DARTZ Nightshark VI: The Real HVY Nightshark for GTA VI Week

On 8 August 2017, an armoured SUV called the HVY Nightshark rolled into GTA Online. Players recognised the face. So did Riga.

Nine years later the story runs the other way. A client has commissioned DARTZ to build the real thing, and it has a name: the DARTZ Nightshark VI.

At a glance

Name	DARTZ Nightshark VI
Commission	A one-off for an undisclosed client, valued in seven figures
Chassis	GM GMT 825 truck frame, lengthened by 15.75 inches
Engine	AMG M156 6.2-litre V8, over 500 hp
Body	Carbon-fibre panels with armour
Protection	NATO STANAG 2, DARTZ says, at the weight of an ordinary SUV
Seats	Three, one of them a genuine fighter-jet ejector seat
Reveal	Miami, GTA VI release week (GTA VI launches 19 November 2026)

Six DARTZ ancestors

The Nightshark never wore a DARTZ badge, but it has always worn DARTZ faces. Its front comes from the Prombron’ Black Shark, its rear and D-pillar from the Black Alligator, its horizontal tail lights from the Black Snake, its rear bumper from the Black Dragon and its side exhaust from the Kombat Aladeen Edition. Players spotted the family resemblance years ago. DARTZ took it the way it was meant.

“We accepted this as a compliment. Now the compliment has returned to Riga with a seven-figure budget.” Leonard F. Yankelovich, DARTZ R.F.E.

Built, not copied

The Nightshark VI is not a replica, a film prop or an ordinary SUV in costume. It is a DARTZ, commissioned independently, with its own engineering, its own materials and its own identity.

“The client did not ask us to copy pixels. The client asked us to build what the pixels were trying to become.” Leonard F. Yankelovich to Supercar Blondie, 2026

A lounge for one, and an ejector seat

Behind the front seats is a private gaming lounge for one: a large screen between the rear doors, a hidden console, satellite internet, a premium sound system and headphones by Metaxas & Sins. The owner can drive the virtual Nightshark from inside the real one.

At its centre sits a genuine Lockheed Martin fighter-jet ejector seat, rails on show, with a five-point harness stitched NIGHTSHARK. The buckle is solid metal, engraved like the game’s weapon wheel. Leonard’s advice: don’t pull the handle. The roof is closer than the sky.

“The customer wanted the whole world of the game inside it.” Leonard F. Yankelovich to Vintage Aviation News, 2026

One detail reaches back to the cinema. The A-pillar uses a transparent material that reads as opaque, a nod to the damage on the original Prombron’ from The Dictator.

The armour, shown in October

In October DARTZ released a new set of images and the first details of the protection. DARTZ says the Nightshark VI is armoured to NATO STANAG 2 and still weighs no more than an ordinary SUV, the same promise it makes for its GBOL armour.

The rear doors are hinged at the back and open against the direction of travel. As a passenger steps out, door and body form a wall against fire from the side. Further elements on the roof guard against drones and snipers, the threat from above that DARTZ also answers with its Drone Protection Standard.

The cockpit is simple by design. There are no large touchscreens and no networked controls. DARTZ’s reasoning: what is not connected cannot be hacked.

In the back, the single seat sits like a throne, and the list of extras includes detachable toy Gatling guns.

A livery written by the players

The client asked for most of the bodywork to be handed to the GTA community rather than sold by the maker. Since early October, GTA streamers and creators have each held about a square metre of the car, a district of their own, which they fill with roleplay businesses, crew emblems and their followers’ gamer tags. RockstarINTEL has a zone on the left flank. By mid-October more than 60% of the space was taken. The finished livery is unveiled in Miami and stays on the car for a year.

Miami, GTA VI week

The DARTZ Nightshark VI makes its first public appearance in Miami during the release week of Grand Theft Auto VI, which launches on 19 November 2026 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. DARTZ will announce the date and venue separately. Until then, the full specification and the client stay private.

“The game had unlimited lives. Our customer ordered only one car, so we are making it correctly.” Leonard F. Yankelovich

From cinema to games, and back to steel

DARTZ has crossed from cars into entertainment before. Gold Prombron’ BONDs became part of the look of The Dictator. Six officially licensed DARTZ Prombron’ vehicles, including The Dictator, Black Shark and Black Alligator, appear in Racing Xtreme: Fast Rally Driver 3D on Nintendo Switch.

The Nightshark VI runs that order in reverse. DARTZ built the cars, cinema used them, a game borrowed them, and now a client has ordered the story back into metal.

DARTZ has no affiliation with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive. Grand Theft Auto, GTA and HVY Nightshark are trademarks of their respective owners.