The Cheetah Classic on Ocean Drive wears a CH33TAH plate

What it is

About 33 seconds into Trailer 1, the camera drifts down a neon-lit beachfront strip lined with art deco hotels. Parked in the middle of the frame, doors open, is a white wedge-shaped sports car with slatted side strakes, pop-up-era styling and a Leonida "Goodtime State" plate. Pause on the rear of the car and the plate reads CH33TAH, with the threes standing in for the E's. It's on screen for barely a second, behind a turquoise convertible and a crowd of people on the sidewalk.

Why it matters

The Cheetah is one of the oldest names in the series, and the classic white version is the car most Vice City players remember: a thinly disguised late-80s Italian flat-twelve that looked straight out of a Miami cop show. Rockstar could have let the silhouette do the talking. Instead it put the name on the plate, which reads like a wink to anyone who spent 2002 driving one down Ocean Drive. The official Ultimate Edition page separately lists a '95 Grotti Cheetah as a bonus car, so the badge is clearly back in the lineup.

More easter eggs

• The Hawk & Little Morgan revolvers come "from the Vercetti Estate"An Ultimate Edition bonus is a his-and-hers pair of revolvers that Rockstar says were sourced from the Vercetti Estate, Tommy Vercetti's mansion in the original Vice City.
• The Ocean View Hotel, Tommy's first safehouse, is backRockstar's own caption for a Vintage Vice City Pack image places Jason and Lucia outside the Ocean View Hotel, the Ocean Beach hotel where Vice City's story began.
• Theory: "Love Is a Long Road" was picked as a joke about the waitTrailer 1 is set to Tom Petty's "Love Is a Long Road". Many fans read the choice as a double meaning: a song about Jason and Lucia, and a nod to the decade-long wait for GTA VI.
• Theory: A gecko in Trailer 2 is wearing Tommy Vercetti's shirtMore than a year after Trailer 2, a Reddit user pointed out a decorative gecko on a shop wall whose body looks like Tommy Vercetti's patterned shirt. It's on screen for under a second.
• Theory: Cal's bird line is a Birds Aren't Real jokeOne of Cal Hampton's official quotes complains about "way too many birds flying around in perfect formation", which reads a lot like the satirical Birds Aren't Real movement.
• Theory: Leonida Keys bridge may echo Florida's Seven Mile BridgeTrailer 1 shows a modern highway bridge beside an older span in the Leonida Keys. The paired layout resembles Florida's Seven Mile Bridge and Old Seven Mile Bridge, though Rockstar has not confirmed a direct copy.