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A Brickade in The Ballad of Gay Tony (Rear quarter view).

The HVY Brickade (internally named Avan, likely an abbreviation of armored van) is an armored van in The Ballad of Gay Tony. The van is notable in the game for being normally inaccessible in gameplay, and as a result, can only be accessed via modding, hacking or specialized savegames.

It is unknown why the Brickade is not used in any mission in the game.



The Brickade is roughly based on the military Navistar and on the RG-12 APC produced by Land Systems OMC. Its a large but stumpy and generic armored bus-like van, similar to the Securicar (which interestingly bears a similar "Stockade" badge), but adopts a cab-over design, a beige bodywork and much smaller wheels. In addition to a thick body shell, the Brickade is also equipped with plating that protects the front radiator grill, as well as steel mesh grating covering the front windscreen and wheel wells (which does not actually protect the Brickade's tires from gunfire). The Brickade is implied to be associated with the police, as it has a police radio and the ability to pass through tollbooths without paying. However, unlike most police vehicles, the Brickade can use a Pay 'n' Spray. Although it bears no badging, police chatter implies the Brickade is manufactured by HVY. Despite it having 2 doors in the front and 2 doors in the back like the Stockades, it can only fit 2 people in it as the back doors are not programed to open and fit people in the back like the stockades can. This is because it is a unfinished project.


The upper area is a faded gold color, in the middle it has brown stripes with a faded gold color below it. Not even online multiplayer car mods can change the color of it. The only thing the mods can change on it is the color between the area the door opens and closes, otherwise its main body color is the same. The area in between the door can be red , black, or silver depending on the Brickade that was spawned. If you take the Brickade to a Pay 'n' Spray it will only spray one color. One possible reason that it lets you take it to a Pay 'n' Spray when it is classified as a police vehicle is the fact that its a unfinished project and rockstar did not program the Brickade to be rejected when attempting to respray it.


Given its armored construction and subsequently heavy weight, the Brickade's performance is as expected for a vehicle of its class.

The Brickade suffers from poor speed on average due to poor acceleration, but can reach slightly above average top speeds after uninterrupted and prolonged acceleration. Its steering also varies; due to its shorter wheelbase, strong torque and rear wheel drive, the van can execute tight turns in low speeds, but this trait is hampered as the vehicle travels in higher speeds and increases its inertia. Similarly, its brakes are reliable when the vehicle travels slower, but requires a moderately longer stopping distance when braking in higher speed (although they still fare better than those of the Ripley). Regardless, the Brickade's heavy weight allows it to push smaller and lighter vehicles out of the way with ease.

The Brickade is also considerably hardened to handle selected forms of damage to an extent, to the same degree as the Enforcer, Police Stockade and Securicar. The vehicle can absorb large amounts of gunfire, but will eventually succumb to engine damage, especially when it is shot at its weakest point in the front, where the engine is. The Brickade can also survive six direct hits from explosive shotgun rounds (at any part of the vehicle) before its gas tank ignites and results in the vehicle exploding (three times the amount of a regular car).


  • The Brickade shares the same engine sound and interior with the Ripley.
  • Despite featuring a meshed frontal windscreen, the player can still be thrown through the Brickade's windscreen in a high-speed collision.
  • When exploded after suffering heavy damage, the actual bodywork of the Brickade is only slightly charred (although generic parts, such as its wheels, lights and interior are severely burnt), unlike other vehicles in GTA IV.
  • Despite the Brickade and the Buffalo being two different vehicles they have similar horns.
  • The Brickade was originaly going to be featured in multiplayer. It was going to be a roadblock for the bridges at a 6 star wanted level only in multiplayer freemode.
  • One possible reason Rockstar removed it is because in the game files it says that firemen were to drive it ,it was locked on the program setting. Then once it was fixed it would not spawn at all, so Rockstar may have decided it would be better to remove it.
  • The Brickade may be in the next Grand Theft Auto game since the Tampa was taken out of Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned but returned in The Ballad of Gay Tony
  • The Brickade is the most durable (Front Engine) vehicle in the Grand Theft Auto IV era.

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