The front-end of the Kuruma was less boxish, and its bumpers didn't stick out.
The Infernus more closely resembles a Lamborghini Diablo.
The front-end of the Idaho was slightly different.
The Esperanto and Idaho once had hydraulics.
The front-end of the Cheetah was slightly different, lacking a badge.
The headlights and grille of the Blista were different, and it lacked a badge.
All vehicles had the same wheel design.
The subway and El Train stations were explicitly named.
In a concept drawing of the city, the airport was once in Staunton Island and there were many roads in Shoreside Vale.
The Callahan Bridge also had two suspensions.
The Callahan Bridge might have been named West Port Bridge, as referenced by a road sign in Portland.
The statue model still exists in the game's files.
Punk Noodles was originally just with a small grass park with two statues.
The Old School Hall changed appearance.
In "Grand Theft Auto," two additional vehicles were planned to be stolen: the Landstalker and Banshee.
In GTA III's second official trailer, a cutscene shows Claude entering Salvatore's club only to be met by Yakuza gang members.
These have never been claimed in any previews of GTA III and was definitively debunked by Rockstar
Popular rumors claim that there were many missions removed, including a mission that involves the player to kill busloads of school children and flying a Dodo into a building.
Originally, when doing Vigilante, Paramedic, or Firefighter missions, the vehicles radio could go out of range - requiring the player to drive closer to the nearest police station/hospital/fire station.
Some, but not all, of Darkel's missions were subsequently given to other characters.
Remnants of their existence can be seen within the game files.
Buskers were planned to make an appearance in GTA III but was dropped during development of the game.
Originally the Triads had black outfits and tattoos.
Police officers originally had mustaches.
Elderly pedestrians with walkers were removed.
Certain pedestrian skins, accessible with cheat codes, were removed.
Misty originally wore a black miniskirt, red bra and a white jacket with gold high heels.
There was a character called Butler but he never made the final cut, no one knows what his purpose was but many believe he was Salvatore Leone's butler.
Catalina originally wore a skirt and leggings.
Toni Cipriani originally wore a brown sweater and looked completely different.
Maria Latore originally wore a leopard print crop top and black miniskirt with hoop earrings with jewellery and had longer hair.
Asuka Kasen's original name was Kemuri.
Salvatore's concept name was Frankie Sorvino.
Donald Love's concept name was Nick Love.
Joey Leone's concept surname was Sorvino.
The prerelease version of Luigi Goterelli assumed a completely different appearance.
Tom Novy was meant to make an appearance in the game as himself, but was removed along with his song, "Back to the Streets" for unknown reasons.
The character of Darkel, a revolutionary domestic terrorist, was cut.
Curtly was removed from the final version.
Other pictures show a more final Claude with different hair and a chubbier appearance. Some screenshots show a poorly detailed Claude, who looks completely different from the final version.
Claude's appearance went through many different designs.