The Reefer is a recurring boat featured in all Grand Theft Auto games in the series, between Grand Theft Auto III and The Ballad of Gay Tony (except for Grand Theft Auto Advance ).
The Reefer is a recurring boat featured in all Grand Theft Auto games in the series, between GTA III and GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony (except for ).
Through the , the Reefer retains its general design as a large downeast New England style sport fishing vessel, taking inspiration from boats such as the Duffy 38’ and Wesmac 42’.
The Reefer is usually depicted with a long hull, tall hand rails on the bow and what looks like a small compartment on the front area of the deck, while the cabin quarters have numerous square-shaped windows, an open rear and a tall structure partially enclosing the radar mast and antenna, while the interior depicts the controls offset to the right. The stern features large bench seats and small nozzles for the inboard engine.
*In GTA III and GTA: Liberty City Stories, the Reefer assumes a relatively simple design with no special features. In GTA III, it spawns in a variety of primary colors for the hull with secondary-colored stripes, while in GTA Liberty City Stories, it spawns in two-tone colors, with the lower portion being painted with the secondary color. *In GTA: Vice City and GTA: Vice City Stories, the Reefer gains a rusty/worn texture, a front compartment hatch and lifebuoys on either side of the top structure, along with small hooks with fishing rods on the rear/stern area. It spawns in two-tone colors for the hull, with the lower portion being painted with the secondary color. *In GTA: San Andreas, the Reefer is further improved with the addition of cleats on the bow and gunwales, small details around the cabin and a fishing crane on the back, as well as a large net reel on the transom. The vehicle can spawn with either the same bench seats on the rear as previous renditions, small crates containing fish or none of them. The Reefer only spawns in an all-white color, with the primary one applied on most of the body and the secondary one on the lower portions of the hull.
In GTA IV, the Reefer assumes a completely new design, strongly resembling the Orca from the 1975 movie Jaws.
The vessel remains largely similar to its previous renditions, but has several differences in terms of details and features. On the bow, there is a long wooden pulpit in the center that is supported by two metal frames below and tall hand rails around, while the deck has a wooden finish and has a protruding section with circular portholes.
The cabin is seemingly linear in shape compared to previous renditions, featuring dual rectangular windshields and three side windows, which are slightly larger at the bottom than the former. Beside the same cab, there are bulky sections below the side windows and small hooks on the side pillars, carrying a set of harpoons. The back section is more enclosed and features an access door on the right and a square window on the left, in conjunction with propane tanks, an access door, a small bell and what looks like the exhaust for the inboard engine. The top of the cabin carries a similar structure with lifebuoys on either side, another harpoon on the left side and small cleats on the rear section. The radar mast is no longer there, as it is instead moved to the top of the fishing crane. The interior is detailed with the typical features of most boats, but the character stands in the center of the cab (instead of on the right like on previous iterations).
On the stern, the vessel carries the large fishing crane similar to the GTA San Andreas iteration, but is decorated with steps, various cables/ropes and the radar equipment on top. Again, most of the deck has a wooden finish and bears small hand rails near the transom. There are also additional cleats on the gunwales with cables/ropes attached to the end of the fishing crane's arm, and fenders are hung along the sides of the stern. A single propeller with a single rudder can be seen below the hull.
