Ed Iskenderian, ‘The Camfather,’ Has Passed Away at the Age of 104

The NHRA and other outlets have reported that Ed “Isky” Iskenderian passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 4. Known as “The Camfather,” Isky was born July 10, 1921, in Tulare County, California, where he built his first car in his teens, reaching speeds of over 120 mph. After serving in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, his friend and mentor, Ed Winfield, helped him start a camshaft grinding business, which became Isky Racing Cams.

Iskenderian was a master of marketing, branding and promotion, and his company’s name appeared on the cars of many well-known racers, including Richard Petty, Mickey Thompson, Don Garlits, Don Prudhomme and Jim Clark. He’s often credited as the inventor of the graphic T-shirt, printing his Isky logo on white tees. Isky was also one of the founding members and the first president of the original Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association (now SEMA) and a Hall of Fame member.

Mike Spagnola, president and CEO of SEMA and PRI, issued the following statement: “Today, the automotive world lost its North Star. Ed Iskenderian was not just a founder of SEMA; he was the soul of it. As our first president, he turned a hobby into an industry. He and the original founders were volunteers who recognized—at the height of their own careers—that our industry needed a unified voice to survive and grow. Long before there were data logs and computer modeling, there was Ed—a man with a slide rule, a cigar and an uncanny ability to find power where others found limits. While we mourn the loss of ‘The Camfather,’ we celebrate a century of a life lived at full throttle. We are all driving in the tracks he laid down as a volunteer leader over 60 years ago.”

Read more on the NHRA website.