2013 BAC MONO

This BAC Mono is an astonishing road-legal single-seater, presented in superb condition, and ready to thrill on the public highway or the track. It is powered by a naturally aspirated 2.3-litre four-cylinder Ford Duratec engine, developed and built by Cosworth, coupled to a six-speed sequential Hewland transmission. It has been driven and enjoyed as intended, and has covered 5,400 miles from new.

Described in the press as “a Formula 3 car for the road”, it also features sophisticated pushrod suspension with race specification dampers. The bodywork is carbon-fibre composite over a bespoke steel chassis, and there are powerful AP Racing brakes with adjustable bias via the cockpit controller. With a kerb weight of just 540kg, the Mono boasts an incredible power-to-weight ratio well in excess of 500bhp per tonne.

First registered in April 2013, this is one of the very earliest Mono production cars. It was sold to a private owner who bought two cars from BAC (Briggs Automotive Company). He used the car in the UK as well as on the continent, both on road as well as for track days. It was also loaned to BAC for occasional promotional work when convenient.

Three years ago, when the car had around 5,000 miles on the odometer, the original engine suffered a major fault - which can perhaps be attributed to it being such an early example, given the significant improvements made to the Mono over its production run. Therefore, in 2017, a complete new engine was supplied by Cosworth and fitted by BAC. It has been run in, and has covered around 400 miles.

This car was purchased by a dealer last year, and since then has been used solely as a promotional vehicle in their showroom - so the car remains on a motor trader declaration. The next private owner will therefore be the second registered keeper.

While originally delivered in bright red, the first owner decided to make a change, and asked for it to be repainted in Blue Pearl Metallic. The nature of the Mono’s bodywork means it is far easier to customise these single-seaters with a fresh colour than a normal road car. Today, the body panels and paint finish remains in excellent condition. There are some chips around the wheel arches, including in the paint protection film on the rear arches, and some minor wear marks to other components commensurate with the mileage. While this car has certainly been used on track as intended, there is no sign of any panel damage, and the HPI report is clear.

The plastic, metal and carbon-fibre elements around the body are all in good order, including the lightweight wing mirrors, intake manifold cover, gloss-black filler cap, and light clusters. It rides on black 17-inch OZ Racing Alleggerita HLT alloys, which present very well, and comes with a second set of wheels for circuit driving.

Its cockpit is trimmed in ‘extreme’ waterproof leather and Microcare synthetic suede, accented by red stitching. The steering wheel is removable and is also trimmed in the weather-proof leather. A lightweight carbon-fibre seat is fitted, along with a four-point safety harness. There are no reported faults, and all of the controls and switchgear work as they should.

This car is well known to BAC, and has been maintained exclusively by the factory from new. Any service work has been carried out there, along with the replacement engine in 2017. The most recent visit was in September 2019, which consisted of a full service and health check. The seller reports that the factory team will be very happy to answer any questions about the car from prospective buyers.

Its last MOT test was carried out on 10 September 2019 at 5,212 miles. However, as the owner had switched the instrument display to kilometres for driving on the continent, the tester incorrectly recorded the readout of 8,389 as being in miles, when it was in fact in kilometres. The seller states that the BAC factory is able to verify this administrative error, and confirms that the correct mileage for the test was 5,212 miles.

The road wheels are fitted with Kumho Ecsta tyres in size 205/40 R17 at the front and 245/40 R17 at the rear. They are date-coded to 2016 and remain in excellent condition. The spare alloys supplied for circuit driving are shod in fresh Nankang AR-1 semi-slick track tyres.

This BAC Mono is a remarkable single-seater, which will thrill its driver on the road, and will truly astonish them when exploited within the safety of a circuit. The 100th Mono was completed in 2019, so these hand-built and beautifully engineered machines remain very rare indeed. This is one of the very first cars made, is well known to the factory staff, and has even played a small role in the brand’s early history. Offered with a sensible reserve, this should prove to be a great value track car given the staggering performance on tap.