Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) Limited is a British car maker based in Liverpool that created the Mono, a road-legal sports car with only one seat. BAC was founded in 2009 by the brothers Neill (director of product development) and Ian Briggs (design director), and Mono cars are exported to 47 countries.
BAC Mono at a glance
| Maker | Briggs Automotive Company, Liverpool |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2009, by Neill and Ian Briggs |
| First car built | 2011, shown at Retro Classics in Stuttgart |
| Original engine | Ford Duratec 2.3 L four, modified by Cosworth |
| Original power | 280 bhp at 7,700 rpm |
| 2015 engine | 2.5 L Mountune unit, 305 bhp at 8,000 rpm |
| Gearbox | six-speed sequential Hewland, paddle shift |
| Weight | 540 kg (580 kg for the 2015 model year) |
| Power-to-weight | 518 bhp per tonne (525 for 2015) |
| 0–62 mph | 2.8 seconds |
| Top speed | 170 mph (274 km/h) |
| Weight distribution | 48/52 front/rear |
English Wikipedia (the page on Briggs Automotive Company) is the only source used here, so the facts were not cross-checked against a second source.
History of the BAC Mono
From consultants to a car maker
The Briggs brothers consulted for Mercedes, Porsche, Bentley and Ford on design and engineering projects until they decided to expand their creative potential with a product from scratch. The result was the BAC Mono, a lightweight, single-seater, open-top, road-legal sports car, produced from 2011 and first shown at the Retro Classics show in Stuttgart.
Construction
The first Mono had a Ford Duratec 2.3-litre four-cylinder engine heavily modified by Cosworth, giving 280 bhp, mounted longitudinally and mated to an electronically controlled six-speed sequential Hewland gearbox. It weighs 540 kg and the car was built in carbon fibre with a tubular steel driver safety cell and an FIA-compliant rollover protection system, in concept similar to a DTM race car. The pushrod suspension is rose-jointed and aero-profiled, with adjustable dampers. The design is said to be inspired by a science-fiction aesthetic and by the robot in Björk’s video for “All Is Full of Love”. In 2015 the Cosworth engine was replaced by a 2.5-litre Mountune unit of 305 bhp, with a wider chassis for more cockpit room.
Records
The Mono set the second-fastest Top Gear Power Lap of all time, 1:14.3 in July 2013, and the fastest on road-legal tyres. It has held production-car lap records at the Hungaroring (1:54.00), Roskilde Ring (36.5 seconds), Anglesey Circuit (1:07.70 with evo in 2016), Zolder (1:37.10 in 2017) and Sepang (2:14.617 in 2018), among others, and won the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2018 Supercar Shootout in 49.13 seconds, the fastest ever time. The Mono R was the fastest car on the evo leaderboard at Anglesey in October 2022.
Design and features
- Single seat: a one-seat, open-top road car.
- Weight: 540 kg, with a 48/52 balance.
- Awards: Top Gear Stig’s Car of the Year 2011 and GQ Track Day Car of the Year 2012.
BAC Mono versions
- Mono (2011): Cosworth-tuned 2.3 L, 280 bhp.
- Mono (2015): Mountune 2.5 L, 305 bhp.
- Mono R: record-setting later version.
More lightweight sports cars are in our Concept Cars and Exotic Cars.
Sources
- Briggs Automotive Company, English Wikipedia: company, Mono, records
