The poor outcome of the "JS31" project led to a split between Guy Ligier and designer Michel Tetu, and to the return of Michel Beaujon to the team, who had left after the 1984 season. Beaujon took on the role of technical director and worked alongside designers Claude Galopin, who returned to Ligier after spending a year as technical director at AGS, and Richard Divila, the veteran Brazilian designer known for creating the mid-1970s Fittipaldi-Copersucar cars. After the risky decisions made with the previous JS31, the three engineers designed the new JS33, reverting to a design more in line with late 1980s standards.
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| LIGIER JS33, René Arnoux Montréal, Canadian GP 1989 |
The French team, based in Abrest in central France, went back to using an engine capable of competing with rivals: the Ford-Cosworth DFR V8, heir to the historic DFV, with its displacement increased to 3.5 liters as allowed by the new post-turbo regulations. The new carbon fiber monocoque chassis returned to a more classic layout, with a single fuel tank positioned behind the cockpit, while the 1988 gearbox, which had been specially built by Ligier for the JS31, was dropped in favor of one supplied by March Engineering.
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| LIGIER JS33, Olivier Grouillard Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1989 |
The new car had a wheelbase of 2850 mm, but its weight could not be brought below the 500 kg minimum allowed by the regulations, preventing the French engineers from using ballast strategically placed at key points. Aesthetically, the new JS33 also differed significantly from its predecessor, the JS31. Only the nose retained the sharp lines of the earlier car. The sidepods were now more angular and better balanced, placed further back to improve weight distribution. The engine cover was notably larger, incorporating the air intake just behind the driver's head, while the rear "bottle-neck" narrowing, although less pronounced, still allowed for decent aerodynamic downforce.
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| LIGIER JS33, René Arnoux Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1989 |
All in all, the JS33 turned out to be a reasonably solid car, not particularly fast, but quite reliable, enabling veteran French driver René Arnoux and his rookie teammate, fellow Frenchman Olivier Grouillard, to occasionally pull off some strong performances. The JS33 often struggled to qualify, but when it made it into the official timed sessions, it frequently managed to finish races. At a time when retirements were common, this allowed Arnoux, for instance, to climb from 22nd to 5th in Canada and Grouillard from 17th to 6th in France.
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| LIGIER JS33, René Arnoux Paul Ricard, French GP 1989 |
These results, however, remained the only 3 points scored by Ligier during the 1989 season, which saw the French team finish fourteenth in the Constructors’ Championship, still a far cry from the glory days of the early 1980s.
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