Racer Hurdles Crowd and Lives.” This was the Sunday, August 31, 1952 headline story in the Buffalo Courier Express. The racer was 29-year-old Richard Thierry, the car was a Porsche 356, and the word “hurdles” hardly began to describe what really happened.
Grand Island is nested away in the northwest corner of New York State between Buffalo and Niagara Falls. This picturesque locale provided an idyllic setting for the 1952 road race jointly hosted by the Grand Island Centennial Committee and the Sports Car Club of America’s Red Jacket Chapter of Buffalo. The ’52 Grand Island Grand Prix attracted more than 70 domestic and foreign sports cars, which raced over a 3.7-mile open road course.
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