Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives (also known as AGS and Gonfaron Sports Cars) was a small French racecar constructor, founded by the French mechanic, Henri Julien,  in Gonfaron, a provincial French village.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Henri Julien regularly attended racing events in minor classes. Although not an outstanding driver, the technical knowledge he gained eventually prompted him to start constructing racing cars. Julien's first car, the AGS JH1, saw the light of day in 1969. It was a small single-seater, intended for the category of "Formule France". The car was designed by Julien's former apprentice, the Belgian mechanic Christian Vanderpleyn.

In 1991 a new car, the JH27, was raced in the early autumn, but by then the team was in rags again, so the Italians closed the doors after the 1991 Spanish Grand Prix.

 

Headquarters Gonfaron, France

jh22 1987

The AGS JH22 was a Formula One racing car designed by Christian Vanderpleyn and used by the French AGS team in the 1987 Formula One season.

The JH22 was noted as a development of the Renault-based JH21C that the team had used in two races towards the end of 1986. However, while the JH21C had been fitted with a Motori Moderni turbocharged engine and Pirelli tyres, the JH22 was fitted with a normally-aspirated Ford-Cosworth DFZ V8 engine and Goodyear tyres. It also carried a 1970s-style airbox aft of the fuel tank, although this was replaced with a smaller and more conventional air intake as the season progressed.

As in 1986, AGS chose to enter one car for the season, and so built only two chassis, labeled #32 and #33. Italian shoe and clothing company El Charro continued as the team's main sponsor, and so the car, numbered 14, was painted in a white and red livery with a large rose above the nosecone. Frenchman Pascal Fabre, who had driven for the team in Formula Two in 1982, was signed to drive.

As one of four teams running normally-aspirated engines at the start of the season (the others being Tyrrell, the returning March and newcomers Larrousse), AGS contested the one-off Colin Chapman Trophy in addition to the regular Constructors' Championship, while Fabre contested the drivers' equivalent, the Jim Clark Trophy.

The JH22 was slow from the outset, and Fabre usually qualified last, at least a second slower than the car immediately in front. However, the car proved reliable on race day, as the Frenchman was classified in eight of the first nine races (albeit at least five laps down in each), his best results being 9th on home soil in France and in Britain.

For 1988, the JH22 was replaced with the JH23. One of the two chassis remains in AGS's historic collection, while the other is on display at the Manoir de l'Automobile in the commune of Lohéac, Brittany.

AGS JH22 1987 (youtube.com)

1969-1991

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