Blade (car)

"Perhaps THE classic American muscle car. Compact two door sedan made for the greatest generation and lusted after by their jaded children. Cheap to make, and one of the highest-selling new cars in American history - this is what classic American cars were once all about."

- Southern San Andreas Super Autos description.

The Blade is a two-door open top lowrider and a two-door muscle car featured in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto V, and Grand Theft Auto Online as part of the "I'm Not a Hipster" Update. It is manufactured by Vapid in the HD Universe.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Depicted as a two-door open top car from the 1960s, the Blade combines elements of the. The front of the car resembles the 1967 Impala, while the rear of the car resembles that of the 1965 Impala, with chrome, convex-shaped areas around the tail lights. Its headlight design is again similar to that of the 1965 Impala.

The car is easily distinguished by its large grey bumpers, small front grille and silver trim around the arches, as well as the triple headlights and the dual red tail lights. While normally appearing with only an open top, the car can be modified at Loco Low Co. to feature a hard top or a convertible top. Unusually, the Blade has no side-view mirrors.

The Blade can spawn in a variety of primary colors for the body, as well as a secondary white or light grey color for the interior finish, which can be also changed in the aforementioned mod shop. Like most lowriders in the game, the Blade offers a substantial boost to the player's sex appeal, and can be fitted with hydraulics to be used in the Lowrider Challenge.

Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online
The Blade returns in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online with an entirely different design, styled as a two-door muscle car based on the. The double front fascia and grille takes influence from the, while the tail lights resemble those found on the. The sides of the car bears similarity with the.

The car assumes the design of a muscle car with a permanent hard-top roof and a "gasser" style. The front end has a traditional bumper with a chrome finish and a license plate on the center, while the upper area is predominated by the dual intakes, a wide grille with horizontal separations and dual circular lights on either side. The hood has an elevated shape on the center and dual vented sections near the windshield, while the manufacturer logo can be seen on the front.

On the sides, the car has slight flares on the arches and long panels with chrome lines around, which start from around the upper edges of the front fenders and lead towards the rear end. The upper lines of the panels are parallel to the car's body and pass right below the chrome horizontal door handles, while the lower lines curve slightly downwards. There are also additional chrome trims centered to the panels, which maintain the same distance from the outer lines across the whole vehicle. The window trim and the inner separations of the cabin area are finished in chrome, and features chrome circular mirrors mounted near the A-pillars. A large trunk lid can be seen behind the cabin.

The rear of the car is distinctive by a panel that is part of the side ones, also bearing a chrome trim on the center. The edges of the car have five vertical tail lights with chrome trim around each unit, while the center has a wide chrome section bearing the manufacturer emblem. A cursive "Blade" badge can be also seen next to the innermost tail light, just above the central trim. The bumper is finished in chrome and holds a license plate on the center, while two circular exhaust pipes can be seen below.

The underside of the car denotes its "gasser" suspension setup, featuring small shock absorbers and articulated bars that start from the vehicle' structure and end in the axle. There is also a solid-beam front axle similar to the Hotknife. The vehicle shares the interior with cars like the Dominator and the Buccaneer.

The vehicle is painted with a primary color on the body and the stitches of the interior, as well as a secondary color for the side and rear panels. The car uses a derivative of the "Muscle Freak" muscle rims seen in Los Santos Customs and wrapped in high-profile tires, with the front ones being somewhat similar in width to the ones seen on the Sabre Turbo, and the rear ones having a wide track.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Acceleration and speed are quite impressive, and the brakes and slick handling serve the vehicle well. Although cornering is also excellent, the one major drawback of the Blade is its major oversteer, which makes emergency brake turns futile, and driving at high speeds a challenge due to the potential loss of control at the slightest disturbance. The Blade is capable of withstanding significant impact damage due to its strong frame and overall construction, but does not fare as well against explosive damage.

Like all lowriders, the Blade is not recommended for off-road racing, as it is prone to flipping.

Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online
The Blade's performance is much better in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online, and can be considered a, thanks to the high-output V8 under the hood. However, it is quite a mixed bag. It has extremely good acceleration for a Muscle car, but lacks top speed to keep up. When fully upgraded, the Blade's acceleration is very competitive against some of the higher-end super cars, such as the Nero and T20. Handling wise, the car handles less like a normal Muscle car, instead having a more unique, understeer-heavy design which resembles the Rat-Loader and other low-end Muscles. It will need to slow down into corners more than other cars, but can make up this lost speed with its aforementioned acceleration. Unlike other Muscle cars, it lacks almost all semblances of oversteer.

The Blade is also somewhat special in how hard it is to ram off the road. Being a very back heavy car, the Blade can shrug off most rear-end rams and attempts to PIT with ease. This makes it a good car for attempting to evade police, or in racing, as other players attempting to take down a Blade will find it very difficult to force the Blade off the road. Crash deformation only furthers this, by being able to take large amounts of head-on collisions before smoking, and axles being damaged is not very likely in normal circumstances.

It is worth noting that when in first person (or to a lesser extent, hood view), is very difficult to see the road while in a Blade due to the angle, so suspension upgrades are suggested for this vehicle or by switching back to a third-person perspective.

The vehicle is powered by a single-cam V8 engine, coupled to a 5-speed gearbox in a front engine, rear wheel drive layout. Its engine sound is low-revving, similar to the Buccaneer and the Manana.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
The following upgrades can be made in the Loco Low Co. garage:

Hipster DLC Modded
Pre-modified variants of the Blade can be seen driving around Los Santos randomly. Hipster DLC Modded 1 has a unique wheel color not available in Los Santos Customs, Beeker's Garage or any other vehicle mod shop. Hipster DLC Modded 2 has a unique primary color also not available in vehicle mod shops.

Neither variant has any performance upgrades (engine, transmission, etc.)

Los Santos Customs Modded Single Player
Like the randomly spawning modified Blades, two sets of Blades may spawn outside Los Santos Customs, pre-modified. These again only spawn in single player. The vehicles appear in set color sets with the same modifications. They will not spawn with any of the default extra components. These variants are named "LS_CUSTOMS_MODDED_SP" and use the exact same modifications and colors as the Hipster DLC Modded sets.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

 * Exports and Imports - The Blade is one of the 30 vehicles wanted for the side-mission. Placed on the third list.

Grand Theft Auto V

 * Enhanced version
 * Can appear in Stock Car Races.

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas

 * Parked in front of the garage of a house east of the El Corona Safehouse in El Corona, Los Santos.
 * Parked east of El Corona Safehouse in El Corona, next to a Voodoo and another Blade (only when wanted to export).
 * Can be found driven around in San Fierro Rifa gang turfs like Doherty, Garcia and Battery Point, all in San Fierro.
 * Very common anywhere at night time.
 * Quite common in rural areas such as Bone County or Whetstone, along with Remington and Tahoma.

Grand Theft Auto V

 * Original version
 * Appears inside the garages of any of the protagonists.


 * Enhanced version
 * Can be bought for $160,000 at Southern San Andreas Super Autos.

The Blade is part of three, " ", " " and " ". The first allows heavily modified Blades, among many other modified cars to spawn outside Los Santos Customs, as well at other locations. The second two allow the Blade and other "I'm Not a Hipster" Update cars to spawn modified in specific locations, particularly around the city. They only spawn in GTA V.
 * Scenarios (enhanced version)

Grand Theft Auto Online

 * Can be purchased from Southern San Andreas Super Autos for $160,000.

General

 * The default radio stations for the Blade are:
 * GTA San Andreas: Radio Los Santos.
 * GTA V: Channel X.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

 * A flame-proof Blade can be found during the mission High Stakes, Low Rider.
 * In an artwork, Ballas members can be seen shooting at Grove Street Families members in what appears to be a modified Blade.

Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online

 * Likely due to shared resources, the steering wheel bears a Declasse badge even though it is manufactured by Vapid.
 * With the "Chrome Tip Exhausts" option equipped, the exhausts are offset to the driver's side, partially clipping through the rear bumper on the left and leaving a small gap on the right.
 * The original description of the car mentioned it as a four door sedan, but the model is clearly a two door. This was most likely a developer oversight, but it has since been fixed.

Navigation
Blade (SA) Blade Blade