John Morris and GM Andy Maly check the assembly line.	Anthony Lainesse and Don Tatum compare brands.
Elaine Pearson, Rob Seulowitz and Romain Jacques open dealerships.	John Weber's competition, Thomas Morris, hasn't got his learner's permit yet.

You can play any game you want in this tournament, as long as it's Automobile. This excellent Martin Wallace title came back for its third WBC appearance. With defending champion Bill Zurn absent this year, the field was wide open. So open in fact that six new folks would grab all the laurels.

The event featured three heats with the majority of the games being 4-player affairs. For the statistics junkies out there, the average number of times each personality was taken was: Ford - 2.73, Kettering 2.07, Sloan 1.4, Howard 3.46, Durant 3.07, and Chrysler 3.2 times per 4-player game. None of these stats are particularly surprising, the benefit of Kettering seen as less than the other roles, and players either not realizing the benefit of Sloan or they were doing a much better job of controlling their loss cubes. Howard and the ability to sell two more cars is still critical, and many players still like the ability to go last with Chrysler. The average winning score was just over $4,500, with the lowest winning score coming in at $3,910. And while we have yet to resort to tie breakers, there were two games decided by a mere $10.

Only one contestant broke the $5,000 threshold, and that was Elaine Pearson who crushed her semifinal table. Elaine claimed throughout the week that she didn't feel she was a very good player. Let me put that myth to rest.

So, what were some of the other tournament highlights?
· Peter Staab stepping up with a brilliant suggestion prior to drawing tables for the semis.
· John Morris drawing a past champion not once but twice during the heats, losing graciously, yet performing well enough to qualify for the semis.
· Riku Riekkinen informing the GM that when he wins, he won't be able to make the semis. Then he goes out and backs it up.
· Contestants from four countries (Canada, Finland, Japan, USA).
· A high caliber of play and sportsmanship.
· Oh, and a moose invasion during Heat 2. Thanks Don.

Besides Elaine's crushing semifinal victory, Mike Kaltman squeezed out a $70 victory over the aforementioned John Morris, Harald Henning staked a comfortable victory over his table, and his son Nick Henning pulled out a narrow victory over Pete Staab. This latter table featured the antics of Rob "One Stroke Above Par" Seulowitz but the lucky fez could not save the Doctor this day.

The Final was set, and play proceeded quickly, almost as if someone was trying to catch a rocket ship. In the end, son edged father in a well played game in which all had a shot and the spread of scores from first to fourth was the profit from less than nine cars.

I'd like to thank all the entrants for their participation, patience, and sportsmanship and I hope to see everyone (minus the moose) back next year.

Richard Fetzer, Pete Staab and Michael Kaltman mass produce cars.	The finalists gather for all the marbles ... err cars ... err wood.