Guy Ligier himself was a great sportsman. He was rowing-champion of France in 1947 and also a top rugby player. When his rugby career came to an end, he switched to racing motorcycles. In between he started his own road-construction business.
In 1960 he started racing single-seaters in the Formula Junior and in 1964 he was already racing sportscars. He raced for Ford France in a Ford GT40 with his friend Jo Schlesser and he broke into Formula One as a privateer entering his own Cooper T81 in the Monaco GP.
Guy and Jo then decided to build their own cars. But then Schlesser got killed in his first F1 race for Honda in Rouen in 1968. As a tribute to his friend, Guy decided to mark the letters JS before every type of car he would build later.
At the end of 1969 he presented his first JS1 in Paris. This car was designed by Pietro Frua and ex-Renault engineer Michel Tetu. It was a GT coupe racer with a mid-engine 1790cc Ford Cosworth. Three chassis were built. Despite some small successes and a 24h LeMans race(Ligier was teamed with Jean Claude Andruet, #50, DNF in the 8th hour), Guy and the Ligier Automobiles factory presented the JS2 already at the end of 1970. The car had again a Cosworth V6 engine. But when Ford quitted the sportscar scene, the car did not get finished.
Ligier asked Michel Tetu to build a new JS3 for the endurance racing. It was a unique open top monocoque sportscar made from PVC and aluminium. The engine with a 3L Ford Cosworth V8 DFV from the F1 linked to a Hewland gearbox. This iconic car with a yellow and green livery from its BP sponsor made his debut in the 3h Le Mans 1971 and finished second. A week later the car won the Coupes de Printemps at Monthlhery. In the 24 hour race, the car saw the finish line but had not covered enough distance to be classified.
But then there was an engine breakthrough! Citroën( they took over Maserati) had an available engine from the SM, a Maserati 3L V6 linked to a 5-speed gearbox. This was an ideal engine for the JS2. Michel Tetu only had to redesign the rear end of the car.
How many JS2 chassis were build remains a mystery. Some papers indicate 295 cars, but you can also find figures like:77. In was necessary for the FIA- rules to construct multiple chassis in order to get homologations, but there may be more chassis constructed on paper only. What is true that the street-version never got into production due to the oil-crisis at that time.
During the test weekend for Le Mans in April 1972, there was only one JS2 in a yellow livery. For the race in June there were 3 JS cars on the entry list; two official cars (#21and #22) in yellow/green and a client(#56) car for Delande-Laurent-Marché. Guy Liger and team mate Piot drove the #21; J.Lafitte and P.Maublanc the #22. Their engine gave out only in the last hours of the race. Not one car reached the finish line, engine problems.
Big time for the 1973 season. The Ligier team was now present in all races of the world championship. The car had some aerodynamic updates (like a rear wing) and BP stayed as main sponsor. Despite the car being fast in all events, the results remained poor mostly due to engine troubles. Again three cars at the start of the 24h LeMans. The #62 was for Ligier-Lafitte; the #19 for JP Paoli-A.Couderc and the client #18 with the same drivers as the previous year. The #62 got disqualified during the race and the #19 had an oil leak on Sunday morning. Only the private red JS2 finished the race P19 ! The Ligier team did also the Tour Auto. During the rally, it looked like they were going to win it, but the engine decided different. The Giro of Italy was not a success either.
Michel Tetu modified and upgraded the Maserati engine and the bodywork for the 1974 endurance races. The cars were now painted in blue-metallic. And now everything worked better and there were good results. The JS2 with Guy Chasseuil won the 4h Le Mans race in April. After the 1000 km Imola, there were two car entered for Le Mans. Despite some troubles at the beginning of the race, Serpaggi and Lafitte finished eighth overall in Le Mans.In the other races of the season, there were no good results. But then two cars entered in the Tour Auto Rally a ono-two finish!
With Matra out of the endurance racing, Guy set his sight on winning Le Mans. He installed a 3L Cosworth engine instead of the Maserati. The first race of the 1975 season in Dijon, the Ligier cars played no role, but there was a P6 for Migault & Jarier. Monza and Spa, again a DNF. There were again 3 JS at the start. Two cars have a 3l Cosworth engine; # 5 for Lafosse-Chasseuil and the #6 for Pescarolo-Migault. The #97( Beltoise-Jarier) had the Maserati engine. They were out before the 3hour mark being hit by a Ferrari Daytona. Sunday morning, the only surviving car of Lafosse and Chasseuil started to get closer and closer to the leading Gulf Mirage of Jacky Ickx. From a 8 laps deficit, they finish after 24 hours with only one lap short.
After the race, Guy Ligier got the support of tobacco giant SEITA. He now got enough money to construct his own F1 cars and he began a new adventure.
