After 66 Years, the Trabant Finally Lost Its Nürburgring Title — and the Unlikeliest Car Claimed It
Some records are built on raw speed. Others reward endurance, restraint, and a healthy sense of irony. This one firmly belongs to the latter category. The title for the slowest lap ever completed around the Nürburgring Nordschleife now has a new holder, and it comes from an unlikely source: French microcar maker Ligier.
Once a name associated with Formula 1, Ligier today focuses on compact quadricycles designed for maximum accessibility. In France, these four-wheelers are so modest in performance that they can be driven without a license from the age of 14. Hardly the sort of machinery you’d expect to see tackling one of the world’s most demanding circuits.
That didn’t stop two French journalists from attempting the improbable. They drove a diesel-powered Ligier JS50 all the way from Paris to the Nürburgring, then set out to establish a new kind of lap record.
The JS50 is a short, two-door microcar producing just 8 horsepower and electronically limited to 45 km/h (28 mph). Lapping the Nordschleife at that pace took 28 minutes and 25.81 seconds. It’s a time that would make any GT3 car weep, but it officially secures the JS50 a place in Nürburgring history.
To put that into perspective, the previous slowest documented lap was a 16:01 run set by a Trabant P50 in 1960. At the opposite extreme, the outright production-car record belongs to the Mercedes-AMG One, which stopped the clock at 6:29.1.
The team didn’t stop there. Two electric JS50 variants were also entered. The L6e version, capped at the same 45 km/h, completed a lap in 27 minutes and 55.58 seconds. The more potent L7e electric model, capable of 75 km/h (47 mph), improved matters with a time of 19 minutes and 53.36 seconds.
Despite the novelty, Ligier hasn’t released onboard footage of these marathon laps — perhaps wisely. Instead, the company marked the occasion with a Nürburgring-themed special edition dubbed the Ultimate Racing Experience, set to go on sale in Europe throughout 2026.
The commemorative JS50 features a blue, white, and red tri-color livery, black 16-inch wheels wrapped in Nankang RC semi-slick tires, and a series of bespoke details. Inside, there’s French flag-inspired upholstery, blue seat belts, Alcantara trim on the handbrake boot, an aluminum gear knob, and blue accents on the steering wheel. Special badges and celebratory dashboard decals complete the package — proof that even the slowest lap can be worth celebrating.
