The CamFather turns 100

Last July, Ed Iskenderian celebrated his 100th birthday. That’s a tremendous feat all by itself, but when you consider “Isky” revolutionized the art of designing and building cam shafts for race cars and hot rods in the early ’50s, his centennial becomes a major event in the world of car enthusiasts. Sure enough, his 100th was celebrated three times at big public birthday parties in Southern California.

In 2017, I managed to nab a ticket to a Pebble Beach Car Forum featuring a list of hot rod legends and collectors, including car expert Wayne Carini, collector Ralph Marano, historian Ken Gross, custom builders Rick Dore and Steve Moal, author Matt Stone, retired Chrysler Exec VP of Design Tom Gale, and 96-year old hot rodding icon Ed Iskenderian. Matt Stone had recently finished a book on Ed titled simply, “Isky.” Famous hot rod customizer Gene Winfield also made an appearance.

In the hot rod and auto racing worlds, Ed is an unadulterated legend. He was a largely self-taught genius, building racing camshafts that could maximize an engine’s potential better than anyone else. So complete was his mastery of the craft that in racing and hot rodding circles he was simply known as the “Camfather.” Still with a great memory and strong voice, the discussion often came back to Iskenderian telling stories about his early days of developing hot rods and camshafts, and racing his cars on the dry lake beds of California. In his day there were no how-to books, you “just had to figure it out for yourself.” His narrative would often morph seamlessly from one story to the next, and it was obvious the other guest speakers were enjoying it as much as the rest of us.

Ed ended up making a fortune with clever marketing and catchy names for his racing cams, like the “404 Eliminator,” but they were also innovative and effective. Hard to beat the combination of a savvy marketeer with a great product and responsive service.

His now famous T-bucket hot rod, still completely preserved in its 1940 form, even had a nickname – La Cucaracha, or the cockroach. It was so labeled by a Mexican local sheriff who wasn’t very impressed with the hot rod even though the workmanship was actually top notch. It’s original form still possesses all the hallmarks of excellent design and craftsmanship, right down to the custom headers, low-cut proportions and raked windshield that make it look fast just standing still.

Ed Iskenderian finished this T-bucket roadster from a 1923 Ford in 1940. He bought the car in 1938 from his buddy John Athan for $4. Athan had souped it up a bit but nothing like Isky had in mind. Using a wrecking yard ‘32 Ford flathead V8, Isky would build an engine with 13:1 compression pistons, Edelbrock manifold, a trio of Stromberg 97 carbs and Maxi “F” cylinder heads that featured overhead exhaust valves for improved cooling. As noted by the Western Timing dash plaque, the car hit 120 mph in 1942 on an El Mirage dry lake bed – pretty impressive for a 239 cu. in. flathead.

After his military service in WW II, Isky had money to spend on his hot rod. On the wish list was a new cam from Clay Smith. When Smith couldn’t supply a cam in a timely fashion, Isky simply decided to try building one himself. He bought a second-hand cylinder grinder and converted it into a cam grinder. After a few tries he managed to get it right. It was the beginning of what would eventually make him a hot rod icon with his legendary Iskenderian Racing Cams. One more cool tidbit, he made the car’s flying skull radiator ornament in high school metal shop.

So, happy belated birthday to a legend. They don’t make ’em like him any more.