Time Machine: the Art Car F1 x Hugo Pratt
The Ligier Art Car, celebrating the French carmaker's 50th anniversary, is not it's first. In 1993, Ligier renewed a tradition that had seen Calder, Lichtenstein and Warhol contribute their unique styles to motorsport.
Celebrated Italian comic book creator Hugo Pratt, best known for the mysterious sailor and tireless traveller Corto Maltese, known as much for his cap as for the cigarette between his lips, was commissioned to design the Ligier JS39's racing colours for the final two rounds of the year in Japan then in Australia. Is that why the team's title sponsor, Gitanes Blondes, chose him to create a special livery? Or was it because Corto Maltese's mother was a gypsy from Seville? A gypsy who naturally finds herself centre-stage in a camouflage-style paint scheme. A symbol that also inspired Nairone Defives with the Ligier JS P4!
For its final race, in Australia, the n°25 car with Martin Brundle behind the wheel sported the artist's livery and finished the season in the points with sixth place, despite starting from the back of the grid. Ligier finished 5th in the Constructors' Championship.
Powered by a Renault RS5 V10 engine, the JS39 Ligier, from engineers Franck Dernie and Gérard Ducarouge, although penalised by the lack of active suspension, marked the French team's return to the podium, after a few challenging campaigns. The JS39, which was the first Ligier to have a semi-automatic gearbox with steering-wheel controls, took Martin Brundle to the podium in San Marino and Mark Blundell, in the n°26 car, to third place in 1993.