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The “Camfather” was born July 10, 1921 in Central California to Armenian immigrant parents. Young “Isky” was always curious about anything related to mechanics and technology – his first job was repairing vacuum tube radios. Like most teens, he grew up around cars, particularly fascinated by the racy sounding, lightweight “gow job” hot rods he and his buddies saw around town. Coming home to LA after his WW2 Air Force service, he befriended Ed Winfield (Class of 2011) and soon began grinding his own hot camshafts and valve gear. He ran his Model T rod at the dry lakes and became a major player in the early days of Bonneville and the NHRA. Isky sponsored and supplied his speedware to racing icons including Mickey Thompson (1990), a young Floridian named Don Garlits (1989), boat racers and the early days of NASCAR. Iskenderian Racing Cams became a major force in the performance industry, with Ed serving as SEMA’s first president. Truly among the founding fathers of going fast, his contributions to motorsport are incalculable.
By Matt Stone
Edward. Uncle Ed. Isky. Mr. Iskenderian. The Camfather.
No matter what name you use or how you address him, you’ll be greeted with a hearty handshake and his trademark “Hiya Pal!” Edward Iskenderian was born a U.S. citizen on July 10, 1921, in Cutler (Tulare County), California, to Armenian immigrants Armine and Dickran Iskenderian.
Do the math: That makes him a crisp 103 years old as of this writing. Ed reminds us that the first half of his name — Iskender — is the Armenian version of Alexander. Adding “ian” to the end makes it a more recognizable Armenian name. His family moved to Los Angeles in the early 1920s.
It was my particular privilege to spend a year with Isky assembling and writing his biography, published in 2017. What impressed me most during those weeks of sitting in his overcrowded, decidedly messy office to talk through and explore his life and career, was his amazing recall. We’d sit down to work, usually after lunch at his favorite hangout, Fabulous Burger, just a few blocks from his Gardena, California, Iskenderian Racing Cams headquarters. His memory proved better than that of early computers — amazing in that it contained nearly a century of automotive and racing history.
Ed was an average teen, with an early interest in girls and all things mechanical. Anything electric fascinated him — an early window into his knack for engineering (although he never went to college or engineering school). He had affinity for AM radios — the big, tube-fed console and Victrola-style radios found in his own and many neighbors’ homes around his South LA area. Already demonstrating an enterprising spirit, he earned his high school pin money by repairing those radios; customers paid the cost of tubes and other parts, plus another 75 cents to a dollar for his labor.
And then along came cars. While his earliest cars were used $10-15 Model Ts, while cruising around and hanging with his buddies, he saw “these low, sleek gow jobs (what we now call hot rods) that were handsome, fast and loud. I thought, if I just had a car like that, it would be the coolest thing ever.”
He met and was mentored by noted early racing engine pioneer Ed Winfield, who taught him about the workings of engines, and how to make them run faster with special carburetors, intake manifolds, cylinder head modifications and “hot camshafts.” After an Army stint, Isky returned to SoCal to open a small machine shop in the back of a business run by his lifelong friend, John Athanasopolis (later shortened to Athan) to produce his own brand of high-performance cams, primarily for the Ford Flathead V-8. From then on, he was, literally and figuratively, off to the races: Bonneville, the birth of NASCAR and the NHRA, new larger shops, Ed famous for his innovative catalogs and advertising, sponsoring legends like Mickey Thompson and Don Garlits. Then came SEMA, the automotive aftermarket, and multiple halls of fame.
A once-in-a-lifetime guy with a great family and legacy, Isky will forever stand among the high priests of hot-rodding.
Matt Stone is a journalist, author, radio and television broadcaster, photographer, former editor, Motor Trend Classic magazine, concours judge, and automotive event emcee. His specialties are history, design, interviews, motorsport, and cars in culture; he’s written, photographed, and published 17 automotive books, including Iskenderian's biography.