Known as the “Camfather,” legendary and innovative hot-rodder Ed Iskenderian has died (Feb. 4) at the age of 104.
Iskenderian was a young man who raced his own cars just before he enlisted into the Army Air Corps during World War II. Upon his return, the hot-rodding boom had hit, and Iskenderian—had trouble buying racing-grind camshafts.
Rather than wait five months for a camshaft, he decided, “I can make those,” and entered the racing cam business.
He set up a used grinding machine in the back room of a tool and die company owned by a friend, and that was the start of Iskenderian Racing Cams, popularly known as “Isky Cams,” one of the largest specialty cam grinders in America. The company developed the first high-density, chilled-iron lifters for Top Fuel dragsters, and was also responsible for the first anti-cam-walk kit for Chevy V8s and the first offset cam keys and bushings for adjusting cam timing.
Iskenderian was a part of the small group that created SEMA and was its first president. He was inducted into the SEMA Hall of Fame in 1978. Additionally, he is a member of Chevrolet’s Legends of Performance.
“The industry was going on before me, but there was no money in it, or it was so small,” said Iskenderian, who was born in 1901 and is now 103 years old. He added, “I was born just at the right time.”
Iskenderian was inducted into the Performance Racing Industry Hall of Fame in 2024.
