Monstrosity

The Monstrosity as depicted on the American version of GTA III's manual.		The Monstrosity as depicted on the European version of GTA III's manual.

The Maibatsu Monstrosity, manufactured by Maibatsu Corporation (a parody of Mitsubishi and Zaibatsu conglomerates in general), is a massive SUV that is mentioned in Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto IV.

Description

The Monstrosity is touted to be a monster truck sized SUV with an extraordinarily low MPG rating (a GTA III ads claim it only gets 3 miles to the gallon), but is never featured physically in-game.

Though it is not seen in any of the games, the Monstrosity is a focal point of radio ads, with many deriding it for its size, fuel consumption, needless off-roading capabilities, the propensity for children to become lost in the back seat, and danger to pedestrians as well as to the environment. For instance, in Grand Theft Auto IV, a caller to the conservative WKTT talk show The Richard Bastion Show complains that that America has a buffoon for a president, and that Americans drive incredibly large, polluting Maibatsu Monstrosities that destroy the environment, to which Bastion replies "I know! It's great!"

Interestingly, the SUV craze and the race to build the biggest vehicles was initiated by the Ford and General Motors, with the Ford Excursion and Chevrolet Suburban/GMC Yukon XL, respectively. However, Japanese automakers such as Toyota and Nissan have also produced full-sized SUVs.The popularity of the Maibatsu Monstrosity, could be more likely based on success of the Toyota Land Cruiser. The name "Monstrosity" could be a reference to the Mitsubishi Montero.

The advertisement for the Monstrosity in GTA III differed in the American and European handbooks; the American advertisement uses an image of the Landstalker from GTA III as the "Monstrosity", whereas the European advertisement depicts a monster truck based on a 1999-2004 Ford F-250 regular cab. However, the body of the Monstrosity would likely resemble a full size SUV (with third rows of seating) rather than a pickup truck cab (whose cramped passenger space is only for convenience rather than comfort).

See also

• Other Maibatsu vehicles only mentioned on the radio:
  • The Maibatsu Thunder in GTA Vice City.
  • The Maibatsu Womb in GTA Liberty City Stories.
• The Insurrection in GTA Vice City Stories.