GTA 5 Vehicles You Probably Didn't Realize Are Based On Real Cars

Rockstar's record-breaking "Grand Theft Auto 5" and regularly updated "GTA Online" have hundreds of cars for players to take to the streets of Los Santos. Unlike the fictional city in which the games take place, though, many of the vehicles in "GTA 5" and "GTA Online" are near-replicas of real-life cars. 

Most of the fictional car manufacturers in the "GTA" series are based on real-life brands. Ubermacht is the games' version of BMW, Coil is the "GTA" take on Tesla, Bravado is equivalent to Dodge, etc. Though not all of the cars in "Grand Theft Auto 5" are designed after real-life counterparts, fans might be surprised to learn just how many are based in reality. 

One would be hard-pressed to find a real-life version of the "GTA Online" Ramp Buggy on the road — try "Robot Wars" or "Battlebots" — but some of the strangest-looking cars from "GTA 5" and "GTA Online" aren't so imaginary. 

The Truffade Z-Type is a car that looks like it came straight out of an old mob movie. This classic car first appeared all the way back in the second "GTA" game and made its return with the launch of "Grand Theft Auto 5" and "Grand Theft Auto Online." The Z-Type is a black 2-door coupe with red accents that sets players back $10 million in "Grand Theft Auto 5" and just shy of $1 million in "GTA Online."

One could almost picture a weasel from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" driving this around Los Santos, but the design of this vehicle was based on something far less cartoony. Back in 1936, Bugatti released the Type 57 Atlantic, a limited-run car that could have once been the entry-level Bugatti car. Though the car's history is wrapped in mystery, it became a stylistic icon of its era, and Rockstar looked to this limited-run model for inspiration in making the Truffaude Z-Type. Truffaude is the in-game equivalent of Bugatti, sharing a similarly-shaped logo. 

The Toreador is a unique car in "GTA 5" and "GTA Online" that comes from the in-game manufacturer Pegassi, the "GTA" equivalent of Lamborghini. This car is one of the few that can be used on both land and water, though it might be hard to tell from just looking at it — it does look like a spaceship made out of glass rather than a submersible car. Added with the Cayo Perico Heist "Grand Theft Auto Online" update in 2020, the Toreador can be purchased from Warstock Cache and Carry for a considerable $4.25 million.

The Toreador can transform from road mode to boat mode quickly and serves players well in the water and on land, but its real-life counterpart was a concept car that didn't exactly reach public markets. In 1967, at the Geneva Motor Show, Lamborghini debuted the Marzal, a prototype that designers at the time described as "drifting towards what science-fiction writers had been promising." Though few were ever able to see it in action in real life, one sold in 2011 for just shy of 1.5 million euros. Thankfully, a few million video game dollars are all that's needed to give "GTA Online" players a taste of what the Marzal could do.

[Image by Matti Blume via Wikimedia Commons | cropped and scaled | CC-BY-SA 4.0]

Many cars added to "Grand Theft Auto Online" over the years have been obvious references to cars in popular culture, like the Imponte Deluxo and the time-travelling Delorean of "Back To The Future." But others are not so obvious, at least not for those who aren't fans of classic spy films. 

The "James Bond" franchise has continued well past its debut in theatres in the 1960s, but though the international superspy has driven many cars — and changed actors — plenty of times over the years, Rockstar wanted to show homage to one of Bond's most iconic rides with the Dewbachee JB 700w. Based on the Aston Martin DB5, this car has the looks and the customizations to make players feel as classically stylish and devilishly dangerous as Sean Connery in "Goldfinger."

The non-weaponized version of the JB 700 costs $350,000 at Legendary Motorsport, but the JB 700w comes with a weapons system. Added with the Doomsday Update, this upgrade straight out of "James Bond" will set players back $1.47 million at Warstock Cache and Carry. 

Arguably one of the strangest-looking luxury cars in "Grand Theft Auto 5" and "Grand Theft Auto Online" is the Principe Deveste Eight. It's an extremely fast car with a sleek, curvaceous design that emanates an aura of luxury without practicality. It was introduced to "GTA Online" shortly after the release of the Doomsday update in 2019, and can be purchased from Legendary Motorsport for just shy of $1.8 million. 

But this front-heavy supercar isn't exclusive to the game, it's actually based almost directly on a concept hypercar called the Devel Sixteen. Developed by Dubai-based Devel Motors, the car is inspired by Jet Fighters and purported to feature over 5000 horsepower. It's apparently capable of speeds that exceed 350mph, which would make it the world's fastest production car. However, the car's full potential has never actually been seen. Despite being revealed six years ago in 2017, only one made it to the road in 2022, and it had a V8 engine instead of the V16 the car was supposed to have.

Though many of the claims of Devel Motors go unconfirmed, in "GTA Online," players get to experience what it might be like to be behind the wheel of this theoretically-mighty supercar.