Bomb Shop

Bomb shops refer to specialized garages in the Grand Theft Auto series that outfit the vehicle the player is in with a car bomb. The feature was first introduced in first Grand Theft Auto, and has remained a relatively common facet of the series.

Note that this article primarily centers around bomb shops as locales. For specific discussions about car bomb mechanics, see the car bomb article.

GTA 1

In Grand Theft Auto, bomb shops are designed as either as garages built into buildings or drive-in garages that feature two entrances on both sides. To use a bomb shop, players simply need to drive their road vehicle into any of the garages and must have sufficient money to install a car bomb. Car bombs in GTA 1 have a timed delay where it detonates five seconds after they are primed by the player while they are inside the vehicle.

Each of the three cities in Grand Theft Auto feature a number of bomb shops, with each of the chain of the bomb shops varying in appearance between cities:

• In Liberty City, bomb shops are unnamed garages built into existing buildings, marked by a label featuring a grenade and two rifles on the sidewalk in front. There are 7 bomb shops locations in Liberty City, including:
  • East Hackenslash
  • North New Guernsey
  • Central Island Heights
  • Northeast Island City
  • Northeast Brix
  • Central Estoria
  • Southwest Kings
• In San Andreas, bomb shops are drive-thru buildings similar to the city's spray shops, labeled with "Guns N Ammo" and Confederate flags on both sides of its roof. An earlier texture file for the San Andreas bomb shops refers to them as "Guns! Guns! Guns!". There are 3 bomb shops locations in San Andreas, including:
  • East Aye Valley
  • Central Sailors Wharf
  • East Sunview
• Bomb shops in Vice City, which are embedded into existing buildings, are known as Crazy Bob's House o' Guns. 4 bomb shops can be found in Vice City, being located in the following areas:
  • Northwest Greek Heights
  • East Vice Shores
  • East Banana Grove
  • South Felicity

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  A Liberty City bomb shop, GTA 1.

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  A "Guns N Ammo" bomb shop in San Andreas, GTA 1.

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  A "Crazy Bob's House o' Guns" bomb shop in Vice City, GTA 1.

A bomb shop in GTA London 1969.

Bomb shops in the GTA London expansion packs are nearly identical in function, but are depicted with overhead signage displaying a classic Cartoon Bomb, and cost only a tenth the amount of money to use compared to bomb shops in GTA 1. Five bomb shops are scattered around London in:

• North City
• West Mile End
• West Westminster
• West Brixton
• East Brixton

GTA 2

Main article: Garages in GTA 2

"Red Army Surplus" (left) among a group of other garages in GTA 2.

Bomb shops in Grand Theft Auto 2 take the form of "Red Army Surplus" garages integrated into all garage complexes in each of Anywhere City's three districts. Much like in other garages in the complex, the spray shops are drive-thru facilities that can be entered from either side. Each use of the garage costs $5,000, and the installed car bomb functions identically to those in GTA 1 and GTA London.

For a list of locations for Red Army Surplus, refer to the "Garages in GTA 2" article.

GTA III — GTA Vice City Stories

Main articles: 8-Ball Autos and Welding & Weddings

An "8-Ball" garage in El Corona, Los Santos in GTA San Andreas, an example of a garage-based bomb shop featured between GTA III and GTA Vice City Stories.

Bomb shops in Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto Advance, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories predominantly appear as an extensive chain of "auto garages" supposedly belonging to 8-Ball, an explosives expert. Primarily identifiable by its signage that features an 8 ball-shaped bomb, the bomb shops offer a variety of different bombs throughout its appearances.

• In GTA III and GTA Liberty City Stories, there are three bomb shops in Liberty City in the form of 8-Ball Autos garages, each located in one of three Liberty City islands: Harwood in Portland, Newport in Staunton, and Pike Creek in Shoreside Vale. The Harwood garage installs engine ignition-detonated car bombs, the Neport garage installs eight-second time delay-detonated car bombs, while the Pike Creek garage installs remotely-detonated car bombs.

• In GTA Vice City, Vice City has only one 8-Ball garage in Viceport in mainland Vice City. It installs remotely-detonated car bombs.

• In GTA San Andreas, two bomb shops exist in San Andreas; one is an 8-Ball garage located in El Corona, Los Santos, and the other is Welding & Weddings in Redsands East, Las Venturas. Both garages install eight-second time delay-detonated car bombs.

• In GTA Advance, bomb shops appear as underground businesses that operate without legitamate businesses names, and the player character is required to install the bombs themselves. There are three bomb shops, each located in one of three Liberty City islands: Unnamed bomb shops in Portland Beach, Portland and Torrington, Staunton, and the "video shop" in Wichita Gardens, Shoreside Vale. All bomb shops install remotely-detonated car bombs.

• In GTA Vice City Stories, the sole 8-Ball garage in Vice City is relocated to Downtown Vice City, on the mainland. It installs remotely-detonated car bombs.

Each installation of a car bomb initially costs $1,000 in GTA III, but was reduced to only $500 between GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories, except for GTA Advance, which retains GTA III's pricing.

GTA Chinatown Wars

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars marked a return of the bomb shop after an absense in Grand Theft Auto IV (owing to the game offering car bombs through phone calls rather than bomb shops). Introduced in "Operation Northwood", only one "Bomb Garage" situated in North Holland, Algonquin in Liberty City is available to the player.

Unlike previous appearances, the Bomb Garage also requires the player manually install the bomb themselves after driving any road vehicle into the garage; the player will be required to visually interact to attach the bomb to the engine, wire the bomb to both the battery and starter motor, and arm the bomb. Each bomb costs $500, as in previous iterations.