He maintained many varied and successful careers over the course of his life, including rugby player, butcher, racing driver and Formula One team owner.

During this period, his business contacts allowed him to make important friends in (then) local politicians François Mitterrand and Pierre Bérégovoy.

[5][6][7] By 1964 Ligier was racing Porsche sportscars as part of Auguste Veuillet's team, starting with a 356 and then a 904 Carrera GTS, in which he placed 7th with Robert Buchet at the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans.

[10] 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".

[14][15] Teaming with Schlesser in a Ford France GT40 again that year produced good results – a fifth-place finish at the Nürburgring 1000 km.

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.

Following limited success in the sports-racing field Ligier turned his attention to Formula 1 when he bought the assets of Equipe Matra Sports.

When Ligier ran into trouble in 1983 the President ordered that government-owned companies such as Elf, Gitanes and Loto should supply sponsorship.

[25] At the 1996 Grand Prix of Monaco driver Olivier Panis won the ninth and final Formula 1 victory for Ligier.

[26] Equipe Ligier managed to contest 326 Grand Prix races, make 50 podiums appearances, notch 9 victories, claim second place in the 1980 World Championship and build over 20 Formula 1 cars.

Following the demise of the Monica car company in 1975, Ligier purchased the French assets and remaining unassembled vehicles.

[29] The two-door JS4 has a nearly cubic steel monococque and a glass rear door, and was originally equipped with a 49 cc Motobécane engine.

[25] Ligier used the money from the sale to corner the market in natural fertilizer in central France and set about building another fortune.

[24] Within a few months Mitterrand's Socialist Party experienced a major loss in the elections and Bérégovoy committed suicide on 1 May 1993.

[33] The name Ligier returned to the motor racing spotlight in 2014 when Jacques Nicolet's Onroak Automotive began building cars.