Event Coverage Isky was here!!!

Working on distributors this morning and in walked Ed Iskenderian !!!
WOW 90 1/2 ( he said) has got some stories for sure...

Made our day...

 

Wow, that is awesome! Is he in town for the trade show tomorrow?

 

damn jim...he looks younger than you do...

did I just say that outloud?

 

Wow, very cool - great guy.

 

Wow! Cool! I have had the chance to talk with him a bit and he is one neat guy to talk with.

 

Ed should be declared a National Treasure....

 

No declaration required, he IS a national treasure.

 

Yes hes here for the Hot Rod Restro show tomorrow.......

 

what ???

 

That's sure to make any day cooler!

 

Very cool indeed!!!

 

Man..... You must be living LARGE!!!

 

A friend of mine who worked for him told me stories. He's an interesting guy.

 

You better hope he doesn't work on one of your dist Larry.

 

now you tell me...uh...jim?

 

Bubba, you could have offered your stool to the poor guy!!!

Looking forward to meeting him tomorrow!

 

Ed Iskenderian Named 2012 Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree

Ed Iskenderian, founder of Isky Racing Cams, will be honored with the Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grand Opening Breakfast for the 2012 Hotrod & Restoration Trade Show, to be held March 23, 2012 at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

“Since reading my first Hot Rod magazine in the ’50s I remember Isky Cams being synonymous with high performance and quality,” said Buddy Pepp, executive director of the Petersen Automotive Museum and co-presenter of the award. ”Ed Iskenderian is the true ‘Camfather.’ I am very pleased that Ed will be honored in Indianapolis in March and I’m certain Bob Petersen would be thrilled knowing that Ed was selected as the 2012 Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.”

Iskenderian began working on cars in high school, with his pet project being a Model T Ford roadster. After graduating, he worked as an apprentice tool and die maker, then enlisted in the Army Air Corps, serving with the Air Transport Command flying supplier to the islands of the Pacific during World War II.

After the end of the war, Iskenderian returned to working on his hot rod. The hot rod hobby was gaining traction so it was harder to get parts from the few camshaft manufacturers on the West Coast. While waiting for delivery of a special-order camshaft, Iskenderian bought a used conventional cylindrical grinder that he converted to a universal cam grinding machine and entered the cam grinding business.

Throughout his career, Iskenderian used the latest technology to develop his camshafts. Isky Racing Cams lists him as the first person in the industry to employ computers in camshaft design. This helped him to develop performance and economy camshafts and components for racers and stock/street enthusiasts.

“Isky played one of the most critical roles in the very creation of hot rodding,” said Barry Meguiar, president and CEO of Meguiar’s Inc., who will once again serve as master of ceremonies for the Grand Opening Breakfast. ”To hear him relive his firsthand experiences will be a moment in time for all of us.”

 

You should think of having him bronzed and keep him around for good luck!

 

Awesome !!!

 

He hung around with us a few years ago at Thompson and signed the door of our coupe. Very nice man. Congrats to him.

 

My dad was building a 4cyl flathead to go in his '29 Ford roaster for the '56 AHRA drags and he had Ed grind him a cam. Unfortunately the car is long gone but I found and kept the cam card.

 

I had the pleasure of talking to him at the SCTA awards banquet a couple of years ago. He asked what I was running. I told him and he knew exactly what I was doing and able to ask me questions that were right on the mark. One seriously amazing guy!!

 

That must have made your day. Very cool.

 

wow thats really cool!

 

WOW, Hotrod history walks in your door and stops to BS!
It doesn't get any better than that!

 

A few more Isky pix from today as I showed him around some of the race shops in Brownsburg after we left Bubba's. I met Ed at the first Hot Rod Industry Show in Louisville and our connection is that he was at some of the same bases in the Pacific theater during WW11 as my dad who was in the RAAF.
When I found out that Isky was going to be in Indianapolis for the award presentation at the show tomorrow morning I offered to show him a bit of the racing side of Indy. We had dinner downtown last night and this morning I picked him and his son up at the hotel and we began our tour, starting at Bubba's place.



Then we moved on to John Force Racing where Ed was more than slightly impressed by the scope of that operation.


The next stop was Morgan Lucas Racing where Ed got into some technical discussions with crew chief Aaron Brooks who was doing double duty as a baby sitter for his son.


While we were there who walked in but the legendary "Greek" who started running Isky cams in 1957


We then rolled across the street to Freedom Racing Engines where Greg and Al got Isky up to speed on current fuel car block repair techniques.


After lunch we visited Jokerr Fabrication and Spike Ch***is but by then we were having too much fun and I failed to get any pix. Any time that you can spend most of a day with a legend like Isky you should count your lucky stars because it does not get any better than this.

Roo

 

Thanks roo for putting me on the list! Great time for sure...

 

WOW! What an honor to be able to hang out with a legend!

 

The Greek as well??!!! Jeez!! That's better than winning the lottery!!!

 

a true amercian hotrod hero! His Maxi T is a true hotrod done at home kick your *** car