If you’ve ever played Garry’s Mod and looked at vehicles zooming around and thought, “How do I make one of those?” — you’re in the right place. This guide walks you through the entire process of building a simple but functional car using the basic tools in GMod. Whether you’re new to the game or just haven’t dabbled with vehicle creation before, we’ll break it all down for you. Let’s get started.

Step 1: Spawn Your Base Vehicle

To begin, open your Spawnlist, and choose a prop to use as your base. While you can use almost any model or object, this guide uses a car from the Half-Life vehicles list. You can substitute this with a van, truck, or even a boat if you’d like. The important part is choosing a shape that works well for seating and wheel placement.

Once you’ve selected and placed your vehicle model, you’ve got your foundation.

Step 2: Attach the Wheels

Scroll down in the spawn menu and find the Wheels tool. Choose a wheel that matches the proportions of your base vehicle — you want them big enough to support the model but not so large that it looks ridiculous or wobbly.

Attach the wheels in symmetrical positions on either side of the car. When placing the first wheel, remember where you put it — you’ll want the opposite wheel to line up for balance.

After placing, configure the wheels’ movement controls. Typically, the up arrow for forward and the down arrow for reverse works well. Make sure all wheels rotate in the same direction so that your car doesn’t spin out when moving.

Step 3: Add Thrusters for Extra Power

Thrusters are optional, but they can significantly boost speed or assist in movement. In the Construction section, select the Thruster tool and choose the style and power you want.

A few quick notes:

• Avoid placing thrusters directly in the center or back, as this can cause spinning or imbalance.
• Side-mounted thrusters help maintain straight movement.
• Start with a moderate thrust force and adjust as needed. If it’s too powerful, your car may flip or fly.

Bonus tip: Add vertical thrusters underneath the car to help lift it or provide quick vertical movement. Use Numpad keys (e.g., 1 and 2) for easy control.

Step 4: Install a Seat

Now it’s time to make your car drivable. Go to the Vehicles section, then Chairs, and choose a seat. The Jeep seat is a popular and reliable choice.

Position the seat inside the vehicle model. You may need to enable No Collide temporarily so the seat doesn’t conflict with the car’s body.

Once positioned correctly:

• Use the Weld tool to connect the seat to the car model.
• Unfreeze the seat and drop the car onto the ground.

Hop in and test it out — your car is officially drivable!

Step 5: Customize Your Ride

With the basics complete, it’s time to personalize your creation. Here are a few ideas:

• Attach a camera to the top for a third-person or drone-style view. Don’t forget to weld it.
• Use the Material tool to apply textures and give your vehicle a unique look.
• Add lights or decorations if you want to get fancy.

You can even repurpose your vehicle for server-specific roles like taxis, delivery trucks, or mobile surveillance units. Once you get comfortable with the basics, the possibilities really open up.

What’s Next?

This guide covered a basic vehicle build, but GMod lets you go much deeper. If you’re interested, you could try constructing multi-passenger vehicles, trucks with storage, or complex mobile bases. The more time you spend experimenting, the more creative your builds will become.

Got stuck somewhere? Have a question? Leave a comment or reach out in your GMod community — chances are someone’s faced the same issue and found a fix.