The short version

  • Ultimate Edition only, and Rockstar ties it to later-stage action, so it is not a day-one car.
  • The four official images show pop-up headlamps, a red striped livery and a red leather interior.
  • Round tail lamps and a 1995 date point at Ferrari's F512 M, the last Testarossa, sold in the US only as a 1995 model.
  • The Cheetah name was a Testarossa stand-in from GTA III to Vice City Stories before GTA V made it a hypercar.

Rockstar's description of the ’95 Grotti Cheetah contains the most useful line in the whole Ultimate Edition listing: the car is 'available to punctuate later-stage action'. It is a reward that arrives inside the story, not a head start you drive out of the first safehouse.

The rest of the copy calls it 'Grotti's signature mid ’90s sports car and ode to Shore Drive', finished in 'a minimalist, retro-futuristic livery'. Read alongside the four official images, that sentence says a lot about which real car Rockstar had in mind.

The Cheetah at a glance
Full name
’95 Grotti Cheetah
Edition
Ultimate Edition only, $99.99, sold digitally
When you get it
Rockstar: 'available to punctuate later-stage action'
Official images
Four, in the Ultimate Edition Benefits gallery
Finish shown
White with a red striped livery, red leather interior
Performance figures
Not published

Rockstar's four Cheetah images

Verify at Rockstar

Rockstar files these under Ultimate Edition Benefits. They are product shots, not base-game screenshots.

Official GTA VI vehicle image: ’95 Grotti Cheetah 01
’95 Grotti Cheetah 01Rockstar Games
Ultimate Edition vehicle Official profile
Official GTA VI vehicle image: ’95 Grotti Cheetah 02
’95 Grotti Cheetah 02Rockstar Games
Ultimate Edition vehicle Official profile
Official GTA VI vehicle image: ’95 Grotti Cheetah 03
’95 Grotti Cheetah 03Rockstar Games
Ultimate Edition vehicle Official profile
Official GTA VI vehicle image: ’95 Grotti Cheetah 04
’95 Grotti Cheetah 04Rockstar Games
Ultimate Edition vehicle Official profile

Frame by frame

In the order Rockstar publishes them, with what each one adds.

  1. Outside Pegassi Residences. A three-quarter front view at dusk in front of a curved tower signed 'Pegassi Residences, South Tower'. Pegassi is the series' Lamborghini stand-in, so a Grotti parked outside a Pegassi building reads as a small rivalry joke. The slatted strakes behind the doors are the Testarossa's signature.
  2. Headlamps up. A close front view with the pop-up lamps raised and square fog lamps lit in the bumper. Rockstar's caption says it is 'parked with its headlamps up'.
  3. Tail, badges and plate. Three round lamps on each side of a black rear panel, a 'Cheetah' script badge, Grotti's leaping-animal emblem and a plate carrying the 'Goodtime State' slogan.
  4. Door open. Red leather seats and dashboard, a three-spoke wheel, analogue dials and a period stereo in the centre console. A small 'Piccin' badge on the flank is a nod to Pininfarina, the design house behind the real Testarossa.

Which real car it is

Rockstar never names real cars, and the Cheetah has always been a composite. The pieces here are unusually easy to read, though, and each can be checked against Ferrari's own history.

The body is a Testarossa

The flat side strakes, wide rear track and pop-up headlamps belong to the Ferrari Testarossa, the Pininfarina-designed flat-12 built from 1984, revised as the 512 TR for 1992 and as the F512 M in 1994.

That is the car the Cheetah name has pointed at for most of the series.

The year and tail lamps point at the F512 M

The F512 M was the last Testarossa. It replaced the slatted rear panel of the earlier cars with round tail lamps, and every one sold new in the United States was a 1995 model year car.

Rockstar kept the pop-up headlamps, which the real F512 M swapped for fixed units. So this is a blend rather than a copy, which is how the series has always drawn its cars.

Shore Drive and Miami Vice

The Testarossa became a 1980s icon largely through Miami Vice, whose lead drove a white one from the 1986 season. A white Testarossa-shaped car described as an 'ode to Shore Drive' in a Miami-inspired city is not a subtle reference.

We read Shore Drive as the stand-in for Miami Beach's Ocean Drive; Rockstar has not spelled that out. Our Vice City guide covers the districts Rockstar has named.

The Cheetah across the series

Resemblances as documented by the community-run GTA Wiki. Years are original release dates.

GameYearWhat the Cheetah resembled
Grand Theft Auto III2001A genericised Ferrari F512 M
Vice City2002A mid-1980s Testarossa, plus a VCPD police version
San Andreas2004A 512 TR with F512 M tail lamps and no pop-ups
Liberty City Stories2005A genericised F512 M
Vice City Stories2006A mid-1980s Testarossa
GTA V and GTA Online2013A modern hypercar modelled mainly on the Ferrari Enzo
GTA Online: Cheetah Classic2017The Testarossa shape, restored as a separate model
GTA VI2026’95 Cheetah: Testarossa body, F512 M-style tail lamps

Why two Cheetahs exist

When GTA V moved the name to a carbon hypercar, the Testarossa shape disappeared until GTA Online added the Cheetah Classic in July 2017.

Putting a model year on the GTA VI car is a tidy way to keep the classic lineage separate from the modern one, whichever of the two turns up in traffic.

Before you pay for it

  • It needs the Ultimate Edition at $99.99, or the Upgrade bought on top of Standard. Rockstar lists Ultimate as digital only; the code-in-box release is Standard. Our edition comparison lays out the rest of the bundle.
  • It is not a first-hour car. Buying Ultimate to start the game in a supercar is buying something Rockstar has not promised.
  • A Cheetah may exist in the base world anyway: GTA Wiki identifies a Cheetah Classic in traffic at 0:33 of the first trailer (December 2023). That says nothing about whether this ’95 car, in this livery, can be had without Ultimate.
  • No speed, handling or customisation details have been published.

Frequently asked questions

How do you get the ’95 Grotti Cheetah in GTA 6?

It is an Ultimate Edition benefit. Rockstar says it becomes available to punctuate later-stage action, so it arrives during the story rather than at the start.

What real car is the GTA 6 Cheetah based on?

Rockstar does not name real cars. The body follows the Ferrari Testarossa, and the round tail lamps and 1995 date match the F512 M, the final Testarossa, which was sold in the US only as a 1995 model.

Does the ’95 Cheetah have an interior?

Yes. One of Rockstar's four images shows the door open on red leather seats, a red dashboard and analogue gauges.

Is the Cheetah in other GTA games?

Yes: GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas, both Stories games, GTA V and GTA Online, where the Testarossa-shaped version is sold as the Cheetah Classic.

How fast is the ’95 Grotti Cheetah?

Rockstar has published no performance figures for it.

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