Vehicles

Vehicles play a major role in L.A. Noire. They are used as the primary means of transportation while moving through the city of Los Angeles. Vehicles are invaluable to Cole Phelps during his investigations, who uses them to travel quickly between locations and to chase criminals in high-speed pursuits. There are a total of 95 vehicles in the game, all of which are based on actual period models.

Being a police officer, Phelps can commandeer any car that is on the street for necessary practice of law at the player's discretion. This is similar to the basic concept of Rockstar 's Grand Theft Auto games, except no penalty is incurred for "stealing" a vehicle in this way in L.A. Noire.

The brown Chrysler Town and Country seen in the intro cutscene is most likely Phelps' personal vehicle. The different vehicles used at each desk are owned by the partners you work with; this is confirmed by Roy Earle, when he claims that the Cadillac Series 62 Convertible is his own and that "you can't be seen slumming it in a Nash if you're in Vice" (referring to the Nash Super 600 owned by Rusty Galloway).

It is not obligatory to use the vehicle provided by the game; however, only police vehicles are equipped with radios for receiving dispatches. Additionally, Ralph Dunn, Roy Earle, and Rusty Galloway will complain if you enter a vehicle that they feel is below their station, such as a truck or ambulance.

List of Vehicles

Vehicles are listed here by the model names and vehicle categories provided in L.A. Noire's "Vehicle Showroom", accessible from the "Extras" section of the main menu.

2-Door

There are 25 total 2-Door vehicles.

4-Door

There are 19 total 4-Door vehicles.

Sports

There are 8 total Sports vehicles.

Service

There are 19 total Service vehicles.

Bonus

There are 15 total Bonus vehicles. By reaching certain ranks, you will unlock the location of each vehicle (5 at a time). They will be represented by a "?" on the map screen. They will always be inside of garages with pale blue doors featuring the logo "Angel City Security" on the front. Unlike regular vehicles, which spawn randomly, these vehicles will always spawn exclusively in their assigned locations and can be obtained for driving at any time.

Police

There are 9 total Police vehicles.

Other Vehicles (Non-Drivable)

Vehicles listed here appear in the game, but are not drivable or do not count toward collecting the 95 vehicles.

Cessna 195 Airplane
International Harvester TD-9 Crawler Tractor Bulldozer
Pacific Electric Baldwin V-1000 Locomotive
Pacific Electric Railway Streetcar
Ramez Removals Delivery Truck
Union Pacific EMD F3 Locomotive
White Model 798 Bus

Trivia

Many of the vehicles in L.A. Noire were based on cars owned by Jay Leno, who gave Team Bondi access to his personal collection of 1940s vehicles.
When required to drive to a location on the map, the player can employ what Rockstar calls a 'trip-skip mechanism' by holding 'E' (default) on the PC, 'Triangle' on PlayStation and 'Y' on Xbox, respectively, at the side of a car which will prompt Phelps' partner to drive, leaving the player's view to follow the car and overhear their conversation, which can be skipped, in addition - and allow the player to jump instantly to the destination. This is useful for getting 5-star cases as your partner will not damage other vehicles or the city. However, you will also miss any Street Crimes and Landmarks en route.
Auto-Driving by holding E on PC will allow Jack Kelso to skip to his destination. Unlike Phelps, Jack doesn't have a partner and cannot ask for directions.
When Cole's partner is driving, he still can occasionally cause accidents, and if you're unlucky, this will have some impact on your Case Report .
To unlock new vehicles, Phelps must enter the vehicle as the driver and start the engine.
Your police siren causes other drivers to slow and move to the right of the road and clear intersections.
It has been reported that PC gamers may notice that the camera angle will change randomly when driving the vehicle after the "Buyer Beware" case; if you want to keep the camera "behind" your vehicle, hold L-shift button while driving to help you.
The "GTA III" era of Grand Theft Auto was known for a glitch that made driven vehicles disappear if one parked it and then moved too far away from it. In L.A. Noire, a similar glitch occurs with the bonus/hidden vehicles. If driven and parked, and Cole moves out of sight of the vehicle, it will vanish (and respawn back in the garage where it was parked originally).
The garage-parked hidden vehicles are the only drivable vehicles that respawn consistently in the same location, with the exception of the Buick Super which spawns at Wilshire Police Station.
One common tip for racking up the vehicle points is to take a moment and enter any and all unfamiliar vehicles at crime scenes, in parking lots, etc. Whenever Phelps enters a vehicle, however, that vehicle becomes marked as his car on the mini-map.
Police cars occasionally drive round the city; you can commandeer one if you have lost or abandoned yours, as only your default vehicle and police cars have a siren and dispatch radio.