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.
- Buick Business Coupe
- Buick Coupe
- Buick Eight Convertible
- Buick Eight Coupe
- Buick 2DR Sedanette
- Chevrolet Fleetmaster 2DR
- Chevrolet Styleline
- Chrysler Town and Country
- Cord Hardtop
- Buick Custom
- Ford Convertible
- Ford Custom
- Packard Custom
- DeSoto 2DR Custom
- Ford 2DR
- Ford Business Coupe
- Ford Tudor Convertible
- Ford V8 Sedan
- LaSalle V8 Sedan
- Lincoln Continental Coupe
- Nash Super 600
- Packard Clipper Eight
- Packard Clipper Six
- Pontiac Torpedo Six
- Studebaker Commander
4-Door
There are 19 total 4-Door vehicles.
- Cadillac LaSalle Series 50
- Cadillac Series 61 Touring Sedan
- Cadillac Series 61
- Cadillac Series 75 Limousine
- Chevrolet Sedan
- Plymouth P5
- Chrysler Airflow
- DeSoto Custom Suburban
- Hudson Super Six
- International D Series Sedan
- Frazer Manhattan
- Lincoln Zephyr Touring
- Oldsmobile Hydramatic 88
- Oldsmobile Sedan
- Packard Clipper Eight
- Plymouth Sedan
- Plymouth Special Deluxe Six
- Pontiac Sedan Six
- Willys Overland
Sports
There are 8 total Sports vehicles.
- Cadillac V16 Convertible
- Chevrolet Fleetmaster Convertible
- Mercury Custom
- Ford DeLuxe Convertible
- Lincoln Continental Convertible
- Lincoln Model K Convertible Roadster
- Nash La Fayette Convertible
- Oldsmobile S98 Convertible
Service
There are 19 total Service vehicles.
- International KB8 (Polar Bear Ice Truck)
- Chevrolet Pickup
- Chevrolet Van
- Chevrolet Civilian Van
- Chevrolet Pickup 2
- GMC Pickup
- Nash Deluxe 600 Army
- American LaFrance Fire Truck
- Buick Ambulance
- Chevrolet Tow Truck
- DeSoto Custom Suburban Taxi
- Dodge Fuel Truck
- Ford Ambulance
- International Metro KB1M
- International KB5
- International D Series
- Heil Colecto-Pak
- International KB8
- International KB6
Police
There are 9 total Police vehicles.
- Buick Super
- Cadillac Series 62 Convertible
- Chevrolet Fleetmaster 2DR
- Chevrolet Coroner's Van
- Ford Police Special
- Hudson Commodore
- International Police Wagon
- Nash Super 600
- Studebaker Commander
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.
- Cadillac Town Car
- Chrysler Woody
- Cisitalia Coupe
- Cord 810 Softtop
- Davis Deluxe
- Delage D8 120
- Delage D8-120 S Poutout Aero-Co
- Delahaye 135MS Cabriolet
- Duesenberg Walker Coupe
- Ford H Boy
- Phantom Corsair
- Stout Scarab
- Talbot GS26
- Tucker Torpedo
- Voisin C7
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
Hidden Vehicles Map
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.
- During the Traffic DLC case "A Slip of the Tongue", Richard Coombs offers to sell Phelps and Bekowsky a Buick Century sedan, despite the Buick Century not appearing in the game.