Commonly, Optimas are "Voiture sans permis [fr]", light vehicles which do not require a driver's license and thus popular with the elderly, the young, or with those who had lost their driving privileges.

Power for the original engine was 5 hp (3.7 kW) and top speed was no more than 45 km/h (28 mph) in order to stay within the parameters for sans-permis vehicles.

[1] To meet local requirements, German importer AutoTechnik Walther (ATW) offered a 49-cc version with a Sachs two-stroke engine with 3 kW (4 hp).

[2] The car received a thorough facelift in November 1989, with orange front turn signals which wrap around the corners, and the name was changed to Ligier Optima.

[5] This version used the 10-inch wheels and drum brakes all around, period testers found this insufficient for a car which was 2.5 times the weight of the original and able to reach speeds of over 100 km/h (62 mph) in Power mode.

In 1993 it was updated again, now with a larger grille opening with a mesh inside, changing name to Prima (the commercial model was still called the Optimax).