Cheetah

The Cheetah is a two-door sports car that has appeared in Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. The Cheetah may be considered to be manufactured by Grotti as Grotti is based on Ferrari.

Design
In all its iterations the vehicle closely resembles a Ferrari Testarossa, with each game's version following the design of the corresponding era. For example, in GTA III and GTA Liberty City Stories, it looks like a slightly generic-ized and modernized F512 M, while in GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories, it resembles a mid-80s Testarossa, and in GTA San Andreas, a 512 TR Testarossa (but without the hidden headlamps) with the rear lights of a F512 M. The GTA Vice City (Stories) and GTA San Andreas renditions also feature variations of wing mirrors, either featuring two on both sides, one on the driver's side or none. A hood scoop is also present on these renditions.

Looking at the shape of the car, its clear to see that it is mid-engined, however when the hood is removed, in GTA III and GTA 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.

Performance
The Cheetah's acceleration and speed are slightly inferior to other sports cars in the game, but handling 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 its incapable of handling bumps, and curbs without compromising stability.

Anachronism in GTA Vice City Stories
In GTA Vice City Stories, which is set in 1984, the Cheetah was based from the first generation Ferrari Testarossa, which started selling in 1984. The first "red head" didn't sell enough until late 1985. For the sake of having no irregularities about the comparison of the two cars, Rockstar Games made the Cheetah scarce in Vice City Stories, spawning only in parking lots.

Variants

 * VCPD Cheetah : The police version of the normal Cheetah.

Trivia

 * Unsually, for some Cheetahs without rear mirrors in GTA Vice City, a blacked-out dashboard strobe light used by the "police" Cheetah may be seen.
 * When first entered in GTA San Andreas, it may play SF-UR as its default radio station.

Locations
GTA III
 * Cartel Mansion in Cedar Grove, Shoreside Vale, Liberty City.
 * In the parking lot of the Francis International Airport near the entrance and across the fire station.
 * Can be seen during the mission Chaperone

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

GTA San Andreas
 * Spawns in Rodeo, Los Santos.
 * Spawns in Market, Los Santos
 * Spawns in The Strip, Las Venturas.
 * Spawns in Old Venturas Strip, Las Venturas.
 * 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 (Monday only)

GTA Liberty City Stories
 * In the Francis International Airport parking lot across the fire station.

GTA Vice City Stories
 * Northernmost road on Starfish Island.
 * Diaz's Mansion on Starfish Island.
 * In front of Lance's hotel in Downtown.
 * In the parking lot behind the hospital in Downtown.

Cheetah