This 8HP Microcar Just Set a Nürburgring Record Unlikely To Be Broken

A Mercedes-AMG could complete four laps and change in the time the Ligier JS50 completed one.

We love a slightly silly record here at AutoGuide. French automaker and motorsports regular Ligier apparently shares that passion, as the brand has broken a 65-year old record for the slowest lap at the Nürburgring.

Ligier brought not one but three variations of its JS50 microcar to the vaunted German racetrack. The record-setter was the JS50 D+, which laid down a blistering 28:25.8 lap time thanks to its 0.5-liter diesel engine. The JS50 is a voiture sans permis, a class of two-seat quadricycle that allows French folks as young as 14 to drive on public roads without a license. Vehicles in this class are capped at 45 km/h (28 mph), which goes some way to explaining the tardy lap time.

The other two JS50 models were fully electric, one built to the same limitations as the diesel model and the other to L7e specifications, a heavier quadricycle category that includes the likes of the Renault Twizy and allows for a higher 75 km/h (47 mph) top speed. Respectively, these two electron-munching JS50s posted times of 27:55.6 and 19:53.4.

None of the Ligiers were entirely production-spec: they rolled on semi-slick Nankang RC tires. All three were substantially slower than the previous record, set all the way back in 1960 with a Trabant P50. But the Trabant didn't get its own sizzle reel filled with suitably over-the-top music, did it?

French journalists Martin Coulomb and Nicolas Meunier drove the JS50 D+ from Paris to the Nordschleife, a distance of roughly 310 miles (499 kilometers). It was done on a single tank of fuel, making for a 94.16 mpg (Imperial) average. The two electric models were shipped over.

Ligier has decades of motorsport experience and indeed draped the JS50s in suitably French liveries to celebrate that history. In addition to running an F1 team for 20 years, the brand has worked with other manufacturers over the years and still fields chassis in the LMP2 class.

The new record raises a question: just how dedicated can one be at setting the slowest lap time? The current quickest 'Ring time is the 6:29 of the Mercedes-AMG One, but technically even it is qualified to beat this newest record. Finally, a record we can all aim for.

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