fifth in his debut at Enna-Pergusa. So at the relatively late age of 34 Ligier began his "real" career as a driver. In 1965 he won the 24th Grand Prix de Albi Sports in a GT40 for Ford. In 1966 he drove Shelby Mustang GT350 chassis 5R209 rented to Martial Delalande to a second-place finish in the 14th "Rallye des Routes du Nord". Ligier broke into Formula One as a privateer, entering his own Cooper-Maserati T81 in the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix. In five starts with this car he either ran unclassified or out of the points. That year he and Schlesser also joined forces to become the exclusive importer of Ford-Shelby products to France. Teaming with Schlesser in a Ford France GT40 again that year produced good results – a fifth-place finish at the Nürburgring 1000 km. Although his year was ended by a knee broken while practicing for the German GP, things could have been worse. Following the crash doctors had wanted to amputate and it was only through the intervention of Schlesser that the leg was saved. In 1967 Ligier fielded another car of his own, a Brabham-Repco BT20, in the British Grand Prix. His (effective) sixth-place finish in Germany produced the only championship point of his F1 career. Ligier also won the 12 Hours of Reims when sharing a GT40 Mk IIB with Schlesser. In 1968 Ligier drove a Ford Escort TC in the Coupes de Vitesse. That was the same year that Ford France was winding down its motorsports involvement, so Ligier partnered with Schlesser and José Behra to launch Ecurie InterSport with a pair of McLaren Formula 2 cars. Schlesser was killed that year in his Formula One debut at the French Grand Prix while at the wheel of the magnesium-bodied air-cooled Honda RA302 Formula One car. The shocking loss of his friend prompts Ligier to retire from racing. Ligier had one outing in a Ford Escort TC in the 1969 Coupes de l'ACIF, but he returned to regular competition in 1970 for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a car bearing his own name, the Ligier JS1, and continued to participate in various endurance races with his own cars until 1974. In total Ligier participated in thirteen Grand Prix Formula 1 races, getting one point in the drivers' world championship with an eighth-place finish in the German Grand Prix in 1966 due