About 50 modern and classic muscle cars, motorcycles, and other modified vehicles lined a parking lot at Oakland Community College's Auburn Hills campus on August 1, drawing a few hundred spectators for a free event that doubled as a recruiting pitch for the school's automotive programs. Alongside the vehicle display, visitors could walk through the college's auto lab facilities and talk with professors about what it takes to become a certified mechanic.
The event, known as the Community Car Show and Auto Labs Tour, ran from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Parking Lot 10 at the campus, according to Oakland Community College. Food trucks rounded out the atmosphere as families and car enthusiasts wandered between the display vehicles and the labs. As reported by the Detroit Free Press, the cars on display came from local car fanatics and some OCC alumni, blending the region's car culture with the college's own programs.
Inside the Auto Labs
Inside the auto lab facility, visitors got a close-up look at engines, transmissions, brakes, and suspension systems, along with classic cars in various stages of restoration, per the Free Press account. The labs also included a detailing center, an area for painting and touching up vehicles, and vehicles awaiting collision repairs. The auto labs tours were open to anyone who wanted a closer look at the programs, giving prospective students a hands-on preview of what coursework actually looks like.
Oakland Community College offers both automobile servicing and collision repair programs, which provide students with instruction and a chance to earn an ASE certification. The Automobile Servicing program awards a 61-credit Associate in Applied Science degree over five full-time semesters, preparing graduates for state mechanic licensure across eight concentration areas, according to the college's own program page. The Collision Auto Repair program similarly prepares students for National Automotive Service Excellence certification tests, while also offering I-CAR ProLevel One Platinum Certification in Paint and Refinishing.
A Campus Built for the Industry Next Door
The timing and location aren't incidental. OCC's Auburn Hills campus sits near Stellantis' North American headquarters, and the college operates as an official Mopar CAP Local partner school, letting automotive students earn Stellantis Level 1 technician credentials and electrical core certifications during their studies. The program has also kept pace with the industry's shift toward electrification: in Summer 2023, OCC added an Automotive Hybrid and Electric Vehicles course that uses a Switch Lab electric vehicle kit for hands-on assembly work.
Much of that modernization traces back to program director Claude Townsend, who has led the department since 2016. In 2022, Townsend received the Michigan Community College Association's Outstanding Faculty Award after rebuilding the department, establishing high school articulation agreements, and becoming Michigan's only NC3 Master Instructor.
Why the Trade Still Pays
The labor market backs up the recruiting push. Automotive service technicians and mechanics in Michigan earned a median annual wage of $54,120 as of May 2025, roughly 6.9% higher than the national median of $50,620, per Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS data. Nationally, the BLS projects around 70,000 annual job openings for the trade from 2024 through 2034, driven largely by retirements and increasingly complex vehicle electronics.
That demand persists even as traditional auto manufacturing has cooled in parts of the state. Michigan's motor vehicle parts manufacturing jobs fell 7% between 2019 and 2022, but the broader mobility and automotive service ecosystem still supports more than 631,000 jobs statewide, according to a 2024 MichAuto economic study cited by Bridge Michigan. Auburn Hills, in particular, has leaned into that shift, and Hoodline previously reported on GM's bet on auto jobs at the old Palace site nearby.
A Campus With History
The Auburn Hills campus, located at 2900 Featherstone Road near I-75, has its own backstory: it opened in September 1965 on a repurposed U.S. Army Nike missile site. Oakland Community College has continued reshaping its footprint in recent months, including its sale of the former Highland Lakes campus, a move Hoodline covered in its report on Waterford's new rec hub bet. The college has also expanded financial pathways into its vocational programs, as seen in Hoodline's coverage of the West Bloomfield Fire Department covering EMS tuition for 131 OCC students.
For now, the car show offered a lower-stakes entry point: a Saturday morning of engines and paint jobs that doubled as an open house ahead of the fall semester. Whether the turnout translates into new enrollment remains to be seen, as does how quickly area repair shops will be hiring entry-level technicians with EV-specific training.
