Ed Iskenderian

Edward "Isky" Iskenderian (July 10, 1921 – February 4, 2026) was an Armenian-American hot rodder and businessman.

Life and career Early life Iskenderian was born on July 10, 1921, in the farming community of Cutler, in the grapevine country of Tulare County, California, to first-generation Armenian immigrants. When frost killed his parents' grape crop, they moved to Los Angeles. He had an early interest in ham radio; soon, he became fascinated with hot rods. He would go racing at Muroc Dry Lake, which was interrupted by the U.S. entry into World War II.

Career Iskenderian attended Polytechnic High School in Los Angeles. He built a customized Model T, adapting the overhead camshaft conversion kit produced by the Chevrolet brothers (the "Fronty" kit) and the "multi-flathead" cylinder head developed by George Riley. After suffering a number of failures and experimenting with Fod Model As and Bs, he turned to the crankshaft of the flathead V8, which had larger bearings; it proved stronger. He fitted Maxi F cylinder heads and a custom-built "slingshot" intake manifold provided by Ed Winfield. Iskenderian filled the combustion chambers with cast iron, then rebuilt them under the guidance of Winfield, producing an astounding for the time 13:1 compression ratio. , Iskenderian fabricated camshafts and other parts in this shop for fellow hot-rodders.

To serve the burgeoning new supercharged fuel dragsters, he developed better lifters, drop-in self-locking roller lifters, and anti-pump-up hydraulic lifters that were suitable for high-RPM use. The high valve lifts and long durations demanded better valve springs, so Isky produced the Vasco Jet 1000 springs. He worked with Don Garlits, creating the first corporate sponsorship deal in drag racing, the Don's Speed Shop/Ed Iskenderian dragster, which turned in a record 8.36 second/ pass with Garlits at the wheel. In the 1950s, Iskenderian was the first to offer contingency awards to racers. and died in Torrance, California, on February 4, 2026, at the age of 104.

Honors In 1985, Iskenderian was named one of Chevrolet's "Legends of Performance".