Dealers Choice - 1972 rules

Equipment:
1 Organizer, 5 Blue Books, 10 Value cards, 45 Dealer's Choice cards, 24 Auto cards, 10 Insurance Policy cards and a supply of money.

Object:
To become the wealthiest used car dealer on the block.

Preparation:
The decks of Auto, Insurance and Dealer's Choice cards are shuffled and placed face down in their appropriate slots in the Organizer.
Each player is given $25,000 made up of the following denominations: 1 - $ 10,000; 2 - $5,000; 3 - $ 1,000; 3 - $500; 5 - $100. The rest of the money is placed in the proper slots in the Organizer.
Each player selects a Value card at random and inserts it into his Blue Book. Each player is dealt 1 Insurance Policy card, 5 Dealer"s Choice cards and Auto Cards as follows: 4 cards If three are playing, 3 cards if four are playing and 2 cards if 5 are playing.
Each player places his Auto cards face up in front of him and after looking at his Insurance Policy card, places it face down alongside of them. He conceals his Dealer's Choice cards either by holding them in his hand or placing them face down in front of him. Important: During the game, players must display their cash in plain view in stacks of like denominations.

The Play
A player is selected to start the game. Each player on his turn must.
FIRST observe the lot requirement rule below.
SECOND he selects one of the five options, A, B, C, D, or E. shown under part 2 on the Play Option Chart on the back of each Blue Book.
THIRD, he may open his lot for business (but he is not required to do so); and
FOURTH he ends his turn by drawing a Dealer's Choice card from the deck. Each of the above four steps is outlined in the Play Option Chart on the Blue Book so that each player can proceed through each turn with these basic rules always available for reference.

Lot Requirements
A player must replenish his lot at the beginning of his turn if he has less than two cars. To do this he may buy a car (or cars) from the Auto Exchange. He has a choice of paying $4,000 for the top car in the Exchange (sight unseen), or he may gamble and pay the list price of that car when Its value is revealed. A player may also replenish his lot through the use of "Buy"' cards held in his hand - following their specific instructions. Remember that replenishing a lot is a player's FIRST step on his turn and does not in any way affect the SECOND step which he now takes involving one of five choices as Indicated under #2 on the Play Option Chart. The lot requirement is reduced to one auto at the start of any turn when there are less than two cars In the Auto Exchange. A player may end his turn with less than the number of cars required and may never have more than six cars on his lot.

List Prices and Blue Book Values
Each car has a List. Price shown on its card, however, each car has many different Blue Book values. Each player has a Blue Book which shows what each auto is worth to him (his opponents' Blue Book will show different sets of values). At the end of the game, players' assets are figured on their respective Blue Book values rather than List Prices. A player can identify his Blue Book value for any car by matching the number in the upper left-hand corner of the auto card with the corresponding number in his Blue Book. A player may inspect an opponent's Blue Book value only when "'Looking Under The Hood". Each player tries to sell cars which are valuable to him at the earliest opportunity in order to acquire cash and avoid trouble or forced sales at lot prices. Possible Blue Book values for each List Price are shown on the Value Chart on each Blue Book.

QD 1972 Parker Brothers. Salem. Mmm. 01W9

Use of Dealer's Choice Cards
If on the SECOND step in his turn a player selects option A. he plays either one or two Dealers Choice cards one at a time. After appropriate action is completed, any used card is placed face down at the bottom of the deck in the Organizer. Most cards have full instructions but the following additional Information is important.

Sell cards
These cards entitle a player on his turn to sell a car to a customer, which for the convenience of the game is the bank in the Organizer. Cars thus sold are permanently retired from the game and are placed face up in the Auto Discard slot.

Buy cards
These cards may be used on a player's turn to replenish his lot or to purchase additional cars under play option A.
Buy a car of your choice from another dealer
A player holding this card may select for purchase any car owned by another dealer and make him an offer for it. The seller may agree to his price or demand a higher price. The buyer has the option of agreeing to the amount demanded or he may challenge the seller by "Looking Under The Hood""
Force another dealer to buy one of your cars of his choice
Same rules for bargaining and for "Looking Under The Hood"' apply as described above.

Collision, Fire, and Stolen Car cards
Under Play Option A. a player may place one or two of these cards on his opponents" autos. A car involved in a collision may be saved by the owner by immediate payment to the bank of 1/2 the List Price. A stolen car may be saved by its owner by immediate use of the Stolen Car Found card. Burned cars are retired from the game permanently.

Cancel
This card may not be used to cancel an Insurance Policy after it has been played by its owner.

The following two cards are the only cards which a player may use other than during his turn:

Lot closed
A player may use one of these cards during an opponent's turn to defend against a "'Forced Sale" or a "Buy" card when it is played on him. Both cards are then returned to the bottom of the Dealer's Choice deck.

Stolen Car Found
May be used immediately to recover a car stolen from your lot.

Insurance
There are five types of insurance - Fire, Theft, Collision, Comprehensive (which includes all of the preceding) and Fly By Night. Insurance Policy cards should not be exposed by the owner until used. In addition to the Insurance Policy cards originally dealt, a player on his turn may buy an additional Insurance policy under play option C. He may also receive a free insurance policy by playing the appropriate Dealer's Choice card under play option A. There Is no limit to the number of insurance policies a dealer may own at one time. Whenever an insurance policy is purchased, the price Is$4,000.

It another player attempts to steal, burn, or crash a car of a dealer who has the proper Insurance Policy card, the dealer may, but is not required to, use this card and collect from that player the List Price of the auto.
Although a stolen or crashed auto may be saved by appropriate action on the part of the owner, he may, in addition, use a valid Insurance Policy to collect the list price from the offender. For example, an owner who is about to have a car stolen may find that he has a "Stolen Car Found" card which he uses. But he may also have and use a Theft Insurance Policy. The use of both cards immediately would entitle him not only to keep the car but also to collect it's list price from the thief. The Insurance card is then shuffled with the remaining Insurance Policy cards and placed back In the Organizer.

Opening a Lot for Business
Before a dealer has drawn a Dealer's Choice card to end his turn he may declare his lot open for business. Other players may make bids on one or more of his cars. The dealer must select and sell one of the autos on which bids have been received and must select one of the bidders (it more than one) on that auto with whom he must complete a sale. Any bidder. therefore, is vulnerable to a forced deal and should be aware of possible consequences. When the dealer has selected his buyer (who need not be the highest bidder), he may accept that player's bid or demand and specify a higher price. If a higher price is demanded, the buyer has the option of agreeing to that price or he may "Look Under The Hood".

Looking Under the Hood
If a buyer suspects that a seller is asking a price above the seller's Blue Book value, the buyer may elect to "Look Under The Hood."' The seller is then obliged to reveal his Blue Book value of that car to the buyer. If the car's value is the same. or higher than the asking price, the buyer must purchase the car at the full Blue Book value plus a $2.000 fine for the insult. 11, however, the seller has asked a price higher than his Blue Book value, the buyer receives the car for the seller's Blue Book value (in the case of a Junk, the buyer receives it free) and, In addition, the seller must pay the buyer $2,000 for his dishonesty.

Ending the Game
The game ends the moment all cars are gone from the Auto Exchange and one of the players has an empty lot. Play stops the moment both requirements are met even though a player may be In the midst of his turn.

The Winner
The winner is the player who has the greatest assets in cash and cars based on his Blue Book value.

Bankruptcy
If a player is unable to meet the lot requirement rule at the start of a turn due to lack of appropriate Dealer's Choice cards and or cash, he must retire at once from the game by turning over whatever cash he has to the bank and shuffling any auto he may own into the Auto Exchange. If a high bidder discovers he has. insufficient cash, he must first pay whatever cash he has, and then must pay one or more of his autos, as necessary each valued at list price. so as to pay not less than what he owes to the setter. It he cannot make full payment in this manner, the seller takes whatever cash and autos the buyer has and collects the balance in cash to the bank. The auto which was to be sold to the buyer, however must In 'this case, be retired from the game and be placed in the discard slot. The would be buyer must retire from the game at this point unless he can show he has Dealer's Choice cards which could conceivably allow him to fulfill the lot requirement rule at the start of his next turn.

We will be glad to answer inquiries concerning these rules. Parker Brothers, P.O. Box 900. Salem, Massachusetts 01970

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Dealer's Choice was available in the early to mid 1970's. I just found a copy in my mom's game closet… You can sometimes find his on ebay...
Parker Brothers is now in cahoots with Hasbro and Milton Bradley and can be found on the internet at http://www.hasbro.com

This game is occasionally available at dantiques.com and ebay.com