Ed the “CamFather” ‘Isky’ Iskenderian, who was a legend among racers worldwide and last of the original hot rod heroes, has passed away at 104 on February 4th 2026. Iskys story goes way back to the 1940s when he went lake racing at Muroc Dry Lake (Rogers Lake) at Edwards Air Force Base in California, and then enlisted in the US Army Air Corps during WWII and flew supply missions in the Pacific with the US Air Force. Isky worked as an aircraft mechanic and crew chief, so his wartime experience expanded his understanding of engineering and broadened his technical awareness, which would expand his knowledge of camshaft design and high-power racing engines.
I had the good fortune on July 10th 2021 to attend Isky’s 100th birthday bash celebration at LTR Racing Engines in Onyx, CA. I sat with Isky, who was still sharp as a tack while he told me of his 100-year journey developing and founding “Iskenderian Racing Cams in West Compton area of Southern California, which is now run by his sons specializing in camshafts, lifters, pushrods, rocker arms, valve springs, apparel & media and much more.
Over the years, he sponsored icon racers like Don “the Snake” Prudhomme, “Big Daddy” Don Garlits and the great Mickey Thompson. Along the way, he was the founder of SEMA and served as its first president. As my talk concluded with this sweet mechanical genus, he said, “I’ve been very fortunate to get into something that I like, and I was interested in, and I’m still interested to this day.” At his 104th birthday celebration in June at the Lions Automobilia Foundation and Museum in Rancho Dominguez, CA, Cindy Gibbs, daughter of Steve Gibbs from Nitro Revival, presented Isky with a beautiful black-and-white portrait of the man who helped shape the soul of hot rodding and drag racing.
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