Ligier recently hit the news by recording the slowest ever lap of the Nürburgring, amusingly claiming this “hinted at its glorious history”. But what exactly is that history?
Well, the name Ligier first appeared in Autocar in March 1964, on the entry list for the forthcoming Le Mans 24 Hours. Driving for the French importer of Porsches, Guy Ligier would finish seventh in a 904.
It had taken the 33-year-old seven years to reach this point since entering his first car race – a rise that was inspiringly self-propelled.
Ligier had lost his father, a Vichy farmer, aged seven and left school at 14 with no qualifications, finding work as a butcher’s assistant. He showed an early aptitude for sport, becoming an excellent rower, playing international rugby while doing his national service (giving him, Autocar would later describe, “a taste for competition, stubbornness and a resistance to hard blows, as well as team spirit”) and latterly racing motorcycles.
Determined to make something of himself, in 1960 Ligier bought a used bulldozer and pulled 18-hour days shifting earth. Before long, his business had 1000 staff and was worth millions, being a key contractor in France’s construction of autoroutes. His secret? “Accept the most difficult job and do it quicker than your competitors.”
Two years after his Le Mans debut, in 1966, Ligier entered Formula 1, buying a Cooper and making his debut at Monaco. He was lucky to escape a crash later that year at the Nürburgring and had to buy a new car for 1967. But nor was this Brabham competitive, and so a ‘disgusted’ Ligier walked away after 13 grands prix, in which his finest finish was a point-scoring eighth.
Ligier next set about building cars of his own – the first of them a GT. For the chassis, he hired an engineer from French sports car racing specialist CD; for the body, he contracted Italian coachbuilder Frua; and for the powertrain, he sourced a Ford Cosworth V6 engine and a Hewland manual gearbox.
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The car was named the JS1, after Jo Schlesser – Ligier’s close friend, another self-made man, with whom he had owned a Shelby dealership in Paris, recently killed in an F1 crash.
The car was a near-immediate success on track, and work soon started on an upgraded model, the JS2, with a punchier version of the Maserati V6 that powered the Citroën SM (production of which moved to Vichy as part of the deal).
We drove a road-going version of the plastic-bodied coupé in 1975 and relayed: “The car is like its builder. It rests solidly on its four wide tyres and gives the impression of being squat, virile, even aggressive.
“Its performances matches that impression. A standing kilometre is covered in little more than 27sec; the V6 pulls strongly once it is ‘on the cam’ above 3500rpm.
“Although the suspension is harsh at low speeds it smooths out beautifully when cruising more quickly, and indeed its overall comfort is possibly class-leading.
“Around town, the JS2 is a misery to drive, for several reasons. But it changes the moment it is shown an open road. Its steering is in all respects very nearly perfect. It corners very well, with excellent feel. It all adds up to a car of astonishing potential, and one which is a real pleasure to drive.”
The car’s high point came at Le Mans that summer, when it finished second by a single lap, albeit powered by a Cosworth V8. Ligier came to yet greater attention in 1976, as he returned to grands prix with his own car, the Matra V12-engined JS5. Driver Jacques Laffite achieved three podiums that year, then added Ligier’s first win in the 1977 JS7. Adding a second car for 1979, Ligier had the makings of a title contender, winning regularly.
After all this, it was baffling to us when at the 1980 Paris motor show, Ligier unveiled a 49cc two-stroke microcar with all the shapeliness of a tractor cabin… because that was what it was. Ever entrepreneurial, Guy manufactured these for Renault Trucks and had seen an easy way to capitalise on the blooming market for ‘voitures sans permis’ – drivable in France by people as young as 14.
While the JS4 proved the first in a string of successful microcars, Équipe Ligier never hit the same heights again after 1981 – although it did get a poetic ending in its final season, 1996, as Olivier Panis won a race of severe attrition in Monaco.
Guy died in 2015, aged 85, with his business passed to his son Phillipe. It’s now the biggest microcar maker and races in a variety of disciplines, Le Mans included. All that’s really missing is a road-going sports car…