WCC alum crafts passion with help from instructors who inspired him

Teresa Quinones | Contributor 

Eric Jiskra vividly remembers sitting in the passenger seat of his mom’s car, just moments before he was about to take his first automotive course at WCC. At the time, he was a WCC student taking general education classes, unsure of what path to take. Over time, Jiskra would go from being a student to working as a part-time automotive instructor at WCC. Before stepping into the world of the automotive industry, he was filled with doubt, unsure if he had what it took. 

“We got here and I’m like, ‘I don’t wanna go in there, I don’t have it in me, you know? It’s not gonna work, Mom. There’s no point in this, I’m too old,’” Jiskra said. That day, Jiskra had no idea that just a few years later, he would become known as the “one-man show” and win the Fay Butler award for Best Metal at the 2025 Detroit Autorama. 

Before discovering his passion for the automotive industry, Jiskra faced a difficult chapter of his life. At 28, he was looking for a way to re-enter society and find meaning. This fueled his decision to apply to WCC. 

“What I was looking for was just to reroute my brain. I guess you could say whatever I was doing in the past obviously wasn’t working, and I needed to find something. I wasn’t sure what it was,” said Jiskra.  

While taking general education classes at WCC, Jiskra worked masonry jobs elsewhere to pay for schooling. On one snowy day, during a shift, Jiskra noticed the WCC Autobody logo on his employer’s jacket. After a brief conversation, his employer, Gary Sobbry, an instructor in the Automotive Center, encouraged Jiskra to take an automotive course. The following semester, Jiskra enrolled in Sobbry’s automotive paint class, sparking a new interest in the craft.  

As his passion in the craft grew, he became a part-time worker at the WCC Automotive Center. Eventually, his passion led him to become an instructor, inspired to be the person he needed when he was younger. Today, he works alongside the instructors who once mentored him, teaching students the same skills he learned at WCC.  

With the support of his former instructors and the knowledge he gathered over the last several years, Jiskra took a $20,000 car–a 1931 Model A coupe, which he named Betty White–into a competition with multi-million-dollar show cars, ultimately winning. Receiving the Fay Butler Award for Best Metal was a very emotional moment for Jiskra. However, he explains that the most rewarding part of the whole experience was being able to give back to WCC and to the instructors who always supported him. 

“It wasn’t just my father being proud of me, but almost like it was all of my autobody fathers being proud of me,” Jiskra said. 

Sobbry emphasized the dedication and hard work that he saw Jiskra undergo to build Betty White. 

Typically, cars involve many people working on fabrication, welding, bodywork and painting.

However, “Eric acted as a lead on this,” Sobbry said. He took the lead on the entire process, a “one-man show,” as he was named when given the award.  

At the Autorama, many WCC students introduced their parents to Jiskra. He was delighted to talk to his students and their families about Betty White and discuss the details of the two-year project he worked on. 

Jiskra learned how to do all his auto body work, the work he did on Betty White, at WCC. He said it was really nice to be able to give to the WCC community through his award. 

Looking ahead, Jiskra plans to take his passion to the next level. He hopes to market his artwork, which involves manipulating a bead roller to create 3D designs and using vinyl cutters as stencils. He also wants to continue showcasing Betty White in local car shows, like the Ann Arbor Rolling Sculpture Car Show, this summer.

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