The Floyd Acton Award by Andy Trux
The Floyd Acton Award by Andy Trux
At the Arthritis Foundation Classic Auto Show & Cruise-In, MORPCA presents the Floyd Acton Award to the club member who best represents the ideals of PCA membership. Most of our current members have no idea who Floyd Acton was, so it’s appropriate to provide some details.
March 1976 DOS wrote about Floyd & Thelma Acton: “These two cute people get A+ for enthusiasm! I’ve never seen Thelma without a smile. She’s cute, bright, bouncy and has a marvelous positive attitude … something we could all use more of.
“Floyd is, on the other hand, the quiet, steady albeit always smiling one of the pair – a great combination as I’ve never seen two people have more fun together.
At the Arthritis Foundation Classic Auto Show & Cruise-In, MORPCA presents the Floyd Acton Award to the club member who best represents the ideals of PCA membership. Most of our current members have no idea who Floyd Acton was, so it’s appropriate to provide some details.
March 1976 DOS wrote about Floyd & Thelma Acton: “These two cute people get A+ for enthusiasm! I’ve never seen Thelma without a smile. She’s cute, bright, bouncy and has a marvelous positive attitude … something we could all use more of.
“Floyd is, on the other hand, the quiet, steady albeit always smiling one of the pair – a great combination as I’ve never seen two people have more fun together.
“The first Porsche Floyd ever drove was a ’52 Super which came complete with a crash gear box. In ’53 he purchased his first Porsche – a coupe with a 1500 engine …. that year there were just 1200 built for the whole wide world.”
“They have been and are members of Buckeye Sports Car Club, SCCA, MG Car Club and 4 different PCA Regions. Floyd’s PCA membership card even sez “Charter Member” on it and not many of us can claim that.”
March 1977 DOS mentioned: “We have a celebrity in our midst! Received a very nice letter from our National Prez, Mick Williams, and it seems that our own Floyd Acton is one of only 14 Charter Members of PCA who are still active. To ‘recognize and honor’ him Mick sent a gold membership card which was presented to Floyd at the Winter Weekend.”
March 1984 DOS reprinted an article from the Columbus Dispatch about Floyd’s electric train setup that includes more than 400 HO-gauge cars, several train stations, towns, parks, and a farm. Thirty-three locomotives, 100 buildings and 100 cars and trucks are in his collection, along with the rail cars. Although some are pre-constructed models, he has made most by hand from metal, wood, plastic, paper, and cardboard.
Floyd passed away in the summer of 1984 and Jim Perrin wrote in the August 1984 DOS:
“Mid-Ohio Region members were saddened to learn of the recent death of Floyd Acton. Floyd was a charter member of PCA, having joined over 25 years ago. He was also a charter member of SCCA.
“I first met Floyd and his wife, Thelma, in 1960, shortly after I had moved to Columbus. At that time, I had just graduated from college and had a 1953 1500 Super coupe. Floyd had the latest model, a 1960 356B coupe, which had just been introduced the previous September. Floyd’s first Porsche was a 1953 1500 which he purchased new from, I believe, Hoffman Motors in New York. He subsequently owned a 1956 1600 Normal coupe, the 356B, and a 1966 912. All of these cars were meticulously maintained by Floyd.
“Floyd enjoyed many aspects of owning Porsches. These included interests in working on his cars, competing in rallyes, occasionally entering concours, touring, and attending sports car and other types of auto races.
“Floyd, Bob Waterbury, John Laird, and I were all involved in forming the original Mid-Ohio Region in 1961.” (ed note: the original region folded and a new Mid-Ohio region was formed on Feb 18, 1966 and chartered in April, 1966).
Harry Mullins donated the Floyd Acton Award to commemorate Floyd’s contributions to PCA and to the Mid-Ohio Region. We thank Harry for this award and that we can continue to honor the memory of a truly special individual.
Being awarded the Floyd Acton Award is a great honor. Plan to attend the Arthritis Foundation Classic Auto Show on July 9, 2006 and see who the honoree will be in 2006.
