One of the first iconic hot rodders, Ed “Isky” Iskenderian fueled America’s emerging 1940s car culture with his creative engineering and fierce fixation on Fast. His small California shop, conveniently connected to Mercury Tool & Die, supplied early dragsters with ingeniously novel improvements like a hard facing on camshafts and drop-in, self-locking roller lifters. Isky lived the belief that innovation spurred acceleration.
And his visionary quality didn’t stop there. He was a shameless promoter of himself and the sport he loved. His first idea to find hot rodders in need of a this-is-just-crazy-enough-to-work helper under the hood was to take out an ad in Honk! magazine. He never needed to go looking for customers again. Isky even created the first corporate sponsorship deal in drag racing with Don Garlits: the Don’s Speed Shop/Ed Iskenderian dragster (which clocked a record 8.36 second/180 mph run).
We visited Isky’s California shop and had many conversations with the legend. After all, he’s also said to be the first ever to use the T-shirt for brand promotion. Hearing about how his hard work and resourceful thinking still drives us at Wicked Quick, he agreed to let us license his old designs, untouched since the 1950’s. We're proud to offer them.
They’re the real McCoy. Just like Isky.
Shop our collection of Isky Racing Cams t-shirts and support a driving legend!
