French Microcar Breaks Nüburgring Lap Record That Stood for 6 Decades

(Slowest) King of the ‘Ring

The Nürburgring, as a race track, has transformed its reputation from being known simply as the Green Hell to being even more relevant in the modern context. Well, that’s all thanks to hypercars and supercars – and lately, even Ford and Chevy have joined the fray.

This 12.9 Mile race track has become the barometer by which all performance models are judged. Most brands like Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Lamborghini, and the like have obsessed over claiming the crown for the fastest lap ever, but what about the other end of the spectrum?

A New Not-So-Glamorous Lap Record

Enter Ligier, a brand name familiar to those of age and to those who love F1. It’s a French brand that makes a very interesting car. The JS50 is what is called in its homeland a voiture sans permis, which means a car without a license. This micro-sized car is limited to very slow speeds, allowing drivers as young as 14 to drive on public roads.

While the JS50 makes sense on urban roads, it definitely is out of place around the most dangerous track in the world. And yet, Ligier, along with two French journalists, Nicolas Meunier and Martin Coulomb, went to the famed track to lap a couple of JS50s. The EVs weren’t actually driven to Germany due to its limited 119-mile range, but on track were the various variants of the JS50, a couple of EVs, and a diesel-powered one.

Ligier actually kitted out the JS50s with racing-type decals. Other than that, the cars remained stock, and with a top speed of only 28 mph, the diesel-powered JS50 clocked in at 28 minutes and 25.8 seconds, which is now officially the slowest ever recorded lap around the track. It beat out the previous record holder, a Trabant P50 that crossed the line back in 1960 with a time of 16 minutes and 1 second.

All in Good Fun

Obviously, Ligier’s recent efforts in Germany were done all in good fun. The EV variants of the J50 were also lapped, and the slower EV was a mere half a minute ahead of the diesel, at 27 minutes and 55.6 seconds, while the fastest of the three went around in 19 minutes and 53.4 seconds.

On a completely unrelated note, the current fastest lap was set by the Mercedes-Benz AMG ONE, at 6 minutes and 29.1 seconds.