 In my never ending quest for all things `Trident Modelli', my eye was recently drawn by a sight of the Province Moularge's gorgeous looking model of the Ligier JS2 from the 1973 Le Mans race. It made me realise that practically nothing has been written about the Maserati connection with this short-lived French marque which played a not insignificant part in the continuance of Maserati in motor sport up to the mid-1970s.
My concise version of this Franco/Italian partnership has to start with; who was Guy Ligier anyway? (Ignorance is not
always bliss).
I am lead to believe that his rise to fame came about through a career in International rugby during which time he played for France. He also headed a very successful construction company which provided him with the necessary coffers to launch a career in motor sport. Here he drove long distance sports car races, rallies and eventually as a privateer in Formula One, initially with Cooper and then with Repco-Brabham. His association with Jo Schlesser brought success in the Reims 12 hour
race in 1967 and the creation of a team of Formula Two Mclarens in 1968. This however, was tragically cut short when his friend Schlesser was killed driving a Honda during a very wet Grand Prix at Rouen. Ligier, determined to keep the memory of his friend alive, decided to prefix all the type numbers of his future cars, hence the origin of 'JS'.
As his own driving career wound down, Ligier fulfilled his ambition to build his own cars. This came to fruition with the
presentation of the JS1 at the Paris Salon in October 1969. A pretty little coupe designed by Michel Tetu of Renault Formula One fame and styled by Frua. Power was provided by a mid-mounted 1.8 litre Ford Cosworth FVC engine. This car was soon to be seen on all of the major circuits in France, and appeared at the April test day for Le Mans in 1970, Andruet putting up competitive times in a red-painted car, number 55. Ligier had some success himself with a win at Albi that year and a third place at Magny-Cours. For the Tour de France, two cars were presented but by now with 2.6 litre Ford Capri engines from Ford Cologne. Both cars retired, but plans to pursue this line of development fell through when Ford decided not to supply any further V6 engines.
Where to find an engine? Citroen had long nurtured the ambition to create a true French GT car, not only for the prestige of the company but also to fill the gap left by the demise of the true `Grand Routier' marques, such as Delage, Delahaye and Talbot. This is how the Citroen SM came into being - a child of the collaboration between the French company the then ailing Maserati concern. Citroen had played around with such ambitions since the days of the Traction Avant in 1934, but the coupling of a V8 to front wheel drive at that time presented more problems than Citroens engineers, already coping
with a radical new design, could find time to address. Only twenty of these versions are alleged to have been
produced but according to some Citroen historians, there were in fact none.
It was therefore to Maserati that Citroen turned for a suitable power unit, having acquired a controlling interest in the
Trident in 1968. Maserati had never manufactured a V6 engine before but Chief Engineer Alfieri soon came up with the solution by `chopping off' two cylinders from the Indy V8 engine. A prototype was offered to the Paris factory in three weeks, rather than the six months anticipated by Citroen. This engine had a capacity of 3.1 litres which proved too large for French taxation laws and was therefore immediately reduced to 2,670 cc. By the end of 1971, Citroen had also agreed to supply Ligier with the Maserati type C114 engine identical to those used in the SM. Thus began our interest!
In the meantime, Ligier had not been idle. He had produced the JS3, a Ford Cosworth DFV engined open sports racer, which ran at Le Mans in 1971 with himself with Depailler at the wheel. They finished but had covered too little distance to be classified.
Meanwhile, the JS2 emerged on the French market. The French had finally got a supercar which with to rival the dominance of the Italians. The cars were manufactured at Ligiers base in Abrest - the heartland of rural France and in the shadow of Vichy - now famous for its spa water.
For the 1972 Le Mans, three JS2s were entered. Two works cars, resplendent in BP colours of bright yellow and green for Ligier and Piot in No. 21, Laffite and Maublanc in No 22. The third red car (No 56) was a private entry by Claud Laurent for himself, Marche and DeLandre. By this time, the engines had all been bored out to 2,991 cc and sported fuel injection. To no avail as all three cars retired with valve problems.
The next year, Laurent opted to replace the fuel injection with carburettors and brought the car (No 18) home in 19th place, the only finish as the two works entries failed once more. Ligier and Laffite in No 62 were disqualified for premature oil replenishment. Paoli and Coderc (No 19) retired after suffering a broken engine as a direct result of oil loss. The works entries had both been fitted with more streamlined noses.
For the 1974 race a change of livery to predominantly blue together with a much more developed profile brought some change in fortune. The first encouragement was provided by Guy Chasseuil's win in the 4 Heures du Mans twin-heat race which had been held in April - incidentally providing Maserati with a unique victory for one of their engines at the Sarthe circuit. In June, two cars were entered, yielding an 8th overall for Laffite and Serpaggi in car No. 15, but yet more valve trouble for the No 14 car of Chasseuil and Leclerc.
The final Ligier effort was made in 1975 when three cars same to the line. Two cars were equipped with the Ford Cosworth V8, the third (for Beltoise and Jarier) with the Maserati engine as those drivers felt it would prove more reliable over 24 hours. Good for you! - Maserati have always encouraged individualism - Though not for long. Beltoise was pushed off by Harry Jones' Ferrari Daytona in the 3rd hour sending Guy Ligier into a fit of rage, particularly as the Ferrari was able to continue. Ironically, it was the Ford-engined car of Lafosse and Chasseuil which would finish second overall to score the marques best result ever in the race, Pescarolo and Migault having to abandon in the 14th hour.
The final indignation in the Maserati story was that the French importer, M. Thepenier, who had commissioned from the factory two group 4 versions of the Bora for Le Mans and the Tour de France in 1973, found on delivery of the chassis 3000 and 3001 that they were ineligible for entry, as the prototype rules restricted engine size to 3.0 litres (the Boras were 4.9!) and the requisite 500 examples to qualify as a `GT' had not been manufactured.
Last but not least, did you know that Guy Venier entered a Citroen SM in the 1972 Le Mans race? It came to nothing. The only 'Maserati' to be seen on the circuit that year was the Presidential Citroen SM of Georges Pompidou who officially started the race. |
