From its entry to Formula 1 from the world of sportscar racing in 1976, the Ligier team added Gallic flair to grand prix competition with its screaming Matra V12 engines, sometimes-beautiful, sometimes-idiosyncratic designs cloaked in the blue livery of Gitanes, and the wonderfully relaxed yet canny Jacques Laffite in the cockpit. It was not until its seventh season that the squad even fielded a non-native-French-speaking driver.
As the 1980s developed, the team founded by rugby player-turned-F1 point-scorer Guy Ligier waxed and waned in competitiveness.
