in Grand Theft Auto III, would go on to repeatedly appear in following titles.

GTA London
In its debut appearance in Grand Theft Auto: London, 1969, the Flatbed is depicted as a vehicle more alike those seen in 1960s Britain: A two-door, four-wheel cab-over lorry with a flat cab (consistently appearing green), similar in design to a Ford D-series. Despite its appearance, the Flatbed weighs about the same as normal cars, suggesting that it is a light lorry similar to the Sweets Van. Despite this, it has twice the value of the Sweets Van, earning the player a base payment of £800 when it is exported in mint condition.

GTA III — GTA Vice City Stories
Between GTA III and GTA Vice City Stories, the Flatbed's appearance, a large, six wheel standard cab truck, was similar to the Barracks OL military vehicle; in GTA III, the Flatbed was simply a Barracks OL without the latter's bed accessories. Although it appears to have six wheels, it can be speculated that it is a 10 wheeler truck as it would likely have duals.

Throughout the series, the Flatbed's appearance changes very little, with the addition of loads of various cargo in GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas, as well as changes to the detailing - mainly the cab (in its first appearance, the cab had no roof - a roof was added in GTA Vice City). The Liberty City Stories version is only seen loaded with three planks of wood resting against some covered crates.

The Flatbed in these games appears to be loosely based on the M939 "5-ton" truck, the only exception being the GTA Liberty City Stories version, which frontal fascia has been modified to appear more similar to the Linerunner.

GTA IV — GTA Chinatown Wars
The Flatbed in GTA IV was completely redesigned, and is essentially modeled on the Peterbilt 379; its appearance is thus very similar to the Phantom, a truck also based on a Peterbilt design. The Flatbed is built by MTL. Like other trucks, it can be found in the industrial areas of Bohan, either unloaded, or carrying, variously, a shipping container, or a crane attachment. The current logo resembles the old style logo used on Prevost Buses

The Flatbed in GTA Chinatown Wars now resembles a 2009-present Dodge Ram 5500 and therefore is much smaller. It's consistently depicted as a flatbed truck.

GTA V
The Flatbed appears in Grand Theft Auto V as a flatbed version of the Packer. It seems to be a recovery truck, as the platform features steel winches in it, supposed to carry small vehicles in case of malfunctions or accidents. Unfortunately, its unable to transport vehicles as is non operational in-game. Even using a ramp to get to get on the bed the car will still slide off when in motion. Flatbeds are most common on the northern part of the Great Ocean Highway.

GTA London
Due to its design, the Flatbed in GTA London 1969 is one of the better handling lorries in the game, albeit slightly inferior to the Sweets Van, with average speed, and slightly below average acceleration and handling.

GTA III — GTA Chinatown Wars
From GTA III onwards, the Flatbed is slow to accelerate and hard to maneuver in tight spaces; once it gets going, however, its top speed is decent. The Flatbed is resilient, allowing it to easily ram other vehicles aside (even being capable of surviving up to four collisions with APCs before becoming undrivable). In opposite way it's outclassed in this by the Fire Truck and the Barracks OL. However, in GTA Vice City, it outperforms the Fire Truck as far as ramming ability is concerned, as it stays in control more than the Fire Truck, which grip is lost in almost all head-on collisions. Also, in GTA Vice City, it is clearly the heaviest non specialty vehicle as it is not only a heavy duty ten-wheeler, but it is always loaded with something. The fire truck accelerates faster but does not demonstrate the amount of momentum and density of the Flatbed.

GTA IV
The Flatbed, despite its size and sheer weight, still manages to get a top speed of 138 mph (222KM/H). However, it is quite slow to accelerate, but it has exceptional steering and maneuverability to make up for this. The brakes are adequate to its size and weight. Its performance has improved since its last appearance in GTA IV.

GTA V
The Flatbed in GTA V is an improvement over the last installments. Due to sharing the same engine as the Packer, the Flatbed can achieve speeds just as impressive. Handling is quite decent due to not being that lengthy. Acceleration isn't bad either. Another advantage the Flatbed has, is its sheer size and weight. When chased by cops, the Flatbed is a rolling battering ram, being able to plow through many roadblocks. It is also quite durable.

Prominent appearances
Although it is frequently seen on the roads, the Flatbed has not been prominently featured in missions. The only notable use of the Flatbed is during the GTA IV mission Rigged to Blow, where a Flatbed rigged with explosives is used to blow up a garage. Also in Search and Delete there is a unique Flatbed with logs as its cargo.

In GTA Vice City Stories, it appeared during the mission The Exchange, where you drive Diaz's guys to the deal in Downtown, with the DEA, to exchange the drugs for the weapons. This Flatbed is navy blue.

Trivia

 * It looks very similar to the Barracks OL.
 * The Flatbed plays the following radio stations by default when entered:
 * GTA San Andreas: K-DST.
 * GTA IV: Massive B Soundsystem 96.9 or Tuff Gong Radio.
 * In the GTA IV mission Rigged to Blow, you drive a Flatbed with a bomb.
 * In GTA Chinatown Wars the Flatbed has the same engine sound as the Walton in GTA San Andreas.
 * The platform and winch can't be lowered or raised, and therefore the Flatbed ironically can't tow cars.
 * During the chase part of Father/Son, a Flatbed can be seen carrying a Gauntlet, which later falls from it.

GTA Vice City

 * Parked southwest of the Pay 'n' Spray in Viceport.
 * Commonly found in Viceport.

GTA San Andreas'''

 * Commonly found driving around Ocean Docks.
 * Always found driving or parked at the cargo area of the Fallen Tree.
 * Common in the industrial area just outside of Prickle Pine.
 * Usually found driving on the Sherman Dam.
 * On the freeway just south of Hunter Quarry.

GTA Vice City Stories

 * Parked at the southern Pay n' Spray in Viceport.
 * Parked near the east entrance of Escobar International Airport.

GTA IV

 * Parked in a construction site adjacent to the multistory car park in Purgatory, Algonquin.
 * Parked on Fulcrum Avenue in Tudor, Alderney.
 * Two Flatbeds are parked in a construction site with a helicopter landing pad in Westminster, Algonquin.
 * Parked on Union Drive West in Purgatory, Algonquin near a skate park.

The Ballad of Gay Tony

 * The target of a vehicle base jump will always be a Flatbed.

GTA V

 * Commonly found on the Great Ocean Highway and eastern Highways. Spawns along with other trucks: Phantom, Hauler and Packer.