MUNCLE MIKES · CASTING GUIDE
What-4Check the body before the white fin
What-4 has plenty of moving-car drama while standing still: exposed engines down the sides, a narrow cockpit and a white tail fin. Before choosing a color, look closely at the metal. Structural condition matters more than a fin posed neatly upright.
The original multi-engine concept
Bob Lovejoy’s What-4 was made in Hong Kong in 1971–1972. It has an adjustable white plastic rear fin. Blue glazing is usual, but clear-glass examples are documented too; interior colors also vary.
A fin that settles down is not necessarily broken
The fin can be raised and lowered, and documented examples tend to slide downward. Ask to see it at rest and inspect the mounting for glue or replacement parts.
Do not wedge it upright for a photograph. A collector needs to know how the part actually behaves, and a display pose should not suggest that it locks when it does not.
Inspect the metal without testing its strength
What-4 is known for mottled, spider-like toning and for examples with crumbling body metal. Surface appearance alone does not diagnose every car, but cracks and loose fragments deserve close attention.
Look along the edges and underside without flexing the body. Record repairs, missing pieces and replacement fins separately from ordinary paint chips. Leave an uncertain car as found rather than polishing away evidence.
A later-year listing needs its own packaging or release evidence; the early production record does not establish a new release for every year an old car remained in circulation.
What does a 1972 label tell you?
The documented 1971–1972 production range belongs to the original What-4. It does not establish a separate 1972 What-4 II. For an uncertain listing, compare the full body, base inscription and package name before assigning the car to either casting. Keep a remembered purchase date separate from an introduction date.
