History Wall Of Legends Latest Hand Casting: Ed Iskendarian

A week ago Trace called me up and invited me to come with him to cast the legendary Ed Iskendarian's hand for the wall. Were also document the casting for the Long Beach Motorama site update that will be happing in a few weeks.. So we headed to Ed's shop in Glendora and met up with the Cam Father himself! Ed is 89 years old and still at it!

non of this in front of the shop..



The man himself


After we talked for a few minutes we decided to head to the local burger joint to get some breakfast.. We sat and talked about his time at the dry lakes before WWII to when he returned after the war, on to his times at Indy. Ed is a sharp as ever at 89.


Tellin old story's of the way it was.



So when we got back I decided to explore the shop that was packed with stuff everywhere
Ed like's to keep stuff thats for sure.. so heres a little peek into the shop..

 

This was really cool cam display..


Heres some stuff in a room...

This was hangin on the wall




The door was open

 

pretty kewl, hey theres a building in Culver City that has Iskendarian Cams painted on it, (slauson/jefferson) Ive always wanted to stop by and see/ask questions. Is this an old place and or just someone who love isky cams too!?

 

He seems like a cool ass guy.

 

Ed is a very cool guy. The Isky shop is amazing, his son gave me the grand tour and some wonderful insight into the man. A pack rat for sure, his office would require an hour's worth of shifting the piles to get a second person inside it. He has some great and historic stuff there though. The back yard is jammed full of machinery, not just old cam grinders even NASA type stuff like anti-gravity chambers.
The front office is full of memorabilia, even thank you notes from Elvis.

 

Ed was a trooper here he is getting the mold made of his hand.. His hand will be holding an original micrometer just like one he used back in the day to fit the tolerances of his cams.



He was nice enough to sign my Cam box for Live Wire.. I knew I kept that for a reason..


Thanks to Ed and Trace for a good day..

 

Damn, that is incredibly cool. Thanks for sharing!!

 

Didn't see the drinking fountain in the waiting room with all the cigar butts and misc STUFF piled on top. How did you miss it???
Also see a picture of a friend of mine, Mikio Yoshiyoka standing at the rear of that FED. I keep forgetting the name of the fella with the "Win with Donovan" shirt on., but that what A.G.E. does for ya......

 

Ed is awesome! I went to check out his place last year and he gave us a tour himself.

I run Isky cams in all my stuff....and I even named my dog after him out of respect.

 

The "Heres some stuff in a room..." picture looks like Isky's office, the desk is about ten layers underneath.

Note i said "Isky" and not "Ed", everybody at the shop calls him Isky ! They do custom cams and regrinds too. They were fairly busy when I was there last October.

 

this is the building in CC that I was talking about...

 

if I could live to that age and enjoy life and have some memorabila left then my life would be complete
thanks for the great report and a nice bunch of pictures

 

thanks for the pic. good old stuff,what is he going to do with it when the old man dies.

 

The coolest of the cool. Thanks Evel.

 

Thanks Piero, you are doing good work!

 

I was told that it was his orignal shop

 

Yes that is the original shop.. he out grew it and bought the place in Gardena where he's been for 40 years..he still owns it and rent it to a friend that takes old kitchens after they remodel them and re sells it.. that what I think he said he did...

 

His office was next to it..that where the intake was hangin out.. And yes even at the restaurant the local called him Isky..

 

you can still see the faded painted sign on the wall!

 

Many, many thanks, Piero ! These are just SUPER PIX ! What a history in that man !! Glad you got to do that up-close-and-personal.

Happy New Year To You My Friend,

Jonnie www.legends.thewwbc.net

 

That was fantastic! I envy you getting to be with a legend one on one,thanks for the great pics! We don't need no stinkin' Comp Cams! Let's keep Isky going strong!

 

I got to meet Isky at the SCTA awards banquet last January. Super cool and knowledgable guy. He asked me what I was running and I said a Weslake sidecar. He replied "Weslake. They're like the old J.A.P.s aren't they?" Outside speedway motorcycle circles Weslakes are almost unknown. I was very impressed. Long may he live!

 

I've never been to his shop. Frankly, I expected it to be tidier considering what has come out of there over the years. Regardless, it's still very cool.

 

That old shop of his should be restored!!

 

I think you mean Gardena, not Glendora (they're on opposite sides of the Los Angeles area). Isky's business phone listing is for 16020 S. Broadway, Gardena, CA.

He's still active in car events ... I've seen him at the GNRS, the Winternationals and John Force's Christmas car show in recent years. He always looks like he's having a great time and enjoying talking to car people.

 

Oops that's what I ment

 

Dude is a legend, I'd love to visit that place someday.

 

awesome, thanks for posting!