Cartel Cruiser

Vehicle
Cartel Cruiser
A Cartel Cruiser in GTA III.
A Cartel Cruiser in GTA III.
(Rear quarter view)
A Cartel Cruiser in GTA III.
Appearance(s) GTA III
GTA Liberty City Stories
Also known as Columbia (During GTA III development)
Vehicle type Gang truck
Body style 4-door pickup
Capacity 4 (driver and 3 passengers)
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The Cartel Cruiser is a four-wheel-drive crew cab pickup truck. It is used exclusively by the Colombian Cartel in Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories.

Description

Design

In general, the Cartel Cruiser is a 4-door pickup truck, similar to a 1987-1991 Ford F-250 4x4 crew cab. The Cruiser also features a roll bar in the back, side runners, a blue paintjob, and foglights on the grill. Similar to the Forelli Exsess, Sindacco Argento and Yardie Lobo, it does not have a non-gang variant.

At one point of game development of GTA III, the Cartel Cruiser was known as the Columbia[1], possibly a reference to the Colombian Cartel's name. The old name is still evidently used in a showcase of the truck at the official Rockstar North website.

Performance

The Cartel Cruiser's engine is powerful enough to send its all wheel drive system into slides, which is unusual for the GTA III engine. The Cruiser is turbocharged, but suffers from turbo lag, where the car has poor acceleration from a standing start, until the turbo cuts in. This can be heard, when the engine noise becomes louder and more aggressive. At higher revs, it can defeat a Patriot (a similar vehicle) in a straight line drag race. However, its high center of gravity causes the body to roll in corners.

In GTA Liberty City Stories, the Cartel Cruiser isn't as speedy as it was in GTA III, with the engine sounds more like a truck's and heavier than the one on GTA III, but maintains much of its predecessor's design and accessories, with a noticeable change in the grill mounted spotlights (from white to red). While possessing poor acceleration, its handling is reasonable, but its top speed is moderate.

Locations

GTA III
GTA Liberty City Stories

Reference

  1. Rockstar North's website, a render of the car

See also