AHRF Members of the Month

Everyone here at The American Hot Rod Foundation is simply heartbroken to have lost our friend, Pat Ganahl, on Saturday, August 20, in a vintage drag racing accident at Riverdale Raceway in Washington state. Pat was a man after our own hearts, as he has…

Congratulations​ ​to​ ​our​ ​AHRF​ ​Member​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Month​ ​and​ ​real-deal​ ​lifelong​ ​car​ ​guy,​ ​Steve​ ​Beck!​ ​Born​ ​and​ ​raised​ ​in​ ​Santa​ ​Monica,​ ​California,​ ​Steve​ ​was​ ​a​ ​car-crazy​ ​kid​ ​from​ ​the​ ​drop​ ​of​ ​the​ ​flag.​

This​ ​month​ ​our​ ​choice​ ​for​ ​the​ ​spotlight​ ​was​ ​a​ ​no-brainer.​ ​After​ ​all,​ ​how​ ​often​ ​do​ ​you​ ​get​ ​to​ ​raise​ ​a​ ​toast​ ​and​ ​wish​ ​a​ ​Happy​ ​101​ ​to​ ​a​ ​fellow​ ​hot​ ​rodder?​ ​Yes,​ ​it​ ​is​ ​true.​ ​Our​ ​hero,​ ​friend​, and​ ​platinum-level​ ​hot​ ​rod​ ​pioneer,​ ​Ed​ ​“Isky”​ ​Iskenderian​ ​(​sometimes​ ​known​ ​as​ ​the​ ​“Camfather”​​),​ ​turned​ 101​ ​on​ ​the​​ 10th​ ​of​ ​July.​ 

When​ ​you’re​ ​involved​ ​in​ ​something​ ​as​ ​specific​ ​as​ ​the​ ​preservation​ ​of​ ​automotive​ ​history,​ ​you​ ​quickly​ ​find​​that​ ​you’re​ ​part​ ​of​ ​a​ ​relatively​ ​small​ ​community.​ ​A​ ​community​ ​of​ ​characters​ ​who​ ​share​ ​this​ ​same​ ​passion​ ​and​ ​have​ ​invested​ ​a​ ​large​ ​part​ ​of​ ​their​ ​time​ ​and​ ​attention​ ​to​ ​see​ ​that​ ​a​ ​colorful​ ​past​ ​is​ ​not​ ​forgotten.​Because​ ​of​ ​the​ ​work​ ​involved​ ​and​ ​the​ ​focus​ ​that​ ​is​ ​demanded​ ​by​ ​the​ ​task,​ ​you​ ​begin​ ​to​ ​recognize​ ​and​ ​be​​inspired​ ​by​ ​the​ ​even​ ​smaller​ ​group​ ​within​ ​this​ ​community​ ​who​ ​work​ ​at​ ​a​ ​particularly​ ​high​ ​level.​ ​The​ ​ones​ ​who​ ​set​ ​the​ ​bar​ ​for​ ​the​ ​rest​ ​of​ ​us​ ​and​ ​whose​ ​contributions​ ​will​ ​be​ ​valued​ ​and​ ​relied​ ​upon​ ​for​ ​generations​ ​to​ ​come.​ ​When​ ​thinking​ ​of​ ​this​ ​group,​ ​a​ ​few​ ​names​ ​come​ ​to​ ​mind:​ ​Miles​ ​Collier,​ ​Leslie​ ​Kendall,​ ​Beverly​ ​Rae​ ​Kimes,​ ​Donald​ ​Osborne,​ ​Ken​ ​Gross,​ ​Doug​ ​Nye​ ​, and​ ​Dean​ ​Batchelor…​ ​​ ​to​ ​name​ ​a​ ​few.​ ​But​ ​when​ ​thinking​ ​of​ ​the​ ​contributors​ ​who​ ​have​ ​taken​ ​the​ ​concept​ ​of​ ​preservation​ ​to​ ​the​ ​very​ ​automobiles​ ​that​ ​set​ ​the​ ​records​ ​and​ ​standards​ ​that​ ​are​ ​so​ ​often​ ​written​ ​about,​ ​the​ ​group​ ​becomes​ ​even​ ​smaller.​ ​People​ ​like​ ​the​ ​late​ ​Briggs​ ​Cunningham,​ ​George​ ​Waterman,​ ​Bill​ ​Harrah,​ ​Jay​ ​Leno,​ ​the​ ​great​ ​hot​ ​rod​ ​preservationists​ ​Bruce​ ​Meyer​ ​and​ ​Ross​ ​Myers,​ ​the​ ​late​ ​Lindley​ ​Bothwell​ ​, and​ ​the​ ​recently​ ​departed,​ ​Dr.​ ​Fred​ ​Simeone.​ ​

We are pleased to announce that this month’s AHRF Member of the Month is none other than Santa Barbara-area hot rod pioneer Lee Hammock. Born in 1930 and raised in Montecito, California, Hammock was a natural-born car guy. Lee’s father was not only a full-time…

Although​ ​it​ ​is​ ​true​ ​that​ ​we​ ​have​ ​already​ ​featured​ ​this​ ​supporting​ ​member​ ​of​ ​the​ ​AHRF​ ​as​ ​our​ ​Member​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Month​ ​once​ ​before,​ ​it​ ​would​ ​be​ ​impossible​ ​for​ ​us​ ​not​ ​to​ ​acknowledge​ ​our​ ​friend​ ​and​ ​hot​ ​rod​ ​pioneer,​ ​Alex​ ​Xydias,​ ​on​ ​his​ ​100th​ ​Birthday​ ​…​ ​​ ​and,​ ​after​ ​all,​ ​if​ ​we’re​ ​going​ ​to​ ​nominate​ ​someone​ ​twice​ ​for​ ​this,​ ​why​ ​not​ ​have​ ​Alex​ ​be the​ ​person​ ​to​ ​break​ ​that​ ​barrier!​ ​

Congratulations to Claude and Sara Kern of Bedford, Indiana, on being chosen as our AHRF Member(s) of the Month.

We are pleased and excited to be nominating AHRF supporting Member John Sticha as our Member of the Month for February, 2022!

We want to congratulate not one but TWO AHRF supporting members on being this month’s Member(s) of the Month: Bob & Sharon Muravez!

This month The American Hot Rod Foundation would like to dedicate our AHRF Member of the Month series to the recently departed John Wolf, who passed on September 15th of 2021.

Congratulations to Richmond, Virginia’s Joel Driskill on being our October Member of the Month. At age 42, Joel is not only a serious and very hands-on car guy, he is also one of our favorite younger historians who has been locating and preserving early American…

In more ways than one, we want to congratulate AHRF supporting member Jim Jard on being our Member of the Month.

We want to congratulate a very special AHRF Member this month with our Member of the Month award … Mr. Alex Xydias.

As our monthly Member of the Month picks go, this was an easy choice. Coming up at the end of this week ( July 10th ) Ed Iskenderian will turn 100 years old. Feel free to let that sink in for a bit. One hundred…

As our monthly Member of the Month picks go, this was an easy choice. Coming up at the end of this week ( July 10th ) Ed Iskenderian will turn 100 years old. Feel free to let that sink in for a bit. One hundred…

We are pleased to congratulate American Hot Rod Foundation Member Jon Fisher on being our AHRF “Member of the Month!” Although many in our community can lay claim to having had an eye for the more traditional style of hot rod or custom car for…

This month, we are featuring a “Person of the Month” for May 2021, as our late friend David Fetherston never got to sign up as a member of the AHRF but he certainly supported us in ways that we could never thank him enough for.

Kay Kimes, fiddling with the engine Congratulations to Kay Kimes on being our AHRF Member of the Month!  Born in Clearwater, Nebraska on November 20th, 1928, Kay Kimes is yet another WWII-era hot rodder who got an early start and has an important story… a story,…

We are pleased to announce that this month’s AHRF Member of the Month is Jennifer “Jenny” Sparks Crow. If some of you keen hot rod historians are thinking that her maiden name rings a bell, you would be correct…  Jenny is the daughter of hot…

We want to congratulate our AHRF Member, Zach Suhr, on being chosen as our Member of the Month. Zach’s story is one that should give each and every one of us great hope in the future of this tradition that we love so much. Zach…

Congratulations to Ray Evernham on being our AHRF Member of the Month!  We are pleased to have Ray Evernham on board as a supporting member of the American Hot Rod Foundation. As anyone familiar with Ray knows, he is as serious a car guy as…

Congratulations to Eli English on being our AHRF Member of the Month for December 2020!  Here’s his story, in his own words… Back in 2013,  after working at several autobody and restoration shops, I decided to take my career in a different direction and into…

Congratulations to John Carlson of Belcarra, British Columbia on being our American Hot Rod Foundation “Member of the Month” for November 2020. Although it might seem like an overstatement, it is reasonable to say that John’s involvement in the old car world is nearly second…

We want to congratulate Coco Shinomiya on being this month’s AHRF Member of the Month! As an independent art director and graphic designer, Coco’s artistic gifts spread across many disciplines that include everything from record album cover art (she is a two time Grammy nominee),…

Congratulations to Jon Ruvio of Port Washington, New York for being chosen as our American Hot Rod Foundation Member of the Month! Although each and every AHRF supporting Member is special to us, we think everyone and anyone reading this will appreciate just how extra-special…

We want to congratulate Carsten Bech on being this month’s AHRF Member of the Month!  Carsten may hail from Virum, Denmark, but don’t let that fool you into thinking he isn’t as serious a traditional hot rodder as you will find. He is! Not only…

Congratulations to Richard French on being our AHRF Member of the Month for June of ’20. Some of you keen hot rod historians will know Richard as “The Kid” who joined up with the original So-Cal Speed Shop Team and stowed away on their first trip to Bonneville…

Starting this month, the American Hot Rod Foundation will be presenting a featured “Member of the Month” as a way for folks to get to know some of their fellow supporting AHRF Members (or for those of you who are not yet members, to learn more about…