Built Through Trial, Error and Racing: Meet Ian Sirrs
Some builders learn their craft in a classroom. Ian Sirrs learned his by working on sand rails, dirt bikes, jet skis and racing boats.
Today, Ian is a project manager, builder and assembler at Cambra Speed Shop. His role blends hands-on work with keeping complicated projects moving forward, all while maintaining the attention to detail required in a custom build.
Learning by Doing
Ian’s mechanical education started at home. His family spent plenty of time boating and heading to Glamis with their sand rail, and working on their own equipment was simply part of the experience.
As he got older, racing became a bigger part of his life. Dirt bikes led to jet skis, then boats and eventually competitive water skiing. Each new machine brought another problem to solve and another skill to learn.
There was no formal automotive school. Ian describes the process more simply: trial and error.
Interestingly, he did not grow up immersed in the traditional custom-car world. Before joining Cambra Speed Shop, he had never even heard of the Grand National Roadster Show. His background came from making things work, survive and perform.
Finding His Place at Cambra
Before joining Cambra Speed Shop, Ian serviced fire sprinkler systems and fire pumps. He later moved into working on new boats, but dealership warranty and maintenance work quickly proved to be different from the kind of hands-on problem solving he enjoyed.
Ian had already been around Ron Cambra through his relationship with Ron’s daughter, Sophie. When the boat job was not working out, Ian approached Ron about coming to work at the shop.
Ron gave him the opportunity, and Ian began learning an entirely different side of fabrication and custom-car building.
He brought mechanical experience, a strong work ethic and a willingness to learn. Cambra Speed Shop gave him new challenges and a place to sharpen those skills.
Lessons From Racing
One of Ian’s favorite racing memories is not a victory. It is a cold, rainy weekend in Bakersfield when almost everything went wrong.
The team had brought out their DeMarco river boat for its first real attempt at racing. At the time, it was powered by a naturally aspirated 427 and was essentially a 90-mph river boat stepping into organized competition.
The weather turned miserable. The boat was not tuned for the conditions and struggled to leave the starting line. Ian remembers making only one successful trip down the track after numerous attempts.
By most standards, it was a bad weekend.
Ian remembers it differently because it showed just how far they had to go.
At the time, he knew little about carburetor float levels, tuning or what was happening under the valve covers. Looking back now, that difficult first weekend marks the beginning of a huge learning curve.
“We didn’t know nothing,” Ian recalled. “From then to now is kind of wild.”
That willingness to learn from a bad weekend says a lot about how Ian approaches both racing and building.
Racing Hustle, Shop Precision
Competition has followed Ian through dirt bikes, jet skis, drag boats and water ski racing.
What he enjoys most about water ski racing is how directly the result reflects the effort of the skier. Balance, endurance, concentration and reading the water all matter. “The more work you put into it, the more you tend to get back.” Ian shares.
Drag boat racing is different. It takes the entire team.
Between rounds, there may be little time to adjust valve lash, pull a blower, replace damaged parts or make whatever repairs are needed to return to the water.
Ian calls it a hobby, but he is quick to add that it is also work.
That racing mentality carries into Cambra Speed Shop, but in a different way.
At the track, the clock controls everything. At the shop, there is more opportunity to study a problem, think through the solution and determine the cleanest way to execute it.
The hustle remains. The difference is the level of refinement.
For Ian, custom-car building comes down to attention to detail.
Projects That Teach You Something
Ian points to Gary’s Mustang as one of the Cambra Speed Shop projects he is especially excited about. He also remembers Jesse Lawler’s patina truck as a favorite build because of the unusual challenges it presented.
That is where much of the fun comes from.
Ian likes working on something he has not done before. He likes figuring out how a system works, solving the problem and seeing the idea become part of the finished vehicle.
His favorite tool says something about that approach. Ian reaches for his calipers. They replace assumptions with measurements. They turn “that looks about right” into something precise.
For someone whose mechanical education started with trial and error, it is a fitting choice.
Ian Sirrs may not have taken the traditional road into custom-car building, but his path fits Cambra Speed Shop well. He brings racing experience, mechanical curiosity and a willingness to keep learning.
From the dunes of Glamis to a rain-soaked starting line in Bakersfield and now the projects inside Cambra Speed Shop, Ian has learned one lesson repeatedly:
Figure it out, make it better and keep moving forward.