Phantom

The Phantom is confirmed as due to appear in Grand Theft Auto VI. No trailer timestamp, screenshot, promotional image, in-game location, regional appearance, livery, mechanical specification, or new variant is identified for the VI version. Its presence in the upcoming game therefore stands separately from the detailed information available for its earlier appearances.

The truck first appeared in Grand Theft Auto IV, where it was the game’s sole conventional semi tractor, although it could not haul the cargo trailers found around Liberty City. It returned with essentially the same exterior for Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online, but gained trailer-towing capability alongside the other semi-trucks in those games.

In GTA IV, examples were parked at Francis International Airport, in Steinway, near the Booth Tunnel in Algonquin, and around Port Tudor Docks. One was placed outside the Goldberg, Ligner & Shyster building during Final Interview. In GTA V and Online, it appeared around the docks, at Harmony Truck Stop, on the Great Ocean Highway, and on highways across the state, particularly beyond Los Santos. A truck can also be encountered leaving Clucking Bell Farms in Paleto Bay, though that vehicle may instead be a Hauler or Packer.

Its front-end treatment and lower structure most closely follow the Peterbilt 359EXHD. The Peterbilt 379EXHD contributes much of the cab, hood, external air-cleaner, and sleeper arrangement. Elements associated with the Peterbilt 389 and Kenworth W900 also feed into the design.

The GTA IV and V model uses a raised cab with side steps, fuel tanks, skirts, twin vertical exhausts, external air cleaners, a divided windscreen, roof horns, and large mirrors. At the nose are a heavy bumper with a red-and-white striped lower edge, a centrally mounted plate, guide poles, a chrome-like grille surround, and paired round lamps. The rear is an exposed tractor chassis with a fifth wheel, access ladders, mudguards, mudflaps, and frames behind the sleeper intended to limit trailer contact during tight turns.

The sleeper carries JOBUILT lettering and a “Phantom V24 Supercharged” badge. That description conflicts with the visible engine model: it has eight spark-plug textures and does not visibly show a supercharger. The apparent layout is closer to a petrol V8, despite the truck-like sound. The same questionable V24 badging also appears on the GTA IV Packer and several MTL and Jobuilt trucks in GTA V and Online.

In GTA IV, the truck uses a seven-speed transmission with an auxiliary gearbox arrangement, also used by the Packer. GTA V and Online replace this with a normal five-speed unit. Its industrial wheels are shared with the Mule, Benson, and Yankee; the GTA V-era Towtruck also uses them. Cab, sleeper, and rear mudguards can each receive single-colour paint treatments. GTA IV includes a male-voiced GPS when the audio setting remains on selected cars, while GTA V and Online add CB-radio chatter for Trevor in Blaine County even when the main radio is off.

The rearmost GTA IV wheels lack solid collision. A player can pass through them and be dragged by the rear mudflaps at the truck’s speed without taking harm.

In GTA IV, the Phantom accelerates more strongly than its size suggests and can reach speeds comparable with some sports cars given sufficient straight road. Its high mass lets it push traffic aside and can ignite other vehicles in a fast impact, while its resistance to deformation and engine damage is unusually strong. At speed, however, it understeers, turns slowly, and needs restrained braking. It can still perform burnouts and donuts.

The GTA V and Online version behaves much like the earlier truck, though the broader increase in vehicle speeds reduces its former pace advantage. It remains suited to long-distance road travel because of its durability, but its high centre of mass and weak uphill acceleration make off-road use unsuitable. Its engine audio is shared with the Packer and Pounder.

Italian Mafia drivers use armored Phantoms in The Lost and Damned Gang Warfare. Marabunta Grande drives one while towing Michael’s stolen yacht in Father/Son, and Michael and Trevor seize one in Fame or Shame. It may be the haulage tractor in VIP Work: Haulage, while Crop Dustin’ involves destroying a tanker pulled by one used by rednecks.