The 62nd Northwood University International Auto Show over the weekend in Midland wasn’t your typical car show. Enthusiasts organized everything, yes, but these were students — who, with alumni returning for homecoming, made for a crowded campus with more than 65 car brands present.
“If you walk around you will see students everywhere and not much staff,” said Nick Horn, a freshman from Howell who is a pitcher on the baseball team. “The undergrads did a lot of the heavy lifting for this show.”
Horn hoped the auto show could help boost his career. As an entrepreneurship major with an emphasis on automotive aftermarket, he was really proud to be a part of this student-led event.
There were regular cars, race cars, super cars, hyper cars, emergency vehicles, a military armored personnel carrier and a semitruck. Not as flashy but equally important, a couple of food trucks were parked on campus to keep the audience well fed and hydrated throughout the show, which ran Sept. 19-21.
Northwood University is a small private institution, specializing in business and marketing and refers to itself as “America’s free enterprise university.” The car show is hosted throughout the campus and is organized and run mostly by students attending the university with little direct involvement from faculty.
Denielson Hernandez, a freshman majoring in automotive marketing from Pontiac, worked at the Infiniti exhibit, where a couple of vehicles were on display.
“Our students were assigned randomly or they pick which automaker they want to work with,” Hernandez said. He was there to improve his post-grad job prospects.
More: Car buyers clamor for EVs as the clock ticks down to get the federal tax credit
More: See the wild rides at Michigan Central for Cars at the Station
“Whenever you’re trying to work for a company and they see that you’ve worked at an auto show already with the company, it’s good for the resume,” Hernandez said.
Dealerships from all over Michigan had vehicles on display. Most of the cars had the doors unlocked, allowing people to sit inside and experience the interiors. Every automaker had a student nearby to speak to spectators about the vehicles and their features.
While many cars were straight from dealership showrooms, some vehicles were at the event to show off their modifications.
Aftermarket parts from modified engines, suspensions, exhausts, lift kits, turbochargers and many other custom parts were at the auto show.