The story
History
Ligier’s cars carry the letters JS for Jo Schlesser, Guy Ligier’s friend, who was killed at the French Grand Prix of 1968.source 2source 3 The firm’s licence-free cars began with the Ligier JS4 of 1980, the first from a Formula One constructor.source 2source 3 The JS50 belongs to the same class: in European law a light quadricycle, L6e, limited to 45 km/h (28 mph), which in France may be driven from the age of 14 on the AM licence.source 1source 4
The cars between
The Série 7 of 1987 was longer and more like a real car than the Série 5 it followed, first with a 325 cc Lombardini single-cylinder diesel of 5 PS and soon with a 265 cc Fuji Robin diesel from Japan. It became the Optima in November 1989, with a van called the Optimax, and the Prima in 1993, when a stretched four-seat Optima 4 arrived with a 617 cc Perkins three-cylinder.source 5 In Germany the importer ATW sold a version with a 49 cc Sachs two-stroke, and built an electric one at Bad Rappenau that weighed two and a half times as much; with options it cost DM 40,000 in 1993, the price of a base Audi 100.source 5 Then came the 162, or Ambra, in 1995 by French Wikipedia’s date (English Wikipedia gives 2001), the open Be Up from 2000, the Nova in 2002, and the X-Too in 2004: about 2.5 m long, two seats, a front engine, a half-litre twin diesel and a variator.source 2source 6 The IXO replaced the X-Too in 2010.source 7
In 2008, under Guy’s son Philippe, Ligier bought its rival Microcar, maker of the Microcar RJ49, from the Bénéteau group, with the private-equity fund 21 Centrale Partners taking a majority stake; German Wikipedia dates the purchase to April and English Wikipedia its completion to September. The deal made Europe’s largest maker of licence-exempt vehicles.source 6source 3 In 2009 Ligier sold 5,792 vehicles in Europe and Microcar 6,124.source 8 Guy’s grandson François took over the management in 2012.source 3 When Onroak took over Ligier’s racing business from 2013, licence-free cars became the group’s only trade; the racing cars sold as Ligiers since then come from an unrelated firm.source 2source 3
A small DS3
The JS50 was unveiled in September 2012. Its styling recalls the Citroën DS3, to give it an upmarket air, and it sat above the IXO, in Club and Elegance trims.source 2source 9 Its engines were Lombardini diesel twins of about 500 cc, the Progress and the common-rail DCI, driving the front wheels through a variator.source 6source 9source 10 Pink and Diablo limited editions followed in March 2014, and in October 2014 the Paris show saw the long JS50 L, which replaced the IXO.source 2source 9source 7 A deep restyle in January 2017 gave the JS50 headlamps from the Peugeot 108 and cut its width to 1.50 m; a JS50 Sport followed that May, and the engines were revised for Euro 4 late that year.source 2source 9 In September 2020 the JS50 L gave way to the JS60, SUV-styled at the largest size the category allows.source 2source 9 Ligier’s first electric licence-free car, the Myli, a rival to the Citroën Ami, followed in 2023, at €12,499.source 2
All new, and electric
An all-new JS50 was shown at the Paris show of October 2024, Ligier’s first appearance there in eight years.source 1
Ligier renouvelle son best-seller : la JS50.
It came first as an electric car, part of the story of electric microcars: 5.6 kW (about 8 hp), with a battery of 8.28 kWh for 123 km or 12.42 kWh for 192 km on the WMTC cycle, and 4 h 15 min to 6 h 15 min of charging from a household socket. It was offered as an L6e at 45 km/h, from 14, or as an L7e at 75 km/h, from 16. At 2.97 m it is 8 cm longer than the car it replaced, and it weighs 383 kg; prices ran from €15,699 to €21,899.source 1 Ligier’s new REVO D+ diesel was to reach every model in the spring of 2025.source 1source 11 In January 2025 Ligier announced the closure of its Vendée plant, Microcar’s, cutting 125 of its 145 jobs, to concentrate production at Abrest.source 2 No production or sales figures for the JS50 have been found.
