Ligier JS4

1980

The Ligier JS4 is a four-wheeled, two-seater microcar manufactured from 1980 to 1983 by Ligier, the street vehicle branch of French Formula One manufacturer Équipe Ligier. It marked a change in Ligier's priorities as they had recently ended manufacture of the Ligier JS2 sports car. It is a "Voiture sans permis", a light vehicle which did not require a driver's license and was thus popular with the elderly, the young, or with those who had lost their driving privileges. The JS4 was first presented on 25 July 1980.

Design

After abandoning the field of sports car manufacture Ligier briefly submanufactured tractor cabins for Renault V.I., beginning in 1978. The JS4 was designed using one of these cabins. It was a steel monococque with a short wheelbase and (comparatively) wide track. It is of square rigged appearance, with large, flat glass surfaces and a glazed rear door, and unusually fat tires. It received independent suspension on all four wheels, drum brakes all around, and rack-and-pinion steering. The single-cylinder engine is mounted at the rear, below the luggage compartment, and produces 3.2 hp (2.4 kW) and powers the rear wheels through a continuously variable transmission.

The JS4, with its pleasant appearance and Formula One heritage, proved a strong seller. 6941 were sold in 1981, its first full year of production, a very good number for a voiturette. The Ligier Formula One team used an example painted in the team colors as a pit vehicle; that example currently resides in the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. In late 1981 the lineup had been divided into the JS4 Standard, Luxe, and Grand Luxe, with corresponding equipment and trim. Soon, however, quality issues began to pop up. The steel body, while strong, was heavy and led to drive axles failing, and exposed a weak transmission. The steel body also rusted, something that was not a problem with the mostly plastic-bodied competition.