This Microcar Set The Slowest Nürburgring Lap Time Ever

Automakers love to brag about how fast their cars can lap the dreaded Nürburgring. But what about how slow they can go around the famed circuit? That’s exactly what French automaker Ligier wanted to find out.

French automotive journalists Nicolas Meunier and Martin Coulomb took a diesel-powered Ligier JS50 quadricycle for an official lap of the Nürburgring. Technically in the same class as something like the Citroën Ami, the JS50 produces a mighty 8 horsepower in its most powerful trim and has a blistering top speed of 28 miles per hour.

Despite—or because of—those limitations, the adorable JS50 completed an official Nürburgring lap time of 28 minutes and 25.8 seconds. That’s officially the slowest Nürburgring lap on record, beating (losing to?) the previous record holder: the Trabant P50, which logged a 16-minute, 1-second lap back in 1960. By comparison, the Mercedes-AMG One still has the fastest Nürburgring lap time, at 6 minutes and 29.1 seconds.

Ligier jokingly said the lap time “hinted at [its] glorious history in Formula 1,” according to Autocar. The real challenge, though, was completing a lap of the full 12.9-mile course on a single tank of fuel—which Meunier and Coulomb successfully achieved, averaging an impressive 94.1 miles per gallon.

The car was fitted with what Ligier calls its “ultimate racing experience” package, which has horsepower-boosting decals and a go-fast body kit. Believe it or not, the company is actually considering bringing this kit to market after the successful run. Here’s hoping.

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Source: Ligier Automotive

Motor1’s Take: Nürburgring lap times are overrated anyway. Ligier and these two journalists did something way more entertaining with the JS50: they proved you can still have a ton of fun in something that makes just 8 horsepower. As they say, it’s better to drive a slow car fast.