Tampa

The Tampa is a two-door muscle car featured in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and seen only in one cutscene in The Lost and Damned. It returns as a fully-drivable car in The Ballad of Gay Tony and possibly Grand Theft Auto V.

GTA San Andreas
Design

The Tampa in GTA San Andreas resembles a 1965-1969 Chevrolet Corvair, except it isn't rear-engined and it has a grill. It has plain steel wheels, and mismatched paint on multiple body panels, indicating it was put together with spare parts from a junkyard, this also makes it one of the first "Beater" cars in GTA, along with the Clover. It also appears to be over-scaled and in comparison to some under-scaled cars, as it looks much larger than an old compact. The Tampa is one of the gang cars used by the Da Nang Boys, a gang based in San Fierro.

Performance

The Tampa's performance is, at best, below average, with sluggish acceleration and mediocre top speed, as well as heavy steering and unstable cornering, like that of a Clover and a Sabre.

Modifications
In TransFender:
 * Color (allows the car to feature a single tone body color)
 * Hood Scoop (two varieties)
 * Hood Vents (two varieties)
 * Exhaust (three varieties)
 * Spoiler (three varieties)
 * Side Skirt
 * Nitro (three varieties)
 * Wheels (ten varieties)
 * Bass Boost
 * Hydraulics

Design
In both The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, the Bravado Tampa is redesigned as a far more beefy muscle car that may butt heads with the Sabre GT. Parts of the exterior of Tampa is based on the 1964-1973 Ford Mustang, while the front of the Tampa resembles a 1970/1971 Dodge Dart; the roof and sides of the car are reminiscent of the '68-72 Chevrolet Nova (but with less of a fastback profile); the rear is reminiscent of a 1968 Dodge Charger. Being a muscle car, its engine sound is similar to that of a Sabre GT or Dukes. It can be seen sporting one all-over color, or with a double-stripe scheme. The paint job is based on that of a 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302, with the stripe going across the trunk based on the super bee stripe, found on performance cars from Dodge and Plymouth since the 1960s.

The Tampa in TLAD only appears in the opening cutscene in front of the Pay 'n' Spray and is also featured in the BradyGames Strategy Guide for the episode. There was speculation by fans that the vehicle was available to drive outside of the cutscene, and the claims were backed up by lines in the game code which specify the handling and animations of the car; indeed, the car can be spawned by using cheat device and driven like a normal vehicle - it has every data to being drivable. An email sent by Rockstar indicated that the car was not actually drivable in the game; the car is also not programmed to appear on streets, even if the player drives it.

Tampa reappears in TBoGT as a fully functional car and is a common sight early in the game. While still lacking a manufacturer's badge, the car is implied through police chatter to be a Bravado model.

Performance
The Tampa's performance, which is identical in both TLAD and TBoGT, is considerably good in terms of raw power; the car's acceleration is excellent and the car can reach a considerably high top speed of 288 km/h (179 mph). This is because the car features a 310 cui (5078cc) Turbo V8 which produces a lot of torque at low RPM which allows burnouts to be performed easily, the combination of the large size of the engine and the softness of the suspension means that cornering is rather un-predictable, however, as the car can spin out in sharper turns or burn out, if the player applies gas to the car, as the car generates excess torque. Braking is considerably impressive considering the car's weight, providing the car with shorter stopping distances.

Appearances in Missions

 * Nines and AKs
 * Yay-Ka-Boom-Boom
 * Puncture Wounds

Trivia

 * Even though the Tampa available in San Andreas has an engine in adequate running condition, there are mix-matched body parts and a crooked licence plate on the car; making the Tampa one of the first "Beater" cars in the Grand Theft Auto series before the rusted, backfiring beater cars in GTA IV.
 * In the mission Nines and AKs, the player goes to do some target practice, and has to eventually shoot at a Tampa's gas tank using a pistol, making it explode, and passing the mission. It has a unique numberplate reading "FELTCH".
 * Even though the car can be upgraded to an excellent state at a mod shop, it will always have crooked license plates.
 * During the mission Yay Ka-Boom-Boom, the player has to destroy the Loco Syndicate's cocaine factory in Doherty with a rigged Tampa. The rigged Tampa has a unique numberplate reading "TIMEBOMB". Another modded Tampa is used in the mission Puncture Wounds. The Tampa is modded with stinger traps to burst the tires of the vehicle needed in the mission. Although, if the Tampa is saved in a garage, it will not have the ability to drop stingers.
 * The Tampa plays the following radio stations by default when entered:
 * K-JAH Radio West or K-DST in GTA San Andreas.
 * Liberty Rock Radio 97.8 in The Lost and Damned.
 * San Juan Sounds in The Ballad of Gay Tony.
 * In GTA IV's DLCs, the Tampa's rendition has the same interior like that used in the Sabre GT.
 * It's name is based on Tampa, Florida.
 * In the mission Nines and AKs the player can obtain an AP (all-proof) Tampa.
 * Tampa means "Cover" in portuguese.
 * In GTA V, there is a vehicle shown which looks very simliar to the Tampa, however at this point of time it is unknown if it is an older/newer model or a different vehicle.

GTA San Andreas

 * Can be found parked at the used car lot in Jefferson, Los Santos. This is the only spawning point of Tampa in Los Santos
 * Can also can be found driving in the Easter Basin, Battery Point and Garver Bridge region in San Fierro along with the Buccaneer and the Manana, both used as the Da Nang Boys gang cars.

The Lost And Damned

 * Only seen in a cutscene
 * Can be obtained with the use of modifications and trainers.

The Ballad of Gay Tony

 * Rarely spawns in Boulevard and Fortside, (Bohan).
 * Can be seen in traffic in southern Algonquin and Middle Park, Middle Park West.
 * Rarely spawns in, Northwood, likely to spawn in, Chinatown, City Hall, Fishmarket South, Castle Gardens, (Algonquin).
 * If a Buffalo is driven through Lancaster, a Tampa may appear.
 * Often seen driving on the Northwood Heights Bridge, especially if the player is in a Stallion.
 * Often seen at the Francis International Airport

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