While most car manufacturers are fighting for every hundredth to break speed records and brag about their lap times on the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife, one race has decided to go in the complete opposite direction. The Ligier brand sent its diesel microcar (in Europe registered as a four-wheeler) Ligier JS50 Revo D+ to the iconic track to break the record for the slowest time.
Dispute or effective
The task of doing so fell to the French automotive journalists Nicolas Meuniero i Martin Coulomband with the vehicle, whose engine develops a powerful eight horsepower, they managed to drive around the “Ring” in a little less than half an hour (the exact time is 28:25.814). With that result, they officially set the record for the slowest lap ever recorded, breaking the previous “record” held by the East German Trabant P50 from 1960, which covered the same section in 16 minutes and one second.
The goal of this venture was not only to test patience on a 20.8-kilometer track, but also to demonstrate the efficiency of modern microcars. Meunier and Coulomb went from Paris to the Nürburgring itself in a Ligier JS50, covering a distance of approximately 500 kilometers with only one tank of diesel fuel. During the drive on the track itself, the car recorded a consumption of only 0.89 liters per 100 kilometers, which further emphasizes the ecological and economic side of these vehicles intended for city driving without a driver’s license – and drawing attention to this was the main goal of the “record” drive.
Different versions of the model
During official testing on the track, in addition to the diesel version with a maximum speed of 45 km/h, electric variants of the JS50 model appeared in order to compare the performance in extreme conditions. The base Ligier JS50 L6e Electric was slightly faster than the diesel, with a time of 27 minutes and 55 seconds, while the more powerful version capable of speeds of up to 75 km/h, the Ligier JS50 L7e Electric, managed to complete a lap just under the 20 minute mark. For those interested, the diesel version of the four-wheeler costs about 15, and the electric version can be purchased for a little over 16,000 euros.
If the name of this brand sounds familiar to you – you are right. The Ligier company was founded by a French racing driver in the 1960s, Guy Ligierwho entered Formula 1 with her team in 1976 and competed in that competition until 1996, but not with much success. They produced their first microcar in 1980, and in 2008, the company today was created by the merger of Ligier Automobiles and Microcar.
