- A tiny French brand just broke a record at the Nürburgring circuit.
- This lap was slower than anything recorded in over six decades.
- The vehicle used barely qualifies as a car and has just 8 horsepower.
Some records are about blistering speed. Others, like this one, are more about patience, and perhaps a little self-deprecating humor. If you’ve ever wondered what car holds the title of the slowest vehicle to lap the Nurburgring Nordschleife, you can stop guessing. There’s a new champion of leisurely pace, and it hails from a small French company: Ligier.
The brand, once known for fielding its own Formula 1 team, has since shifted focus to tiny, affordable four-wheelers classified as quadricycles. These vehicles are designed to be so unintimidating that you don’t even need a driver’s license to operate one, and in France, you can legally do so from the age of 14.
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It was a pair of French journalists who took on the unlikely challenge of setting a record lap in a Ligier JS50, driving the diesel-powered microcar all the way from Paris to the legendary German circuit.
A Record for the Patient
The JS50, a stubby two-door with just 8 horsepower, is electronically limited to a top speed of 28 mph (45 km/h). Around the Nurburgring, it completed a lap in a determined 28 minutes and 25.81 seconds. That figure may not impress on paper, but it earns its place in the books.
For context, the previous slowest recorded lap was 16 minutes and 1 second, set by a Trabant P50 way back in 1960, making the Ligier’s time almost comically slow by comparison. At the other end of the spectrum, the fastest production car to lap the Nordschleife is the Mercedes-AMG One, which clocked a blistering 6 minutes and 29.1 seconds.
Not content with a single entry, the team also brought along two electric versions of the JS50. The first, like the diesel, falls under the L6e classification and shares the same 28 mph (45 km/h) limit.
It managed a lap in 27 minutes and 55.58 seconds. The more powerful electric L7e variant, with a top speed of 47 mph (75 km/h), fared a little better with a lap time of 19 minutes and 53.36 seconds.
A Special Edition for a Not-So-Special Lap
Ligier hasn’t released a video of its incredibly slow laps at the Nurburgring, but we’re not disappointed, as it’d probably be more entertaining watching paint dry. What Ligier did do is prepare a special version of the JS50 specifically for its attack on the Nurburgring, known as the Ultimate Racing Experience edition. This model will be sold in Europe throughout 2026.
The special edition wears a tri-color paint job in blue, white, and red, complemented by new black 16-inch wheels wrapped in Nankang RC semi-slick tires. Ligier has added custom touches inside and out. These include a new badge front and rear, unique French flag-themed upholstery, an aluminum gear knob, Alcantara on the handbrake boot, and blue seat belts.
The steering wheel also features matching blue accents, and the dashboard gets a set of celebratory stickers to complete the transformation.
