Tampa

File:Tampa (GTASA) (front).jpg
A Tampa in GTA San Andreas (Rear quarter view).

The Tampa is a two-door compact 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.

GTA San Andreas

The Tampa in GTA San Andreas resembles a 1965-1969 Chevrolet Corvair, except it isn't rear-engined and it has a grille. It has no rims, and multiple paint colors on different panels of the car, indicating it was put together with spare parts from a junkyard. 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.

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

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

The Lost and Damned — The Ballad of Gay Tony

In The Lost and Damned, the Tampa appears in the opening cutscene in front of the Pay N' Spray. It 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. An email sent by Rockstar indicated that the car was not actually drivable in the game. It does, however, return in The Ballad of Gay Tony and is a common sight early in the game.

The front of the Tampa resembles late '60s to mid '70s Chrysler A-platform compact cars such as the 1970/1971 Dodge Dart; the roof and long sides of the car are reminiscent of the '68-72 Chevrolet Nova. The stripe across the back is similar to the bumblebee stripes on Dodge vehicles. Being a muscle car, its engine sound is similar to that of a Sabre GT or Dukes. It can be seen sporting an all-over color, or with a double-stripe.

Trivia

  • 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 default radio station in GTA San Andreas is K-JAH Radio West.

Locations

GTA San Andreas
The Ballad of Gay Tony
  • Can be seen in traffic in southern Algonquin.