Moonbeam

The Moonbeam was visible in two leaked GTA VI clips from September 2022. One sequence showed it travelling on U.S. Route 2 past the Gas Stop station. Another showed its rear while it was parked in a car park. These clips establish its appearance in GTA VI, but do not provide GTA VI-specific information on its equipment, handling, purchase method, or modifications.

Its main real-world basis is the 1985–1994 Chevrolet Astro and the matching-era GMC Safari. The front was substantially reworked rather than copied directly, using more detailed styling. First-generation Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager SE influences appear in the lamps, lower side treatment, and rear hatch area, although the number plate sits on the bumper instead. The rear lights have similarities to those of the Jeep Liberty KK.

The GTA IV version used a compact hood carrying silver Declasse lettering, black headlamp surrounds with paired lamps, bumper-mounted rectangular indicators, and a black band across the front. Its lower body was painted in the primary colour, while the upper body and lower trim used the secondary colour; star-pattern wheels completed the standard appearance.

The Moonbeam entered common traffic in Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes from Liberty City, after earlier appearances in the 3D Universe. It did not appear in Chinatown Wars or Grand Theft Auto V, then returned through GTA Online’s Lowriders update on October 20, 2015.

In GTA IV, the rear passenger doors were hinged and the cabin-side and rear glass came permanently darkened. GTA Online replaced those rear doors with sliding units, moving their handles forward, and removed the fixed window tint; tint could instead be added at a mod shop. The Online model retained the two-colour paint layout and wheel design, with wheels resembling the Five Star rims available at Los Santos Customs. Its interior uses the Cavalcade interior shared by similar vans, including the Minivan.

GTA IV Moonbeams could generate with several exterior combinations: plain or extended side steps, an elevated Super Streamline roof, black roof bars, utilitarian metal steps, a rear ladder with a Declasse-branded spare wheel, or solid rear-quarter panels in place of the windows. A billet grille that covers the headlights could appear only with those solid quarter panels. The game’s extra-setting logic ensured one of the first four roof or step arrangements, with optional additions from the other group; the quarter panels and billet grille always arrived as a pair.

The standard GTA Online Moonbeam lost those traffic accessories, with them transferred to the custom version instead. The custom conversion and its modification range reference the lowrider use of Astro and Safari vans. The vehicle cost $32,500 through Benny’s Original Motor Works’ website. A Motorcycle Club Road Captain could request one for club use in Free Mode for $1,000; that version had bulletproof tyres and bullet-resistant glass at the front and rear.

In GTA IV, a modelled V8 and rear-wheel drive did not make the Moonbeam quick. It understeered, took damage poorly for its size, and used the same van-engine audio as the Pony and Burrito. It commonly appeared across Broker, Bohan and western Alderney, with especially frequent sightings on Charge Island, Industrial and Colony Island. It was also one of Stevie’s 30 requested theft vehicles, and after all 30 were collected, Stevie paid $2,200 for a Moonbeam.

GTA Online gives it a front-engine, rear-drive single-overhead-cam V8. Compared with the Minivan and other similarly sized vans, its lighter minivan body helped its acceleration, but its soft, tall suspension and uneven weight balance made hard turns prone to severe oversteer. Braking was comparable with its rivals, while traction and durability were weaker points. Its engine note is closer to sports sedans such as the Tailgater and Schafter than to the older van sound. Opening the driver’s door in GTA IV also triggered a door-ajar chime.