BAC Mono: Single-seat road thrills

BAC Mono – the world’s first single-seat production road racer

Briggs Automotive Company has revealed the BAC Mono, a single-seat road racer with a 2.8 second 0-60mph and 170mph. Costs £67k +tax.

No, Battersea Arts Centre hasn’t suddenly gone in to the car business, and nor has BAC Windows. This BAC is Briggs Automotive Company and they’ve built the BAC Mono, said to be the first single-seater production sports car – In the world.

But this isn’t your usual bolted-together-in-a-shed, next wonder of the car world we see every five minutes. This is the real deal; a superbly engineered and beautifully built single-seat racer that just happens to be road-legal.

It may be road-legal, but that doesn’t stop the Mono having the sort of performance that will embarass almost anything else on the road – at any price. Weighing in at just 540kg, the Mono boasts a 2.3 litre 4-pot lump by Cosworth and delivers 280bhp. That’s a power to weight ratio of 520bhp per ton, so it should come as no surprise the Mono hits 60mph in just 2.8 seconds on its way to 170mph.

Mono is built using carbon fibre composite around a steel safety cell and comes with an FIA-compliant steel rollover structure. The 2.3 litre Cossie lump sits longitudinally and gets mated to a F3-spec 6-speed sequential ‘box by Hewland,

Suspension is fully adjustable pushrod with damping by SACHS Racing, brakes are 295mm ventilated discs from AP and Kumho has developed a special compound for the Mono’s tyres.

All of which spells out something a lot more than yet another wannabe racer for the road. The fact that SuperVettura – purveyors of only the very high-end car stuff – have been appointed UK dealers also makes it clear this is a serious bit of kit.

BAC are building just 35 Monos this year for the world, and 10 of those are sold pre-launch.

At £67k +tax we reckon the rest will follow quite swiftly.