Ligier JS29

Ligier
Industry	Motorsport / Formula One team
Founded	1976
Founder	Guy Ligier
Headquarters	France
Products	Formula One cars

The Ligier JS29 was a Formula One vehicle engineered by Michel Têtu and Michel Beaujon for the Ligier outfit during the 1987 season. Initially crafted to accommodate an Alfa Romeo turbocharged engine, Ligier lost access to this power unit prior to the season's commencement and subsequently reconfigured the car around a Megatron turbocharged inline-4 engine derived from the BMW M12. The updated version, known as the JS29B, earned a solitary championship point when driver René Arnoux secured sixth place at the Belgian Grand Prix. Further enhancements led to the development of the JS29C variant.

Development

The JS29 was first designed to house the Alfa Romeo 415T turbo engine, which had been in development since 1984 as a replacement for Alfa’s heavier and less efficient 890T V8 turbo unit. However, following public criticism of the engine by Arnoux, Fiat—the parent company of Alfa Romeo—pulled its backing, reportedly to prevent competition with Ferrari, another marque partially owned by Fiat.

Confronted with an abrupt loss of their intended engine supplier just before the season started, Ligier arranged to use Megatron engines—essentially rebadged BMW M12 units previously employed by teams such as Brabham—leased through Arrows' sponsor USF&G. This Megatron-powered iteration was labeled the JS29B. Arnoux remained as lead driver and was paired with seasoned Italian racer Piercarlo Ghinzani.

Jackie Oliver, Arrows' team principal, allocated only a limited number of Megatron engines to Ligier, prioritizing his own squad’s requirements. By the conclusion of the season at the Australian Grand Prix, Ligier had access to merely seven engines.

Originally planned for debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix with the Alfa Romeo V8 until the 415T was ready, Ligier missed this opening race due to Fiat’s withdrawal and Arnoux’s remarks. The team introduced the Megatron-powered JS29B instead at San Marino. Following the Detroit Grand Prix, further modifications brought about the JS29C specification.

Switching from Alfa Romeo to Megatron powerplants necessitated extensive redesigns of the rear suspension system because of differences in engine configuration and vibration-related failures.

Owing to this late-stage engine substitution and constrained resources, Ligier’s Megatron-powered cars generally lacked competitiveness compared to Arrows’ own Megatron-equipped entries piloted by Derek Warwick and former Ligier driver Eddie Cheever. Only at Hockenheim did Arnoux manage to outqualify both Arrows machines, and just once at Paul Ricard did a Ligier separate the two Arrows cars on qualifying times.

Race history

At the season opener in San Marino, Arnoux qualified 13th driving the JS29B but was unable to start due to a crash during practice. Ghinzani secured 19th on the grid but withdrew because of handling difficulties. At Belgium, both Ligier drivers finished within point-scoring positions: Arnoux in sixth place—earning Ligier’s sole points of that year—and Ghinzani achieving seventh, his career-best result.

The JS29C made its first appearance at the French Grand Prix; Arnoux qualified 13th but retired during the race. Typically, both drivers found themselves starting in the lower half of qualifying sessions, with Arnoux consistently outperforming Ghinzani; his best grid position was 12th at Germany.

The JS29C marked Ligier’s final turbocharged model before being succeeded in 1988 by the Judd CV V8-powered JS31.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pts.	WCC
Template:F1	Ligier Loto		Megatron S4 tc		BRA	SMR	BEL	MON	DET	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	AUT	ITA	POR	ESP	MEX	JPN	AUS	1	11th
		JS29B		Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall René Arnoux		DNS	6th	11th	10th
		JS29C								Retired	Retired	Retired	Retired	10th	10th	Retired	Retired	Retired	Retired

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